I mentioned open source software in Challenge 15, and this challenge will focus on more open source alternatives to popular software.
Open source software is not just software that has source code available for other developers. Other requirements are that the software must be available for free redistribution, and that derivative works must be allowed and distributed just like the original software. The full list of criteria can be read at the link above.
Have you ever used open source software? Firefox is probably the most well known open source software, but OpenOffice is probably getting pretty close to Firefox's popularity. OpenOffice is an open source alternative to Microsoft Office, and which looks and works very similarly to the Office Suite. GIMP is an open source alternative to Photoshop, and Thunderbird is Mozilla's open source alternative to Outlook and Outlook Express. ClamWin is an open source Anti-virus program, whose only drawback seems to be that it will not catch virus files automatically. You must scan your computer in order to see if any of your files are infected by viruses. There are even two open source ILS systems, Koha and Evergreen.
Your Challenge: Explore Open Source Windows and the OSSwin Project. Are you familiar with any of these programs? Try one out. How close is the open source program to the proprietary one? Would you ever switch to an open source program?
Bonus Link: The Free Software Foundation is a similar movement to Open Source. GNU mainly refers to Linux software, and you can read their philosophy here, and their rebuttal to the open source movement here.
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