Open Source Software

Open source software is software whose source code (the lines of code that

tell the program what to do, and when) is open for anybody to see, download,

and experiment with.  By contrast, the source code of Microsoft software (just as one example) is open only to selected programmers who are sworn not to divulge the code

to anyone else.

Open source software has several advantages:

1. Very often it is free.

2. Because there are so many people engaged in working with the source code, security breaches often get fixed quickly.  (This is not so with proprietary software, where there aren't nearly as many people available to work on problems.

3. For the same reason as #2, open source operating system software is generally updated more frequently than proprietary software.

 There are probably some other advantages, but those are the major ones.

In one of the workshops I teach about computer literacy I feature an open source XHTML editor (for preparing web pages), called NVU.  NVU is “cross-platform”, which is to say that it runs on Windows and Mac and Linux.  NVU is free, and offers a lot of online help and tutorials. 

There are three other cross-platform, open source software programs that you

might be interested in:

      1.Open Office:  This is an office suite, including word processor, spreadsheet, presentation program (think Powerpoint), drawing, calculation, and database program.  The word processor reads Microsoft Word files and saves to .doc format.  The spreadsheet program reads Excel files and saves in Excel format.  The presentation program reads Powerpoint files, and saves to Powerpoint.  The interfaces of all those programs resemble the Microsoft Office suite of programs, but whereas Microsoft Office costs several hundred dollars.  Open Office costs nada!  Can't beat it!

      2.Gimp:  This is a graphics manipulation program that will do a lot of things that Photoshop does, only much cheaper.  Photoshop costs several hundred dollars, wheras Gimp is free!  Versions are available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.  Gimp has abundant help pages and tutorials.

      3.Audacity:  This is a free sound editing program that can record and mix several sound tracks.  It's handy when you're making podcasts.  It can save to MP3 format when used in tandem with another program called Lame. 

      4.Ubuntu:  If you want to take the big plunge and install an open source operating system on your computer, I recommend Ubuntu linux, which is updated twice a year, is very stable, easy to install, very secure, and best of all, free.

This article written by TCDavis

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