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Free Open Source Software (FOSS) ? An Economical Alternative To Commercial Software Applications

What is Free Open Source Software?

Free Open Source Software (FOSS) can be defined as a software that can be used, modified and redistributed free of cost. The source codes of open source software are readily available for the users in the World Wide Web. Basically, this software is a set of programs that are developed by individuals who have corporate backing and distributed in the internet for the benefit of the users. As a matter of fact, many websites have been developed on open source software programs.

Why Free Open Source Software?

When you run your business, you are always on the look out for saving or minimizing the expense in terms of buying software. If you go for paid software products in the market, then you will have to spend a lot. Thanks to the FOSS, they can be freely downloaded from the internet and you can install them on your system. Moreover, if you would like to customize them according to your specific needs, you can do so by modifying the codes as well. What?s more is that they are legal with no string attached! Hence, you can download them, and improve upon them utilizing your coding skills as per your own needs.

There are different types of open source software such as Linux, Openoffice.org, MySQL, Apache HTTPD and so forth. Individually, they are used for some unique requirements. Let?s know a bit about each of them:

Linux Linux is an open source alternative for those who do not want to shell out money on buying a Microsoft operating system.

MySQL

MySQL is used as an alternative to Oracle for database management requirement.

OpenOffice.org

This can save your cost for buying Microsoft office.

Fireforx

Firefox web browser can also freely obtained as an alternative to Internet Explorer. .

Wordpress

For blogging software, Wordpress is used as an economical alternative.

PHPBB

it is used mainly for bulletin boards and forums.

Benefits of FOSS

The benefits of FOSS can be discussed from its functionality standpoint, such as:

PHP Personal Home Page or PHP is an economical alternative to the likes of vBulletin that cost you not only in terms of first-time purchase, but also in terms of license, updates fees and so forth. Moreover, supposing you are running a forum site, multiple sites can drain the money out of your wallet. Luckily, you can download PHPBB as a free PHP provider and save your money big time.

Web Template Good-looking web templates are up for grabs if you search the internet and they are free. If you go for commercial web templates then you will have to pay around $100 for separate web template. You can also modify it according to your specific needs.

Web Browser They are so many browsers available for free and they are performing much better as well. Browsers such as Netscape, Firefox, Opera, and Safari are efficient and they are freely available.

Email Clients Thunderbird, for instance, can save your money, help you stop Spam and add plugins to customize the design you want.

OpenOffice.org

Besides being free of cost, this alternative to Microsoft Office also brings some freebies such as pdf maker which again saves your money that you would spend on Adobe Acrobat.

Maneet Puri spearheads Day Robinson Services India, a well-known name in the field of web based application services, web optimization services, and web development India services. Having over 10 years of industry experience, he has implemented web design India services for many of his international clients.

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