The Benefits of Open Source Software
As fantastic as it appears, there are hundreds of outfits and foundations out there that actively develop and distribute software for no cost. The reason for them giving away their software is varied, but the benefits to the customers is huge.
A long time back in the 70’s, computer geeks and nerds would build software and give it to other geeks for free to try and make it better. Then along came a man called Bill Gates who saw a entrepreneurial opportunity in building software for computers and designed Altair BASIC. Unfortunately for him, his product was also passed around and he ended up writing a angry letter pointing out why software should not be free (Google Bill Gates Open Letter).
In the past few years, the open source collective has been winning a significant foothold in the software market, largely caused by developing countries who can’t afford the licensing fees of commercial software like Windows, Excel, Dreamweaver and even Programming Languages.
There are free versions of just about everything, from blogging platforms to images. The open source concept has even hit the food and drink market with open source recipes for wine and beer now available on the Internet. I am actually writing this brief article on a piece of open source software called Open Office, a free substitute to MS Word, and it’s powered by Ubuntu, a free alternative to Windows or Mac OS X.
When it comes to websites, there is a plethora of open source software around to power any kind of website. Web development companies such as Wordpress and Wikimedia Foundation release scripts free for businesses to use. What makes it extremely effective is that open source customization can be done by a huge number of companies around the globe.
Using open source software to power your site provides a awesome base from which to start, eg Wordpress is suitable for probably any kind of website, but with a bit of Wordpress customization you can have it meet your exact needs for half of the price of developing it from fom the start.
Before you purchase your next software, always research to discover if there is an open source option on the market. Especially during these economic conditions, open source products may be one way you or your business can reduce its costs.
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Tags: Altair, Angry Letter, Bill Gates, Building Software, Commercial Software, Computer Geeks, Entrepreneurial Opportunity, Foothold, Free Versions, Google, Mac Os X, Nerds, Open Office, Open Source Concept, Open Source Software, Plethora, Programming Languages, Software Market, Web Development Companies, Wikimedia Foundation
