1. What is open source software?
Open-source software (OSS) is computer
software with its source code made available and licensed with a license in
which the copyright holder provides the rights to study, change and distribute
the software to anyone and for any purpose.
--> In your opinion, why people prefer open source software over proprietary alternatives nowadays?
In my opinion,people prefer open source software over proprietary alternatives nowadays because open source
software is made available gratis or at a low cost.
Other than that, the availability of the source code and the right to modify it is very important. It enables the unlimited tuning and improvement of a software product. It also makes it possible to port the code to new hardware, to adapt it to changing conditions, and to reach a detailed understanding of how the system works. Source code availability also makes it much easier to isolate bugs, and (for a programmer) to fix them.
Next,the right to redistribute modifications and improvements to the code, and to reuse other open source code, permits all the advantages due to the modifiability of the software to be shared by large communities. This is usually the point that differentiates open source software licences from ``nearly free'' ones. In substance, the fact that redistribution rights cannot be revoked, and that they are universal, is what attracts a substantial crowd of developers to work around open source software projects.
Besides,they have the right to use the software in any way. This way, combined with redistribution rights, ensures (if the software is useful enough), a large population of users, which helps in turn to build up a market for support and customization of the software, which can only attract more and more developers to work in the project. This in turn helps to improve the quality of the product, and to improve its functionality. Which, once more, will cause more and more users to give the product a try, and probably to use it regularly.
In addition,there is no one with the power to restrict in a unilateral way how the software is used, even in a retroactive way. Such a power manifests, for instance, when a proprietary software vendor decides not to upgrade some software product for some old platform. In this case, customers can only stick to the old version of the software, or switch to another product. If open source software is used, customers can also fund some development for the desired platform, or look for other vendors to provide the upgrades (of the very same product).
--> Name top (fives) 5 most popular open source software and compare them with similar
proprietary software (e.g. Open Office versus Microsoft Office).
Word Processor Software : LibreOffice versus Microsoft Office
LibreOffice comes with a word processor (Writer), a spreadsheet program (Calc), a presentation tool (Impress), a databases manager (Base), and a lot more. It is fully compatible with standard Microsoft Office file formats but users must remember to save or export their files in the respective format.
LibreOffice is
compatible with a lot more systems, including Windows, OS X, and Linux, while
Microsoft Office's newest version is restricted to just Windows 7 and Windows 8.
When it comes to word processors, LibreOffice Writer and Microsoft Word are easily two of the best out there. If you've used Microsoft Word before, then you'll be right at home with Writer and vice-versa. In fact, in many ways, Writer even blows Word out of the water.P
When it comes to straight up features, both of it are
incredibly similar. Writer has all the major features of Word, including a
fantastic grammar checker, a solid autosave system, support for a huge variety
of formats, and plenty more. If you're a Word user, you'll have no problem
making the jump to Writer because the two operate and look the same. Likewise,
if this is your first Office suite, then Writer is easy to learn and use.P
For years, Word's killer feature was a variety of editing
options and change tracking. Now, though, Writer comes with all that as well.
You can track changes, show edits, and everything else. In fact, I prefer
Writer's simpler layout of tracked changes over Word's because it's a bit
easier to use and understand.
Another Open Source Software (OSS) which is OpenOffice also has it own advantages.
Presentation Software: Impress versus PowerPoint
The word PowerPoint has been synonymous
with presentations for a long while, and with good reason: it's a powerful
piece of software and does presentations better than most.
The main issue with Impress is that it still struggles occasionally when
importing presentations made in PowerPoint. Some users having issues with some
missing fonts and other rendering problems. If you're creating presentations
from scratch, Impress does it pretty well than PowerPoint. Impress lack of
certain slide animations and no support for video exports. Impress also doesn't
have animated diagrams and lacks the ability to collaborate on presentations as
a group.
However,there are also advantages for using Impress. Impress can export
presentations in a ton of different formats, which makes sharing presentations
a lot easier because you don't have to rely on someone else having
PowerPoint. Regardless, both feel pretty similar to use, and while neither will
magically give you an Academy Award-winning presentation, they're both equally
easy to start.
Graphics Software: GIMP versus Adobe Photoshop
GIMP, an acronym for GNU Image Manipulation Program, is a cross platform graphics editor, which can serve as a simple paint program, but also supports advanced features, such as photo retouching, batch processing, or image format conversion.
3D Animator Software : Blender versus 3ds Max
Blender is a cross-platform 3D content creation suite that supports modeling, animation, rendering, a game engine, and much more. The Blender homepage features a thorough collection of tutorials and a list of movies that were created with the program.
Compressor Software : 7-Zip versus WinZip or WinRAR
7-Zip is a file compression/decompression tool that supports many archive formats and also comes bundled with a lightweight file manager.
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