I have been a fan of open source software for quite a while now. For those unfamiliar with the term open source refers to the source code of the software being available for download. Most commercial software vendors jealously guard their code but the OSS community makes it freely available.
This has a great many advantages. Here are just a few –
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You can trust that it does what it claims. – Those with the appropriate skills have reviewed the code and seen that it does what it claims without doing anything undesirable such as adding spyware to your system.
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Problems are easily found and solved. They can also track down and report problems and often solutions. Many OSS developers have got bug fixes out in less time than commercial developers take to admit there is a problem.
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Some OSS licences allow the code to be used to develop other applications too. The spirit of co-operation for the common good is alive and well.
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Many OSS applications are free too.
Popular OSS applications include FireFox and Open Office. The following link is a list of popular solutions and the commercial packages they replace. I would query some of his choices but would like to know of any alternatives you can suggest. i will add my list later.
Techodyssey 