As incredible as it appears, there are infact businesses and foundations out there that actively develop and syndicate software for free. The reason for them doing this is varied, but the advantages to the users is incredible.

A long time back in the 1970’s, computer enthusiasts and nerds would develop software and syndicate it to other geeks for free to try and make it better. Along came a man called Bill Gates who saw a entrepreneurial opportunity in creating software for computers and built Altair BASIC. Unfortunately for him, his software was also distributed around and he ended up writing a long letter explaining why software should not be free (Google Bill Gates Open Letter).

Recently, the open source community has been acquiring a significant slice in the software market, mostly driven by developing countries who can’t afford the licensing fees of commercial software like Windows, Excel, Dreamweaver and even Programming Languages.

There are open source versions of just about everything, from blogging platforms to computer applications. The open source concept has even hit the food and drink market with open source recipes for wine and beer now free on the Internet. I am even writing this brief article on a piece of open source software called Open Office, a free alternative to MS Word, and it’s powered by Ubuntu, a free alternative to Windows or Mac OS X.

When it comes to websites, there is a plethora of free available to run any kind of website. Web development companies such as Wordpress and Wikimedia Foundation release software free for businesses to use. What makes it very effective is that open source customization can be done by most of companies around the Earth.

Choosing open source software for your website sets up a low cost base from which to begin, for example Wordpress is fantastic for virtually any kind of site, but with a bit of Wordpress customization you can have it meet your exact requirements for a small percentage of the cost of developing it from nothing.

Before you order your next software, always research to find out if there is an open source option available. Especially relevant during these hard times, open source products may be one way you or your business can lower its costs.

http://in4info.org.uk