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