Der var engang, hvor du, hvis du ville have et stykke kvalitetssoftware til din computer, skulle have din pung frem og betale for det. Microsoft-produkter var – og er stadig – et godt eksempel på dette.

Men så tog open source-bevægelsen fart, og pludselig blev vi forkælet med produkter af enestående kvalitet. Prisen? Absolut ingenting. Elsker^(Don) du ikke bare internettet^(Internet) ?

Men hvad er Open Source?^{(But What Is Open Source?)}

Der er to former for software - open source og lukket (proprietær) kilde. Det er vigtigt at forstå forskellen.

Open source er, når kildekoden (den kode, der kører softwaren) er frit tilgængelig for alle at inspicere. Du kan se, hvordan funktioner fungerer, klone dine egne versioner af den software og frigive dem som open source også (hvilket betyder, at du ikke tjener på det). Open source-projekter er altid gratis. Det er hele pointen.

På den anden side er closed source (proprietær) software, som navnet siger, fuldstændig lukket. Virksomhederne ønsker ikke, at du skal se kildekoden, fordi de er afhængige af kildekoden for at tjene penge på deres produkter.

For eksempel vil du aldrig se kildekoden til Microsoft- eller Apple - produkter. Det er bare ikke i deres bedste forretningsinteresse. Du kan køre open source-produkter på Microsoft- eller Apple -operativsystemer, men kommer du under motorhjelmen på Windows eller macOS for at inspicere deres kode? Ja held og lykke med det.

Nedenfor er, hvad jeg mener er de største og bedste open source-projekter, der findes. Naturligvis er "størst og bedst" ​​meget subjektivt, så måske er du uenig med mig? Hvis ja, så lad mig det vide.

Linux

Linux er nok det største, mest kendte og mest populære open source-projekt, der findes. Siden det begyndte i 1991, er der nu let et par hundrede aktive Linux-operativsystem "distros"^{(easily a couple hundred active Linux operating system “distros” )} (forkortelse for distributioner). Dette inkluderer Tails-systemet^{(the Tails system)} , som jeg for nylig profilerede, og højprofilerede, såsom Ubuntu , Linux Mint og Debian .

Linux er attraktivt for folk, der er slået fra af tanken om at skulle betale for dyre operativsystemer eller af folk med et had til Windows .

Linux understøttes af de fleste større software-apps, men dens ulempe er, at installation af disse apps ikke er så ligetil, som det ville være på Windows eller macOS. Nogle tekniske færdigheder er påkrævet.

Mozilla Firefox

Jeg har ikke lagt skjul på min forkærlighed for Google Chrome , men jeg har stadig en plads i mit hjerte for Mozilla Firefox . Firefox har eksisteret længere end Chrome har eksisteret, og Firefox var dem, der begyndte at ødelægge Microsofts browsermonopol.

Jeg er dog overrasket over, at ikke mange mennesker ved, at Firefox er open source, og at dets ejer Mozilla er en non-profit fond. Du kan frit inspicere koden, hjælpe frivilligt med at udvikle browseren og endda lave din egen browser baseret på Firefox -koden. Tre eksempler er WaterFox , PaleMoon og Tor-browseren^{(the Tor Browser)} .

LibreOffice

Hvis der nogensinde var en grund til aldrig at betale for Microsoft Office igen, ville LibreOffice være det. Selv at betale for Office 365 er meningsløst, når du ser gratis alternativer som LibreOffice og Google Suite .

LibreOffice er en tekstbehandlingspakke, som omfatter tekstdokumenter, regneark, databaser og "præsentationer" (deres version af Powerpoint ). Selvom LibreOffice har sit eget filformat, understøttes andre filformater, såsom Microsoft -filer, fuldt ud, og der er en smart PDF - genereringsknap med et enkelt klik.

KeepPass^{(KeePass)(KeePass)}

For ikke så længe siden skrev jeg om min kærlighed til KeePass^{(I wrote about my love for KeePass)} , og på trods af skinnende rivaler, der forsøgte at få min opmærksomhed, er min kærlighed til KeePass aldrig aftaget. Ja, KeePass er en smule almindeligt og funktionelt. Men nogle gange er det alt, du behøver.

Ud over at gemme dine adgangskoder, har den også en meget nem at bruge adgangskodegenerator. Når du accepterer den adgangskode, den tilbyder dig, udfylder den automatisk KeePass - felterne, så alt du skal gøre er at "gemme".

Da KeePass også har en bærbar version, er det nemt at sætte adgangskodedatabasefilen i skylageret og synkronisere den på tværs af computere.

WordPress

Sammen med Linux er dette sandsynligvis det andet mest berømte eksempel på open source-projekter. Det bruges af svimlende 60 millioner websteder til at drive alt fra onlinebutikker til porteføljer til blogs (og mange flere anvendelser derimellem).

Lad os bare sige, at hvis WordPress besluttede at stoppe udviklingen i morgen, ville mange websteder have alvorlige problemer.

For at udvide dets anvendelighed er WordPress stærkt afhængig af sit store bibliotek af plugins og temaer^(themes) . De fleste af dem er gratis, men der er også en masse premium muligheder.

Chrom^{(Chromium)(Chromium)}

Jeg nævnte tidligere, at Mozilla Firefox var den bedste open source-browser, men Google har også arbejdet på deres eget lette open source-tilbud.

Ikke at forveksle med Google Chrome , Chromium er Googles open source-browser. Det meste af Google Chromes^{(Google Chrome)} kode er baseret på Chromium , men Chromium er også en browser i sig selv.

Mange andre browserudviklere bruger Chromium -kode til deres egne browsere. Dette inkluderer Amazon Silk og Opera . Fra i år vil Microsoft Edge også inkorporere Chromium i deres browser.

Kryptovaluta^{(Cryptocurrency)}

Endelig cryptocurrency. Ja, selv det er open source, da alle kan tage en eksisterende kryptovaluta, studere koden og lave en ny. For eksempel kunne jeg tage Bitcoin og bruge koden til at lave en ONeillCoin, hvis jeg var så tilbøjelig og havde de udviklende færdigheder.

Men det er for en anden artikel og for nogen, der ved, hvad de taler om.

The Best Open Source Software You Should Be Using

There was a time when, if you wanted a quality piece оf software for your computer, yоu had to get your wallеt out and pay for it. Microsoft products were – and stіll arе – a prime example of this.

But then the open source movement picked up steam and suddenly we were treated to outstanding quality products. The price? Absolutely nothing. Don’t you just love the Internet?

But What Is Open Source?

There are two forms of software – open source and closed (proprietary) source. It’s important to understand the difference.

Open source is when the source code (the code that runs the software) is freely available for anyone to inspect. You can see how features work, clone your own versions of that software and release them as open-source too (meaning you don’t make a profit on it). Open-source projects are always free. That is the whole point.

On the other hand, closed source (proprietary) software is, as the name says, completely closed. The companies don’t want you to see the source code because they rely on the source code to make a profit with their products.

For example, you will never see the source code for Microsoft or Apple products. It’s just not in their best business interests. You can run open source products on Microsoft or Apple operating systems but getting under the hood of Windows or macOS to inspect their code? Yeah good luck with that.

Below are what I feel are the biggest and best open source projects around. Obviously “biggest and best” is very subjective so maybe you disagree with me? If so, please do let me know.

Linux

Linux is probably the biggest, most well-known, and most popular open source project in existence. Since it began in 1991, there is now easily a couple hundred active Linux operating system “distros” (short for distributions). This includes the Tails system, which I recently profiled, and high-profile ones such as Ubuntu, Linux Mint, and Debian.

Linux is attractive to people who are turned off by the thought of having to pay for expensive operating systems or by people with a hatred towards Windows.

Linux is supported by most major software apps but its downside is that installing those apps is not as straightforward as it would be on Windows or macOS. Some technical ability is required.

Mozilla Firefox

I’ve made no secret of my fondness for Google Chrome, but I still have a place in my heart for Mozilla Firefox. Firefox has been around longer than Chrome has been, and Firefox were the ones who started to destroy Microsoft’s browser monopoly.

I’m surprised though that not many people know that Firefox is open source and that its owner Mozilla is a non-profit foundation. You can freely inspect the code, volunteer to help develop the browser, and even make your own browser based on the Firefox code. Three examples are WaterFox, PaleMoon, and the Tor Browser.

LibreOffice

If there was ever a reason never to pay for Microsoft Office again, LibreOffice would be it. Even paying for Office 365 is pointless when you see free alternatives like LibreOffice and Google Suite.

LibreOffice is a word processing suite which includes text documents, spreadsheets, databases and “presentations” (their version of Powerpoint). Although LibreOffice has its own file format, other file formats, such as Microsoft files, are fully supported, and there is a nifty one-click PDF generation button.

KeePass

Not so long ago, I wrote about my love for KeePass and despite shinier rivals trying to get my attention, my affection for KeePass has never waned. Sure, KeePass is a bit plain and functional. But sometimes that’s all you need.

As well as storing your passwords, it also has a very easy-to-use password generator. When you accept the password it offers you, it automatically pre-fills the KeePass fields so all you need to do is “save”.

Since KeePass also has a portable version, it is easy to stick the password database file in cloud storage and sync it across computers.

WordPress

Along with Linux, this is probably the other most famous example of open-source projects. It is used by a staggering 60 million websites to power everything from online shops to portfolios to blogs (and many more uses in-between).

Let’s just say that if WordPress decided to stop development tomorrow, a lot of websites would have serious problems.

To extend its usability, WordPress relies heavily on its vast library of plugins and themes. Most of them are free but there are a lot of premium options as well.

Chromium

I mentioned earlier on that Mozilla Firefox was the best open-source browser, but Google has also been working on their own light open-source offering.

Not to be confused with Google Chrome, Chromium is Google’s open-source browser. Most of Google Chrome’s code is based on Chromium but Chromium is also a browser in its own right.

Many other browser developers use Chromium code for their own browsers. This includes Amazon Silk and Opera. As of this year, Microsoft Edge will also incorporate Chromium into their browser.

Cryptocurrency

Finally, cryptocurrency. Yes, even that is open-source as anyone can take an existing cryptocurrency, study the code, and make a new one. For example, I could take Bitcoin and use the code to make an ONeillCoin if I was so inclined and had the developing skills.

But that is for another article and for someone who knows what they are talking about.

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