opensource

What is Open Source Software?

Opensource software is not only available for download free of charge, but anyone can access the source code and may modify and redistribute the software subject to certain restrictions as detailed in the Public License of the software.
Opensource code is free, but is strictly enforced under the trademark rights in order for the software to be valid. Trademarks, of course, are subject to the same laws as all other software products.

Read a more detailed description of OpenSource at Wikipedia.

A Popular Open Source Company

Mozilla

Mozilla is an OpenSource software company. It is a global community and public benefit organization dedicated to improving the Internet experience for people everywhere.

They offer a number of different software which is all free-of-charge for Windows, Mac and Linux computers in more than 35 languages.

Mozilla Products

1. Firefox
2. Joomla
3. Thunderbird
4. Bugzilla and
5. XUL

Mozilla Firefox Browser

The award-winning Mozilla Firefox Web browser is enjoyed by tens of millions of people worldwide, and has re-ignited innovation and competition on the Web.

Special Features:

• Improvements(http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/features.html#experience):
• Tabbed Browsing
• Spell Checking
• Search Suggestions
• Session Restore
• Live Bookmarks
• Pop-up Blocker

Security:

• Protection from Spyware
• Clear Private Data
• Automated Update

Customizing:

• Add-on for Everyone
• Add-ons Manager for Extensions and Themes
• Search Engine Manager

Thunderbird Email System

Simple to use, powerful, and customizable, Thunderbird is a full-featured email application. Thunderbird supports IMAP and POP mail protocols, as well as HTML mail formatting. Easily import your existing email accounts and messages. Built-in RSS capabilities, powerful quick search, spell check as you type, global inbox, deleting attachments and advanced message filtering round out Thunderbird's modern feature set.

Free Open Source Office Suites

The OpenSource equivalent to Microsoft Office is both a fully-featured office suite compatible with leading office products, and a virtual community working through its numerous projects. The community comes together to develop, support, and promote the use of the free Office Suite. It is available for both Windows, Mac and Linux platforms.

OpenOffice

This OpenSource office suite is available for Windows and Linux platforms. For Mac users see Neo Office.
The OpenOffice.org product is a multi-platform office productivity suite. It includes the key desktop applications, such as a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation manager, drawing program, and a database with a user interface and feature set similar to other office suites. Sophisticated and flexible, OpenOffice.org also works transparently with a variety of file formats, including those of Microsoft Office, and the vendor-neutral OpenDocument standard from OASIS.

Neo Office

NeoOffice is a fully-featured set of office applications (including word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, and drawing programs) for Mac OS X. Based on the OpenOffice.org office suite, NeoOffice has integrated dozens of native Mac features and can import, edit, and exchange files with other popular office programs such as Microsoft Office.

Popular Open Source Content Management Systems

For the web there are a lot of databased driven software systems that allow you to create highly interactive websites. The programming language used is typically php and the database is MySQL. The common features are registration components, customizable templates, backend and frontend administration, easy editorial access without knowledge of html and php. You typically get everything in one place, with some CMS it is possible to add complex components like shopping carts, directories, social networking systems, mass mailing list, blogging and more. A lot of web hosting companies offer these software systems as part of their services. They also usually offer some type of online manuals in how to set up a database and how to install the content management systems.

Joomla

Joomla is a free open source framework and content publishing system designed for creating highly interactive multi-language websites, online communities, media portals, blogs and e-commerce applications. These are referred to as extensions.

Joomla provides an easy-to-use graphical user interface that simplifies the management and publishing of large volumes of content including HTML, documents, and rich media. Joomla is used by organizations of all sizes for intranets and extranets and is supported by a community of tens of thousands of users.

Joomla is a content management system, which means it is an internet/databased software that manages content. Content can be text, images, but also dynamic and interactive functions like slideshows, user login, mail forms, etc. Content refers to anything you see on the pages of the site.

Wordpress

Wordpress is a free open source framework and content publishing system designed originally for the popular blogging (web logging/entries). This system like Joomla also allows for added features called plugins, like image galleries, contact forms, etc.