Open Source is more than Freeware

Open Source Logo.

Basically you can say that open source software or programs are free to use and allow users to modify or study them. Normally behind each program there is a community of programmers that offer the open code that is to say, the program structure is open to the public.

Many of these programs work in different platforms like Windows, Linux and MacOSx

These programs may be considered as a viable alternative to other commercial software. Each program that we use daily has an alternative counter part available in open source. Take for example Photoshop, its open source doppelganger, Gimp, is a free program that is designed to work with images.

Another example is a welcome alternative to Nero. Nero, used to record DVDs may have many functions, but unfortunately clutters up the operative system with useless garbage. I am a big fan of an open source program that records CD's y DVD's called InfraRecorder .

Aside from the ones I have mentioned you can find a bevy of open source programs on these sites:

Open Source Wikipedia Portal

Sourceforge

Osalt.com 

Main Open Source

Office: OpenOffice.org 2.0.2
Design: Blender 2.41, Inkscape 0.44, The GIMP 2.2.13, Yafray 0.0.9
Internet: eMule 0.47a, FileZilla 2.2.27, Firefox 1.5.0.6, Gaim 1.5.0, NVU 1.0, Thunderbird 1.5.0.5
Multimedia: Audacity 1.3.0b, CDex 1.70 beta 1
Utilities: 7-Zip 4.42 beta, IZArc 3.5 beta 3, Notepad2 1.0.12, Picasa 2, TightVNC 1.3.8, TrueDownloader 0.82
Games: Enigma 0.92, Frozen Bubble 1.0.0, LBreakout2 2.5.1, Secret Maryo Chronicles 0.98, Sokoban Yasc 1.282, SuperTux 0.1.3, TuxPaint 0.9.15-2, TuxType2 1.5.3

Ubuntu

Also available are open source operating systems. The most noteworthy at the moment is Ubuntu. You don’t have to install it, all you need to do is insert a CD and there you have the office suite and that way you don’t have to use your hard drive!

Free software is great to use especially when you take into consideration how pricey commercial software is.