Foss Programs

[twocows]

For those of you who don't know, FOSS, or Free Open Source Software, is a movement in computing to encourage programmers to allow anyone to share, study, and modify software. The most popular example of an open source project is Mozilla Firefox, a widely used internet browser. Open source software tends to be better for the same reason that Wikipedia tends to be a good source of information: anybody with something to contribute to an open source project can do so.

Another advantage to open source projects is that, in many instances, these projects are not only free to modify, but free to use. Mozilla Firefox is free to download and use, as are many open source projects. In this post, I'll list some examples of popular open source software. I encourage you to try them at your leisure.

Mozilla Firefox
Mozilla Firefox, the award-winning internet browser managed by the Mozilla Corporation, is, perhaps, the fastest and most secure internet browser in history. With speeds over 10 times as fast as Internet Explorer 7 on some benchmarks, less memory usage than any competing browser, fewer critical vulnerabilities than IE7, and over 6500 user created addons (such as Adblock Plus), there's little about this browser that isn't to like, and with a price point that cannot be beaten: free.

OpenOffice.org
Sun Microsystems' OpenOffice.org, also known as OpenOffice or OOo, is an office productivity suite with a feature set comparable to Microsoft Office. It features a flexible word processor, a powerful spreadsheet, dynamic graphics, database access, and numerous other features for everyday use or business applications. As with much open source software, it can be downloaded and used for free; this applies to commercial as well as personal use. OpenOffice primarily uses the Open Document Format, but is also compatible with a variety of other formats, including Microsoft Office file formats.

VLC Media Player
VLC Media Player, or simply VLC, is a freely available media player managed by the VideoLAN team. With support for almost every audio and video format currently in use, the ability to play incomplete or damaged files, and an implementation on almost every major platform, it is one of the most versatile media players available.

7-Zip
7-Zip, designed by Igor Pavlov, is an archiving program that allows access to most compressed or non-compressed file archives, including ZIP, RAR, and 7z. It can also create ZIP, 7z, and a few other file archives. It is available free of charge, regardless of usage.

Pidgin
Pidgin is a cross-platform instant messaging program. It allows you to contact friends on nearly any instant messaging program without the need for having those programs installed. It has support for MSN Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, AOL Instant Messenger, MySpaceIM, Google Talk, and IRC. It is free to download and use.

Ogg
Ogg is a container format mainainted by the Xiph.org Foundation that can hold various audio or video streams, usually Vorbis (audio) and Theora (video), both of which are also maintained by the Xiph.org Foundation. Basically, it's an audio and/or video file format, much like MP3 is an audio file format.

You can find more open source projects at Wikipedia's free software portal. If you'd like to learn more about open source or the free software movement, check out the Free Software Foundation's website.