Do you like free things?
Unless you are the
top 1% in this country, you would be lying if you said no. Being a software developer, I love it when I
get to download software free of charge, especially since software costs
nowadays can put a big dent in your wallet.
Even though the act of sharing source code for projects
has been around for almost as long as the internet itself, the term “Open
Source” was not adopted until the late 1990’s. Open-Source software is software
that users can download for free to study, modify, distribute, or simply use. Most
users simply just download the software for use; but if you are an adventurous
one, you can help track down possible bugs in the software and improve it so
that users can have a better experience. Before you know it, you might get
inspired by the software’s idea and go create a similar project of your own;
however, if it greatly resembles the project, you would have to distribute it
for free.
If you take a look at the programs on your computer, you
might be surprised at how many are open source. Some of the more popular open
source software, and also my personal favorites, are: Firefox, a customizable
web browser lets you fiddle with its huge collection of advanced settings through the
well-known “about:config” URL, TrueCrypt, a powerful disc encryption program
that lets make everything from USB to HDD harder to break into than Fort Knox,
Audacity, the all-powerful audio editor that can do anything from converting
audio file types to performing thorough analysis on any sound file, Notepad++,
a text editor that can view a very wide range of file types including the ones
you deal with on a daily programming basis, and last but not least, Ubuntu, a
widely used Debian-based Linux Operating System that is even popular among windows
fans such as myself.
Lastly, I want to give a shout out to a site that you
probably already know, sourceforge.net. This amazing website is where I go to
get the majority of my open source software. Here is where you can find the
latest distribution of a wide variety of projects, from games to security and
science, and the best part is that it’s all free! So the next time you feel
like contributing back to the community that brought to you the free software
on your machine, you can start here.
