OpenOffice : a replacement for microsoft office.

Microsoft Office is really costly. If you work full time on office then you can afford to buy one. But what if you are a student and cannot afford to have buy a Office suite?

Here is the solution.
OpenOffice or OpenOffice.org(OOo) , the ".org" inclusion is due to a trademark dispute.

OpenOffice is intended to be compatible and directly compete with Microsoft Office. OOo is a free software under the LGPL and is available for Microsoft Windows, Unix Like systems and Mac OS X.
OOo is based on the code from an older version of sStarOffice that was made open source by sun microsystem with the aim of breaking the market dominance of microsoft. It gave the general public a version of StarOffice that was free including the source code.

The primary development platforms for OOo are Microsoft Windows, GNU/Linux and Solaris, with ports available or in progress for OS/2 and many UNIX like Oerating Systems.

OOo suite includes 

• Writer (word processor)
• Calc (spreadsheet)
• Draw (graphics program)
• Impress (presentation program)
• Database User Tools
• Visual HTML editor
• Macro recorder
• StarOffice Basic
• Math (mathematical formula editor)
• Export and Import Microsoft Word and DocBook XML, export PDF and Macromedia Flash.

OOo can with some effort be configured to integrate with databases such as MySQL ans PostgreSQL, which offer similar functionality to Microsoft Access.

Why Apache Open Office? 

1. Great software : Programmers all over the world have contributed to the development for open office in one way or the other. 

2. Easy to use : IF you are already a offfice suite user, you will not waste a single tym to get used to the open office environment. 

3. Its free : Yup, its completely free. Use yourself, make copies, give it to your friends, use it personally, commercially or in any other way you can think off. 

How to Download: 

You can Download a copy of open office for yourself for free from www.openoffice.org.

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Open Source Games : Unvanquished

Unvanquished is a free, open-source first-person shooter combining real-time strategy elements with a futuristic, sci-fi setting. It is available for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X.

Python : way to free and open source programming

Python is a general-purpose, interpreted high-level programming language whose design philosophy emphasizes code readability. Its syntax is said to be clear and expressive. Python has a large and comprehensive standard library.
Python supports multiple programming paradigms, primarily but not limited to object-oriented, imperative and, to a lesser extent, functional programming styles.

PHP general-purpose server-side scripting language

PHP is an open source general-purpose server-side scripting language originally designed for Web development to produce dynamic Web pages. It is one of the first developed server-side scripting languages to be embedded into an HTML source document rather than calling an external file to process data. The code is interpreted by a Web server with a PHP processor module which generates the resulting Web page.

MeeGo

The MeeGo project provides a Linux-based, open source software platform for the next generation of computing devices. The MeeGo software platform is designed to give developers the broadest range of device segments to target for their applications, including netbooks, handheld computing and communications devices, in-vehicle infotainment devices, smart TVs, tablets and more – all using a uniform set of APIs based on Qt. For consumers, MeeGo will offer innovative application experiences that they can take from device to device.

The MeeGo project is hosted by The Linux Foundation.

2 useful open source tools for windows

People think that working with open source is usually for computer addicts who dont want anything simpler in their life. There is definitely a feeling that open source is difficult to follow and is not for everyone. Well, this article is going to prove it wrong by mentioning 5 usefull open source tools for windows other than openoffice or firefox which you already know about. 
Anyone having basic knowledge of computers can use these.

1. Rainmeter.

Rainmeter displays customizable skins, like memory and battery power, RSS feeds and weather forecasts, right on your desktop. Many skins are even functional: they can record your notes and to-do lists, launch your favorite applications, and control your media player - all in a clean, unobtrusive interface that you can rearrange and customize to your liking. Rainmeter is at once an application and a toolkit. You are only limited by your imagination and creativity.

Rainmeter is open source software distributed free of charge under the terms of the GNU GPL v2 license.

download http://rainmeter.net

2. GNU CASH

GnuCash is personal and small-business financial-accounting software, freely licensed under the GNU GPL and available for GNU/Linux, BSD, Solaris, Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows.

Designed to be easy to use, yet powerful and flexible, GnuCash allows you to track bank accounts, stocks, income and expenses. As quick and intuitive to use as a checkbook register, it is based on professional accounting principles to ensure balanced books and accurate reports.

Featured Highlights: 

Double-Entry Accounting

Stock/Bond/Mutual Fund Accounts

Small-Business Accounting

Reports, Graphs

QIF/OFX/HBCI Import, Transaction Matching

Scheduled Transactions

Financial Calculations

download http://www.gnucash.org/

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ANDROID - Open Source.

Android is a Linux-based operating system for mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers, developed by Google. Android was initially developed by Android Inc, whom Google financially backed and later purchased in 2005. Google releases the Android code as open-source, under the Apache License. The Android Open Source Project (AOSP) is tasked with the maintenance and further development of Android. Android became the world's leading smartphone platform at the end of 2010. For the first quarter of 2012, Android had a 59% smartphone market share worldwide. As of third quarter 2012, there were 480 million devices activated and 1.3 million activations per day.

Websites Supporting Open Source Software

Let us now talk about some projects and organizations dedicated to free and open source software in one way or another.

Top 3 Linux distributions

LINUX

Linux is a UNIX like computer operating system and is most widely used free and open source software.
Linux was originally developed as a free operating system for Intel x-86 based personal computers. Today, the top 10 super computers uses linux as its operating environment with little change in its structure.Since Linux comes under free and open source software, its underlying source code is freely available, can be modified and redistributed under GNU GPL licence.Programmers all over the world contribute to the development of various Linux projects.


Some of the Linux versions are here.. and the best thing is you can try all of these free of cost.

Open source/Free software

1. Linux

Linux is the name of popular computer operating system. It is not only freely available, but also its underlying source code is available to all and anyone can freely openly use it, modify it and redistribute it.

Terminology and definitions.

Terminology and definitions --open source software.


1. OSS and FLOSS.

OSS refers to open source software, which refers to software whose source code is available to customers and it can be modified and redistributed without any limitations.

Open source definition and distribution terms.

Open Source definition.

Broadly, the term 'open source software' is used to refer to those categories of software/programs whose licences do not impose any conditions. Such software, generally, give users freedom to run/use the software for any purpose, to study and modify the programs, and to redistribute copies of either the original or modified program.

What is important to know here is that in Open source software, the source code is freely available to the customer.