IENACE

As unbelievable as it appears, there are hundreds of companies and foundations out there that actively create and distribute software for no cost. The reason for them opening up their software is varied, but the advantages to the customers is huge.

Back in the 1970’s, computer geeks and nerds would create software and distribute it to other hobbyists for free to try and improve it. Then along came a man called Bill Gates who saw a money making opportunity in building software for computers and designed Altair BASIC. Unfortunately for him, his product was also given away around and he ended up writing a pointed letter detailing why software should not be free (Google Bill Gates Open Letter).

Recently, the open source community has been winning a big slice in the software market, largely caused by developing nations who can’t afford the licensing fees of commercial software like Windows, MS Office, Dreamweaver and even Programming Languages.

There are open source versions of probably everything, from office applications to computer applications. 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 short article on a piece of open source software called Open Office, a free alternative to MS Word, and it’s running on Ubuntu, an open source substitute to Windows or Mac OS X.

When it comes to the Internet, there is a lot of open source software around to power any kind of website. Web development companies such as Wordpress and Wikimedia Foundation release scripts free for anyone to use. What makes it particularly enticing is that open source customization can be undertaken by lots of companies around the world.

Utilizing open source software for your website sets up a fantastic base from which to start, for example Wordpress is suitable for virtually any kind of website, but with a bit of Wordpress customization you can have it meet your exact desires for a fraction of the cost of creating it from fom the start.

Before you purchase your next software, always look to discover if there is an open source option on the market. Particularly during these economic conditions, open source scripts may be one way you or your business can drive down its costs.

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