Download Apache OpenOffice For Mac

Open source is a broad terminology. Its use is not just limited to software. Open source software has its source code freely available to the public, to use, modify and redistribute it without paying a royalty to the original developer. So developers in diverse industry segments, be it logistics or manufacturing or healthcare, can use the source code as a platform to develop applications suiting to their specific needs.
The Open Source Initiative (OSI) is a community of developers, intended to create a platform for idea sharing, creating awareness, and educating people. The community can evolve and grow only through generous contribution from community partners and large companies who frequently offer their support to them. Most of the IT experts and professionals love the Linux Operating System and the Linux Community.

It is just great for a developer to experiment with new code and applications with Linux.
Some of the most popular Open Source products are Linux (Operating System), Symbian (Mobile Operating System), Apache (HTTP Web Server), Eclipse (Integrated development environment) and Mozilla (Web Browser). Open Source projects and start-ups are often funded heavily by Venture capitalists. Popular companies like SugarCRM and MySQL have been backed up by large Venture capital funding.

Apart from Venture capitalists, the Open Source community receives a lot of funding from large companies like IBM and RedHat. IBM supports the Eclipse project. RedHat supports Linux applications. SourceForge supports and hosts thousands of such projects. However I sometimes wonder if the Open Source Community can be a legitimate threat to vendors of proprietary software. There is still very less actual adoption of Open Source applications. Most vendors cite a high total cost of ownership (TCO) for these applications. Details of licenses, identifying value, understanding the maturity of the software, identifying channels to procure and risk evaluation needs to be done before a company takes a decision to adopt these softwares.

Traditional software vendors such as Microsoft and SAP have taken steps in order to respond to open source adoption. Recently migrating from Strategic Consumer to Strategic Developer, SAP supports the Eclipse Foundation by providing full time resources and developers for various projects. This is a strategic move to strengthen its ecosystem and provide seamless integration of open source software with SAP applications. Some of the popular applications like MySQL, OpenOffice and OpenSolaris are now a part of the Oracle Open Source umbrella. I think Open Source has contributed a great deal to the software ecosystem and is definitely here to stay.