Open source software is code that is designed to be publicly accessible—anyone can see, modify, and distribute the code as they see fit. Open source software is developed in a decentralized and collaborative way, relying on peer review and community production.
Mozilla Firefox, Linux, WordPress, Bitcoin, and Android are popular examples of open source projects. By making their source codes available to all, open source products serve as educational tools for technology students who study the codes, learn from them, and opt to create even better codes.
Having choices is beneficial if you wish to break free from Big Tech’s proprietary grip.
Every action has a reaction, just as there is an open source alternative to proprietary software for every yin and every yang. or a similar idea.
Seldom has the topic of technological “openness” been as prominent in the public discourse as it has been in the last several years. Millions of people are looking at alternatives, many of which are free source, as a result of Twitter’s slow decline. Furthermore, the OpenAI power struggle of the previous year brought to light the true meaning of “open source” in the context of the rapidly developing AI revolution.
For a considerable amount of time, the consumer software industry has provided “open” substitutes for the well-established market leaders, such as Thunderbird in lieu of Outlook or GIMP over Photoshop or LibreOffice over Microsoft Office. There are numerous reasons why a person or company might decide to go with open source software: Perhaps it’s the customizability or the extra security and transparency it provides over proprietary players. Alternatively, some may just want to encourage a software development culture that values independence and teamwork over gated communities and vendor lock-in.
Open source software may have drawbacks, such as restricted functionality, a lack of official customer support, or deployment-related technical difficulties. But it’s still good to know your options if you’re looking to bring a little more openness to your app stack — without compromising too much on your productivity.
With that in mind, TechCrunch has pulled together some open source alternatives to popular productivity apps. These might appeal to prosumers, freelancers, or small businesses looking to escape the clutches of the usual Big Tech players.
Penpot is an open-source, web-based design tool with several plans aimed for different user types, including individuals and businesses.
Picture taken from Perplexity Ai
Regulatory obstacles ultimately forced Adobe’s $20 billion offer for Figma to terminate last year, but Penpot experienced a spike in signups when the plans were originally announced, and the business raised $8 million as a result.
Checking out Excalidraw, an open-source whiteboarding application with integrated collaboration features, is also recommended.
One company that benefited from the quick shift to remote work was Loom, which offered a wide range of screencasting, recording, and sharing tools to facilitate asynchronous video collaboration. Like many other businesses, Loom struggled when things started to return to some form of normalcy. Last year, the company sold for just under $1 billion to Atlassian.
Nevertheless, remote work is here to stay, and Screenity is a good option for anyone searching for an open source Loom substitute that isn’t affiliated with a multibillion dollar company. But for now, it’s only compatible with the Chrome browser.
follow this link for more insight: https://techcrunch.com/2024/08/11/a-not-quite-definitive-guide-to-open-source-alternative-software/
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