What is open source software


Open Source Technology, a Must For Your Small Business And Links To Get You Started

Are you looking for innovative ways to
increase your ROI, your bottom line andThese are some useful links to help get you
downright save a ton of money on your ITstarted on the Open Source road. (for the
costs? Let me answer that for you! Of courselatest is Open Source technology for small
you are, you would not be a savvy businessbusiness owners) (the world's largest Open
owner if you did not seek out ways to stretchSource software development web site) (Open
your money. Drum roll please, introducingSource software repository site) (a
Open Source technology a new way for smallcollection of high quality Free and Open
businesses to even the playing field withSource Software.) (a collection of over 100
their  enterprise  and  big  boy competitors.free/Open Source software for home and
business.) (Open Source Technology
Why is this important? You now have access toConsultants)
the same or comparable solutions that
normally costs hundreds if not thousands toTop Open Source Applications for your small
implement and deploy. Case in point, the Openbusiness needs. (Great alternate to the
Source version of SugarCRM, which is aMicrosoft office suite.) (Open Source web
Customer Relationship Management tool can bebrowser, great alternative to Internet
had for free while one of its proprietary andExplorer) (Thunderbird email application,
commercial competitors cost about $1,000 tosimilar to Outlook) (for remote connection to
start per year for a five user license.your computers) (The worlds most popular Open
Another quick example has Ubuntu, which is aSource database) (database management tool)
full-featured Linux based operating system(Filezilla- ftp application to upload and
against Microsoft XP. XP Professional editiondownload your web content) (Website Content
costs $299.99, while Ubuntu costs nothing andManagement System or CMS) (Website Content
comes freely loaded with Office utilitiesManagement System or CMS) (Very popular Web
that rival Microsoft's Office software suite.server application) (online shop/ e-commerce
You do the math. Remember to include per usersolution) (the CRM tool mentioned in this
and or per pc price and upgrades. Yeah, Iarticle) (project management web application)
know, you have been suckered for a long time(Image manipulation program) (complete Web
and we didn't even mention the serverAuthoring System) (personal and
operating system and licenses. Ask yourself,small-business financial-accounting
why am I paying for something when I can getsoftware.) (Subversion- Document management
it  done  for  little  or  no  cost?and revision control system) (WebCalendar-
Online calendar program for single or
Using Open Source is like using "guerrillamultiple users) (full-featured SSL VPN
tactics" for your small business IT needs.solution)
Does free mean cheap? Let's take a look. Open
Source software affords the user to haveDesktop Linux Distributions Ubuntu Redhat
software developed by hundreds of developersFedora  Suse  OpenSuse  Slackware
instead of just a few. Most of the Open
Source solutions mentioned here are tried andYou can also get the server versions to take
tested solutions. Did you know that youcare of your business client/server needs
already use Open Source? Yep, in fact if yousuch as Email, file, print, FTP, Web,
use a web browser or use email your usingDatabase, Domain, Authentication etc., There
opens source software. The Internet is builtare many distributions of Linux available
upon open standards and runs on Open Sourceplease  check for  additional  resources.
software. Who currently uses Open Source
software? IBM, HP, Oracle, whole governments,This list is not at all exhausting and not
Google,  Yahoo and Amazon just to name a few.meant to be. This should serve as a starting
place on your journey into the Open Source
So you might be asking yourself, what exactlyrealm. For general questions feel free to
is Open Source? Open Source software in itsemail me, if you have specific questions
simplest form is software that freelyabout any software listed here try posting to
distributes the source code along with thethe respective forums. A good book to read is
object code (the actual program that youOpen Source Solutions for Small Business
install and use), so that any programmerProblems, written by John Locke. My
familiar with the language can tweak,definition of Open Source was found in this
improve, modify or customize it withoutbook.
needing to ask anyone for permission or wait
for a vendor to do it for them. For a moreWhat have we learned? Before you plunder
verbose definition, please visit The bottomhundreds of your hard earned or borrowed
line is, this model of software distributionmoney into software seek out or find someone
can give you a freedom and a savings thatwho is versed in this technology. Research
compels you to at least become a bit moreand evaluate if an Open Source solution can
knowledgeable  to  its  uses.fit your needs. Remember, Open Source Saves!



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