Let's talk about some names you are familiar with. Steve Jobs , Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Mark Juckerberg, what do they have in common? Well they are all super rich and?
They had an idea and they worked on it to develop it into a big company and now they are rich and all.
Now another question, do you know Linus Torvald ? If you are a geek you will know that he is the person who created our lovely Linux but instead of licensing it and creating a company he made Linux Open source.
BTW he also created another very cool open source tech called GIT, let's talk about it in another post.
So what exactly open source means?
To understand it in an easy way lets talk about something simple , one of the most popular games of this time PUBG which you can download and play but you can't access the coding behind it because it is a closed source literally meaning the source is hidden.
But then there are Linux, Arduino, Python, LibreOffice, etc software and technologies whose source code is available publicly . You can change, modify, improve the code as per your liking.
Some famous logos up there like Android, Java, Firefox are surprisingly open source and awesome. Cutting to the chase some software has source code that only the person, team, or organization who created it—and maintains exclusive control over it, only they can modify the code. People call this kind of software "proprietary" or "closed source" software.
Only the original authors of proprietary software can legally copy, inspect, and alter that software. And in order to use proprietary software, computer users must agree (usually by signing a license displayed the first time they run this software) that they will not do anything with the software that the software's authors have not expressly permitted. Microsoft Office and Adobe Photoshop are examples of proprietary software.
Open source software is different. Its authors make its source code available to others who would like to view that code, copy it, learn from it, alter it, or share it. LibreOffice and the GNU Image Manipulation Program are examples of open source software.
But why does it matter to you?
By looking at the examples of opensource tools and software you can tell how amazing they can be (But why?). Let's assume you have a really great idea to improve an existing tool or software but it is closed source and you make any changes you have no way to have your idea implemented.
But if that same software is open source you can change it (in you copy not whole) without worrying about licence, legal problems or any royalty issues.
From the other perspective if you are developing something and you keep your project open source there are many talented and experienced people who will contribute to it in turn making it an awesome project.
By design, open source software licenses promote collaboration and sharing because they permit other people to make modifications to source code and incorporate those changes into their own projects. They encourage computer programmers to access, view, and modify open source software whenever they like, as long as they let others do the same when they share their work.
And if you think that you are not connected to it or you aren't a programmer so it doesn't matter to you, you are wrong. Every time computer users view web pages, check email, chat with friends, stream music online, or play multiplayer video games, their computers, mobile phones, or gaming consoles connect to a global network of computers using open source software to route and transmit their data to the "local" devices they have in front of them. The computers that do all this important work are typically located in faraway places that users don't actually see or can't physically access—which is why some people call these computers "remote computers."
List of some of the popular open source software and tools
1.Software
LibreOffice - MS Office alternative, free and versatile
VLC Player - Media player
GIMP - Adobe Photoshop alternative
Shotcut - Video edit tool
Brave - one of the best web browser (focused on privacy)
Audacity - Audio Editor
KeePass - password and credentials tool
FileZila - FTP Client
Linux - operating system (best as per my preferences)
FreeCAD - general purpose 3D CAD software
Blender - 3D Animation software
2.Tools
GIT - distributed version control system (dedicate blog soon)
Eclipse - programming IDE
Apache HttpClient network stack - used in web
Node.js - Javascript runtime
Bootstrap - front-end Web framework for website making
Python - a versatile programming language
The Open Source Community
Now we are talking about the contributors and beneficiary of the system or simply put the members of the open source system. Think of it as a galaxy , it's huge and it is full of stars all unique in their own way.
The community isn't just a fanbase that buys in (emotionally or financially) to an elite user group; it's the people who produce, test, use, promote, and ultimately affect the software they love. It's a highly cooperative , energetic, encouraging and full of knowledge and growth. By contributing to this community you are sure to learn something and develop your skill.
This place is there for you whenever you need it, as they say: it got your back.
This concept of open sourcing is a blessing to this world and the real heroes are the contributors who put in effort so that fellow users can be helped.
You are using open source tools and software without even knowing , but now you know that even a simple web search include many open source tools.
You don't have to be from the IT industry to know and experience/use open source tools and software, it exist everywhere and for all.
See you around.... :)
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