{"id":480,"date":"2026-09-24T17:20:04","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T17:20:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dansgeekstop.com\/blog\/?p=480"},"modified":"2026-09-24T18:06:51","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T18:06:51","slug":"open-source-software-and-why-its-needed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.dansgeekstop.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/24\/open-source-software-and-why-its-needed\/","title":{"rendered":"Open-Source Software and Why it&#8217;s Needed"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile is-vertically-aligned-top\" style=\"grid-template-columns:26% auto\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"683\" height=\"1024\" src=\"http:\/\/dansgeekstop.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/OpenSource-683x1024.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-482 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.dansgeekstop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/OpenSource-683x1024.png 683w, https:\/\/blog.dansgeekstop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/OpenSource-200x300.png 200w, https:\/\/blog.dansgeekstop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/OpenSource-768x1152.png 768w, https:\/\/blog.dansgeekstop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/OpenSource.png 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px\" \/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When people think of Open Source software, many think of it as free software. But is that all it is? Just free software? Is that the definition of Open Source software?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Well, let&#8217;s look up the definition of it. I am sure that there are many definitions of open source, so I will choose the one that best represents what it means to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Open source is a decentralized production model that allows anyone to modify and share technology because its design is publicly accessible. The term originated in the context of software development to indicate that the software complies with certain free distribution criteria. Today, the term open source way designates a broader value set that is based on the principles of free information exchange, rapid prototyping, and collaborative development. Anyone can contribute new ideas and improve the technology further so that it evolves organically.&#8221; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/aws.amazon.com\/what-is\/open-source\">https:\/\/aws.amazon.com\/what-is\/open-source<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dang, I like that definition and the information that is also contained in that link. And the funny thing about that definition? That definition came from a billion-dollar corporation.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That&#8217;s right, many large corporations contribute to the Open Source community. IBM, Google, Microsoft, and many more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">NOW, were these big corporations all gung ho for Open Source in the beginning? HELL NO. But they have come around. Want to know why? Because these same corporations that 1) didn&#8217;t want to support it and 2) didn&#8217;t want to contribute to it found that they also use open source software in many of their paid-for applications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ok, so yea. We have some heavy hitters in the Open Source community. But why did they come around and become contributors to the open source community? Who or what showed them the light?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Well, from the same source cited above comes this explanation of why open source is important:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;The idea of open source emerged from the technology community. Technical innovations need global collaboration to evolve. For example, say a programming team in the US develops new open-source technology for a financial application. Another programming team in Australia modifies the technology with new functionality better suited for the health sector. A third team in Asia then develops new open-source products that use the original technology as a core component.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Such knowledge sharing and collective innovation benefit the entire community. Locking technology behind patents, copyrights, and expensive licenses limits progress. Many popular open-source projects have led to rapid technology advancement worldwide in the last few decades.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are many open source proponents who will tell you that, unlike proprietary software, open source code can be, and most often is, reviewed by many people looking for issues with it. Nothing is hidden with regard to how it works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That might scare you because you may think it can be exploited. But it should also comfort you that people are looking for ways to ENSURE it ISN&#8217;T exploited. This is very important when it comes to security and privacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Proprietary software cannot be reviewed in the same way by the general public. Besides paying for it, you don&#8217;t necessarily have independent third-party eyes reviewing the source code and verifying its integrity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ok, I have described what open source is and who supports it. Now let&#8217;s get to where it can help you right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you are like me, every penny counts. And even though I do support paid-for software from quality companies, I just can&#8217;t always afford it. Fortunately, there are many alternative open source applications that you can get for free, that are fully supported, and that may fill your software needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Remember where I talked about major software companies that use open source applications? What I was describing mostly deals with things you do not see. Security, web pages, and other applications working behind the scenes that you just don&#8217;t see when you use proprietary software.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lets talk about companies that actually use open source for specific tasks they must perform.   And many of the open source applications that these companies are using are the same ones that may  meet your individual requirements. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The companies I am now describing may use applications that are both free and simply meet their requirements better than the paid alternatives. This could be office software, graphical editing software, better editors for coding, or software that meets other requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Plus, if you are a company that has multiple people using the same application, you may not have to pay a license fee for every user. Download the software once and, depending on its license, distribute it across the whole company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And I can tell you that I have worked for a Fortune 100 company that used a lot of open source software. So, we are not just talking about mom-and-pop companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And if you think I am anal about security, these companies can be much more anal about security. That doesn&#8217;t mean every open source application is automatically secure, but it should tell you something about how seriously open source software can be evaluated and trusted, even in large corporate environments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Before I get into specific open source applications you may want to use, I want to add one more thing. The open source applications I will suggest have plenty of tutorials available that explain how to use them. So, if you have questions or run into problems, chances are you can find answers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Links to the official websites for all of the open source applications mentioned in this article can be found at the bottom of the page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Let&#8217;s start with something I know most people need. Everyone exchanges Microsoft documents, whether they are Word documents or Excel spreadsheets. But to get a home version of Microsoft Office, you have to put out money for their office suite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And if you are not careful when you purchase the product, you can end up with a subscription plan or an online version when that isn&#8217;t what you actually wanted. Sucks if you are not online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I offer you LibreOffice. This is a fully functional office suite that can open, edit, and create most Microsoft Office documents. LibreOffice includes Writer for word processing, Calc for spreadsheets, Impress for presentations, and Base for databases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There can be compatibility issues, especially with more complicated PowerPoint presentations or Access databases. But I don&#8217;t feel that most people are going to run into those problems with their everyday use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I mostly use Word and Excel documents, and those can be opened, edited, and created with LibreOffice. For what I need to do, LibreOffice handles the job just fine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Let&#8217;s move on to email clients. I believe that most of us probably use Gmail for our email. And yes, you can access Gmail through desktop and phone applications, but I just find some of them clunky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I suggest Thunderbird for this task. I find it to be a very easy email client to use, and there are versions available for both Windows and Android.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thunderbird comes from the Mozilla family, the same organization behind the Firefox web browser. It is free, open source, and can be used with Gmail as well as many other email providers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Are you into photography? Maybe you use a dedicated camera, or maybe you just use the camera on your phone. Want to clean up those pictures or bring out more detail?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Adobe Photoshop is the choice of many professional photographers and graphic artists. But there is an open source alternative called GIMP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I actually use GIMP myself. It is a powerful image editor, and just like Photoshop, there are many plugins available for specific tasks. There is also a huge number of tutorials available that can help you learn how to use it or figure out how to accomplish a specific task. Like to do graphic design? Many professionals use Adobe Illustrator. But there is an open source alternative for this as well, and it is used by professionals too: Inkscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now, I have played around with Inkscape when trying to create logos for my web page. But honestly, my graphic design skill set pretty much sucks. My point in offering this application is that you do have a choice. You don&#8217;t necessarily have to pay for expensive software to get a capable graphic design application.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The last alternatives that I am going to offer are for computer-aided design, or CAD. Have a home project you want to do where you would normally diagram everything on a piece of paper? The well-known proprietary option is AutoCAD, which is used for 2D and 3D design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But there are open source alternatives. LibreCAD can be used for 2D technical drawings and drafting, while FreeCAD can be used for 3D models, mechanical parts, engineering designs, assemblies, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At one time, I used LibreCAD to modify a small tractor trailer to make my astronomy equipment mobile so I could move it more easily around a field. I had never used any CAD software before, and I really didn&#8217;t find the learning curve to be that difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My point with this last entry is that CAD software may not be something you would constantly use. But if you do have a project where you want to design or diagram something before you build it, you have options without breaking the bank. In closing, I have not even come close to describing all the different open source applications that are out there. I just tried to touch on some major areas that I think people might need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And if you have a specific task that is not mentioned here, either email me or just ask AI. I am sure that either one of us can help you find what you need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These are the official websites for the software mentioned in this article. Always use the official website when downloading open source or other software. This helps ensure that you are downloading the legitimate version of the application and not a modified copy from a third-party download site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">LibreOffice &#8211; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.libreoffice.org\">www.libreoffice.org<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thunderbird &#8211; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thunderbird.net\">www.thunderbird.net<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">GIMP &#8211; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.gimp.org\">www.gimp.org<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Inkscape &#8211; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.inkscape.org\">www.inkscape.org<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">LibreCAD &#8211; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.librecad.org\">www.librecad.org<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">FreeCAD &#8211; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.freecad.org\">www.freecad.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When people think of Open Source software, many think of it as free software. But is that all it is? Just free software? Is that the definition of Open Source software? Well, let&#8217;s look up the definition of it. I am sure that there are many definitions of open source, so I will choose the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":482,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"full-width-container","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[858,230],"tags":[870,867,869,872,859,860,862,865,874,864,879,873,876,861,590,877,868,875,863,7,871,866,878],"class_list":["post-480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sofware","category-technology","tag-7-zip","tag-audacity","tag-blender","tag-firefox","tag-free-applications","tag-free-software","tag-free-software-alternatives","tag-gimp","tag-graphics-software","tag-libreoffice","tag-linux-software","tag-multimedia-software","tag-office-software","tag-open-source","tag-open-source-software","tag-productivity-software","tag-scribus","tag-software","tag-software-alternatives","tag-technology","tag-thunderbird","tag-vlc-media-player","tag-windows-software"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Open-Source Software and Why it&#039;s Needed - Dans Geek Stop Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.dansgeekstop.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/24\/open-source-software-and-why-its-needed\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Open-Source Software and Why it&#039;s Needed - Dans Geek Stop Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When people think of Open Source software, many think of it as free software. But is that all it is? Just free software? Is that the definition of Open Source software? Well, let&#8217;s look up the definition of it. 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But is that all it is? Just free software? Is that the definition of Open Source software? Well, let&#8217;s look up the definition of it. 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