| Did you know that the most powerful software and | | | | - Mambo - |
| web applications are all free? Yes that's right, just | | | | - MD-Pro - |
| about every commercial software or web application | | | | - myPHPNuke - |
| you know of is most likely available as a free Open | | | | - PHP-Nuke - |
| Source project/clone. | | | | - phpWebSite - |
| "Why haven't I heard of this Open Source stuff???" | | | | - Postnuke - |
| There is good reason for not seeing advertising for | | | | - Typo3 - |
| open source software in ppc search engines, if you | | | | - Xaraya - |
| had a free product, you would not be likely to pay | | | | - XOOPS - |
| for top advertising spots, or even worry about your | | | | CMS - Blogs |
| search engine placement. Open Source projects rely | | | | - b2evolution - |
| on word of mouth and the fact that it's free, well | | | | - bBlog - |
| you all know that 'FREE' is the most viral form of | | | | - BLOG:CMS - |
| advertising. Also, the open source community is a | | | | - Nucleus CMS - |
| tight group of developers and programmers who | | | | - pLog - |
| often exchange links, so if you don't know the right | | | | - pMachine Free - |
| places to look, you can spend days and weeks | | | | - Serendipity - |
| searching out the top open source applications. | | | | - Textpattern - |
| Don't worry though, this article has a list of the top | | | | - WordPress - |
| open source applications, as well as links to the top | | | | CMS - e-Commerce |
| open source search engines. | | | | - MyMarket - |
| "But I always thought you had to be a techno-geek | | | | - osc2nuke - |
| to install or use these applications?" This is the way it | | | | - osCommerce - |
| used to be just a few years ago, but times have | | | | - Zen Cart - |
| rapidly changed in the Open Source world, and the | | | | CMS - Groupware |
| focus is now on more userfriendly, step by step | | | | - dotProject - |
| installations and control panels, so you don't need to | | | | - eGroupWare - |
| know much of anything to get these apps up and | | | | - MoreGroupware - |
| running. | | | | - phpCollab - |
| Now, the only downfall of an Open Source application | | | | - PHProjekt - |
| compared to a Commercial application... NO DIRECT | | | | CMS - Forums |
| SUPPORT. However, as in all web based communities, | | | | - openBB - |
| there are hundreds of thousands of people using | | | | - Phorum - |
| these applications, and there are always community | | | | - phpBB - |
| support forums where you can get help from | | | | - PunBB - |
| veteran users. Community Support can often be ten | | | | - W-Agora - |
| times better than the commercial support a | | | | - XMB - |
| Commercial company may offer. | | | | CMS - e-Learning |
| "So how do I find these Open Source Applications?" | | | | - ATutor - |
| Luckily for you, I have been working in this field for | | | | - Claroline - |
| several years now, and would like to save you the | | | | - Moodle - |
| time of searching to find the best places to look. | | | | - Segue - |
| The following list is also available at as well as many | | | | - Site@School - |
| other links/resources dealing with the Open Source | | | | CMS - Photo Albums |
| Community. | | | | - Coppermine - |
| The mother of all open source application search | | | | - Gallery - |
| engines is SourceForge.net where most if not all of | | | | CMS - KnowledgeBase |
| the top projects are located: | | | | - Owl - |
| Here is a list of the top Open Source Web | | | | CMS - Customer Support |
| Applications: | | | | - SugarSales CRM - |
| CMS - Portals | | | | As you can see, there are many choices so the thing |
| - Drupal - | | | | to do next is a bit of research by taking a look |
| - eNvolution - | | | | through a few and finding one that suits your exact |
| - eZ Publish - | | | | needs. There is really no wrong choice, it's all a |
| - ezContents - | | | | matter of preferences and the features that you are |
| - Geeklog - | | | | looking for. |