Another name for this bunch is Free Software but since that term can be misunderstood, I have plumped for the open source moniker instead. The idea behind this page is that it is a listing of open source software that is extended and updated periodically. Therefore, it will start small for it to grow from here. Let’s get things going.
Operating Systems
Linux is the mainstay here but there are other UNIX alternatives out there too and you’ll find them below along with the Linux contingent. Ubuntu is my choice of the bunch but the openSUSE line (including SuSE 6.x & 7.x) has taken my fancy in the past and Fedora might have been what I would be using were it not for the rise of a certain other Linux distribution.
Desktop Environments
These are primarily a Linux bunch though I have seen their escape to the UNIX world too. GNOME gets my vote but that’s never a reason not to examine the merits of KDE. Were it not for doubts in the minds of some regarding its freedom from proprietary constraints, I and others might never have the option of using it as much as I do.
Databases
The first of these, a recent acquisition of the behemoth that is Sun Microsystems, powers an awful lot of the web while the second continues to lurk too.
Programming and Scripting Languages
Many of the computer languages that power the web are themselves open so here are the bigger players. Others will join them as I find them.
Publishing Platforms
This edifice is powered by WordPress but there are other blogging options out there and there appear below. Also joining the list is the software that powers Wikipedia and a smattering of Content Management Systems. With regard to the latter, OpenSourceCMS is a good place to try them before you go about downloading them.
More Desktop Software
The ubiquitous Photoshop challenger is maturing nicely though its interface may not please some.
There’s no way that I could not what might the de facto standard web browser for Linux….
The original Mozilla suite still lives on and this is how it’s called nowadays.
Mozilla’s contribution to the personal organiser scene.
An email client that I might have been using were it not for Evolution’s being more to my liking.
Is this the office suite of choice for Linux? It certainly feels like it.
Apart from the fact that 64-bit operating systems are not supported in the OSE version, this is an excellent piece of virtualisation software that makes you wonder why you’d pay for something like VMware Workstation. There is also a closed source variant but the open source equivalent has what you’d want for personal use anyway.
