We thought it might be nice to have a quick rundown of some of the best apps that are free, open source, and cross-platform. Experienced users may find fault with us for leaving out their favorite app, but hopefully they will agree that the ones we’ve picked here are deserving of recognition. We especially hope this is useful to those that are unaware of the existence of these applications due to the long shadows cast by the proprietary icons of their respective categories. If you feel we did miss an important app though, please let us know in the comments and share your favorites with everyone.
Since all of these applications are open source, they have been ported to a variety of platforms. If you’re a Linux user, you’ll find them a click away in your software center. If you’re a Windows or Mac user, installers for your operating systems are freely available on the appropriate maintainers’ website...
Open Source: Incredible Apps For Every OS
Marco Chiappetta
Marco's interest in computing and technology dates all the way back to his early childhood. Even before being exposed to the Commodore P.E.T. and later the Commodore 64 in the early ‘80s, he was interested in electricity and electronics, and he still has the modded AFX cars and shop-worn soldering irons to prove it. Once he got his hands on his own Commodore 64, however, computing became Marco's passion. Throughout his academic and professional lives, Marco has worked with virtually every major platform from the TRS-80 and Amiga, to today's high end, multi-core servers. Over the years, he has worked in many fields related to technology and computing, including system design, assembly and sales, professional quality assurance testing, and technical writing. In addition to being the Managing Editor here at HotHardware for close to 15 years, Marco is also a freelance writer whose work has been published in a number of PC and technology related print publications and he is a regular fixture on HotHardware’s own Two and a Half Geeks webcast. - Contact: marco(at)hothardware(dot)com
