Great Open Source Software Alternatives

In the constantly expanding world of software, there are two main branches that at least most people would have heard about, even if it was just in passing. These are proprietary and open source software.

Proprietary software consists of code that is closed source, which means that the code is not available for viewing, reproducing, or modifying. This can be a fairly big problem, as it means that malicious code might be used in the software that only the developers would know about.

Open source software, on the other hand, has code that’s viewable by the public, can be modified and reproduced virtually endlessly.

This tends to be the gold standard of software, respecting software guides that are respectful to the ethos of offering software for everyone. Here we will look at some stand-out open source alternatives.

Office Suite

Most people are well acquainted with Microsoft Office, or Office 365, which is the most common office suite in the world. But those that would be more comfortable making use of an open source office suite have a few choices.

The most common and popular at the moment is LibreOffice, which is the successor to OpenOffice. LibreOffice usually comes as the default office suite for most Linux-based operating systems, and it offers a selection of extremely powerful tools that replicate most of what Microsoft has to offer.

Email Alternatives

Gmail, Yahoo, and Outlook are three of the most popular email services in the world, but they’re all known for scanning their users’ emails and using the information for pushing ads.

The best option, then, is to instead opt for an open source email provider. Not only are they open source, but they’re also usually better choices in terms of security and privacy. ProtonMail, Tutanota, and Mailbox are excellent choices, and all offer excellent privacy.

Browser

Google’s Chrome browser, built on the Chromium base, currently leads the world as the most-used browser, but it also comes with plenty of tracking and anti-privacy features baked right in.

Mozilla Firefox is the best alternative to make use of, offering a powerful experience with a focus on privacy and security, while also offering a robust user experience, whether it’s for work, online streaming, or even just checking out the latest casino bonus offers. Firefox has recently undergone something of facelift, the team behind the browser has been putting in a lot of effort into improving the overall performance of the browser.

F-Droid

We’re all familiar with the Play Store and App Store, but not that many people have heard of F-Droid.

Run by a dedicated team of passionate developers, F-Droid works as something of a marketplace for free and open source apps that anyone can download provided they have an Android. There are plenty of apps to choose from and can easily get a phone up and running with everything the user needs.

Linux

As far as operating systems go, most people will be familiar with Windows, but it isn’t the only one that exists.

The GNU/Linux operating system, which has become a thriving ecosystem of hundreds of different distributions, is an excellent choice, offering plenty of variety, security, privacy, and an excellent number of modern tools and support.