What is openSource software?
Open source is a development method for software that harnesses the power of distributed peer review and transparency of process. The promise of open source is better quality, higher reliability, more flexibility, lower cost, and an end to predatory vendor lock-in.
-- Definition from Open Source Initiative(OSI) --
The term open source gained popularity with the rise of the Internet, which provided access to diverse production models, communication paths, and interactive communities. The open source model of operation and decision making allows concurrent input of different agendas, approaches and priorities, and differs from the more closed, centralized models of development.
One of the most successful programs is the Linux operating system, an open source Unix-like operating system.
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Mozilla Firefox is a web browser descended from the Mozilla Application Suite, managed by the Mozilla Corporation. Firefox had 19.03% of the recorded usage share of web browsers as of June 2008, making it the second-most popular browser in current use worldwide, after Internet Explorer. |
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Mozilla Thunderbird is a free, open source, cross-platform e-mail and news client developed by the Mozilla Foundation. The project strategy is modeled after Mozilla Firefox, a project aimed at creating a web browser. On December 7, 2004, version 1.0 was released, and received over 500,000 downloads in its first three days of release (and 1,000,000 in 10 days). |
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OpenOffice.org (OO.o or OOo) is a cross-platform office application suite available for a number of different computer operating systems. It supports the ISO standard OpenDocument Format (ODF) for data interchange as its default file format, as well as Microsoft Office '97–2003 formats, Microsoft Office '2007 format (in version 3), among many others. |
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FileZilla Client (also referred to as FileZilla) is a free, open source, cross-platform FTP client. Binaries are available for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X. It supports FTP, SFTP, and FTPS (FTP over SSL/TLS). As of June 20, 2008, it was the 10th most popular download of all time from SourceForge.net. |
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GnuCash is an accounting software which implements a double-entry bookkeeping system. It was initially aimed at developing capabilities similar to Intuit, Inc.'s Quicken application, but also has features for small business accounting. Recent development has been focused on adapting to modern desktop support-library requirements. |
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Open Workbench is project management software, a free, mostly open source alternative to Microsoft Project. It is the successor to Niku's Project Workbench. |
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dotProject is a web-based, multi-user, multi-language Project Management application. It is an open-source software and free for any uses and is maintained by an open community of volunteer programmers. |
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openSUSE is a community project, sponsored by Novell and AMD, to develop and maintain a general purpose Linux distribution. After acquiring SUSE Linux in January 2004, Novell decided to release the SUSE Linux Professional product as a 100% open source project, involving the community in the development process. |
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Mandriva Linux (formerly Mandrakelinux or Mandrake Linux) is a Linux distribution created by Mandriva (formerly Mandrakesoft). It uses the RPM Package Manager. The product lifetime of Mandriva Linux releases is 18 months for base updates and 12 months for desktop updates. |
-- Definitions from Wikipedia --
