Top ten free and open source programs

Asked to choose the ten top free and open source (FOSS) programs, Bradlug members suggested over forty; so this list has been whittled down and is in alphabetical order because we probably couldn’t agree on an order for those that made it to the top ten.

Everyone uses FOSS programs when they go on the Internet or use any of the most popular sites and nine of these top ten programs work on Windows.

Apache: the server which powered the rise of the Internet and runs on most of the computers connected to the Internet – also available for your home or office network

Audacity: for editing sounds and music from all sources

Chromium: a FOSS version of Google’s Chrome browser for those who want to get on and off the Internet quickly

GIMP: superb picture and photo editor

MySQL: the database used by many well-known names on the Internet to handle your searches; it can also be used with MS Access giving you greater flexibility in managing access to MS Access queries and reports

OpenOffice: an office suite to meet the needs of most offices and all those who need office facilities at home

Scribus: a desktop publishing program written to produce professional quality output but also usable by home users

Tomboy: a note-taking program which allows formatting of notes and links with email addresses and websites

Ubuntu (Linux only): a collection of Linux programs which offers a one-stop replacement for other operating systems or can be run alongside Windows, giving access to both where a user needs Windows for some purposes

VLC: a media player to play CDs, DVDs and streaming audio or video from all sources.

John Hudson: Sept. 2010