Open Source Software

Open Source Software / Free Software (OSS/FS) (also abbreviated as FLOSS or FOSS) has risen to great prominence. Briefly, OSS/FS programs are programs whose licenses give users the freedom to run the program for any purpose, to study and modify the program, and to redistribute copies of either the original or modified program (without having to pay royalties to previous developers).

There are official definitions for the terms “Free Software” (as the term is used in this text) and “open source software”. However, understanding a few fundamentals about computer software is necessary before these definitions make sense. Software developers create computer programs by writing text, called “source code,” in a specialized language. This source code is often mechanically translated into a format that the computer can run. As long as the program doesn’t need to be changed (say, to support new requirements or be used on a newer computer), users don’t necessarily need the source code. However, changing what the program does usually requires possession and permission to change the source code. In other words, whoever legally controls the source code controls what the program can and cannot do. Users without source code often cannot have the program changed to do what they want or have it ported to a different kind of computer. Open source software is officially defined by the open source definition.

OSS/FS has significant market share in many markets, is often the most reliable software, and in many cases has the best performance. OSS/FS scales, both in problem size and project size. OSS/FS software often has far better security, perhaps due to the possibility of worldwide review. Total cost of ownership for OSS/FS is often far less than proprietary software, especially as the number of platforms increases. These statements are not merely opinions; these effects can be shown quantitatively, using a wide variety of measures. This doesn’t even consider other issues that are hard to measure, such as freedom from control by a single source, freedom from licensing management (with its accompanying risk of audit and litigation), Organizations can transition to OSS/FS in part or in stages, which for many is a far more practical transition approach.

Major Unix server applications (such as the OSS/FS Apache web server) were easily moved to GNU/Linux or the *BSDs, since they all essentially implemented the POSIX standards. As a result, GNU/Linux and the *BSDs rapidly gained significant market share in the server market. A number of major initiatives began to fill in gaps to create completely OSS/FS modern operating systems, including graphical toolkits, desktop environments, and major desktop applications. In 2002, the first user-ready versions of capable and critical desktop applications (Mozilla for web browsing and OpenOffice.org for an office suite) were announced.

.Net Open Source

Here’s a few of the better .NET open source projects which are making a difference to .NET developers worldwide

http://www.umbraco.org

http://www.i386.com/Products/Newsletter.aspx

http://www.yetanotherforum.net/

http://www.dotnetnuke.com

http://www.rainbowportal.net/

http://www.mojoportal.com/

http://visitmix.com/Lab/Oxite

http://www.nopcommerce.com/

http://www.codeplex.com/Kigg

http://anmar.eu.org/projects/sharpwebmail/

http://www.dotshoppingcart.com/

http://dotnetblogengine.net

Featured Open Source Program

Mozilla is a great software package containing a HTML/CSS W3C compliant browser, a robust email application with a good address book manager, user friendly multiple accounts manager, integrated bayesian spam filtering and web bugs protection, and, additionally, a graphical HTML 4.0 editor/publisher, a simple IRC chat client and a calendar organizer. Although the browser it is a bit slow and resources hungry, it is fully featured, cross platform (windows, linux, macintosh 9/X, unix, etc) and has great power-user utilities such as cookie managers, anti-popup windows options, images blocking (good for advertising banners), tabbed browsing, smart page information and an extensively customizable interface. A vibrant community of volunteer developpers also create many tiny applications that can be added to the package and add interesting and original functionality (so can you with a little bit of javascript and XUL knowledge). If you already have an email application and only need a browser, you can choose Firefox, which is a streamlined, speedier and lightweigth version of the browser (and to become the new Mozilla browser soon, with Thunderbird as the new separate email client). If you need an internet package that will be impervious to Microsoft worms, viruses, javascript exploits and other famous insecurities, if you need a cross platform solution (or development platform) that looks and feels the same everywhere, if you want to promote internet diversity and standard compliancy, if you prefer open source products to closed source ones, if you're still one of the last person on earth suffering through annoying popup windows, mozilla is a perfect choice. As a good measure, I suggest you back up your settings, like bookmarks and emails (generally located in Documents and Settings/Administrator/application data/mozilla in Windows 2000) every now and then.

WinSCP2 is a neat utility to transfer files using the SSH protocol so that your transfers are encrypted. You can use it on servers that only allow SSH connections (extra secure servers) or you can use it to protect sensitive files during a transfer on your web site. You have the option to use a "Norton Commander" interface type or Explorer interface type. Highly recommended for anyone who cringes at managing files with a command line SSH client.

Putty is an SSH command line client and it's pretty much the open source standard on Windows, so it's an unavoidable and necessary utility for any self-respecting webmaster. Their FAQ pages are very informative. Great tool for a little taste of Unix/Linux when managing your web site. Oh, and there's some silly encryption legal issue you might have to consider before downloading it in your country. Check their web site for more. Note: Always use SSH over Telnet over a remote server if you don't want your passwords to be easily snooped by hackers.

OpenOffice.org is both an Open Source product and a project. The product is a multi-platform office productivity suite. It includes the key desktop applications, such as a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation manager, and drawing program, 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.

Available in 25 languages with more being constantly added by the community. OpenOffice.org runs stably and natively on Solaris, Linux (including PPC Linux), and Windows. Additional ports, such as for FreeBSD, IRIX, and Mac OS X, are in various stages of completion.

You can find more about OpenOffice features here. One nice feature is that it can share your Mozilla address book.