open source
A different way of doing things

Open Source, it's a proper kettle of fish if you believe all the newspaper and internet pundits. But the guts of it is, a core philosophy on building things differently from the norm.

So what is it really?
In terms of software, it's a way of building it that is different from the capitalist way we are all used to. First of all the software is free. Nada. Nothing. Zip. Zilch. And whats more you can download the source code and change it any way you like, cut bits out, add bits as long as you credit the original authors. It's a fresh way of doing things.

How can that be true?
It just is. There are thousands of people all over the world collaborating on various projects that they will then release to the world for free. What motivates them to do this? Who knows but we all benefit from it. Some do it to improve their knowledge, some to create a better widget, and others to provide a previously commercial product for free.

Is it a better way of doing things?
Maybe. Maybe not. I prefer to use a piece of software that has been developed openly, with peer review at all stages of the software's lifecycle, and more importantly completely in full view of anyone that is interested.
Contrast that with the way most commercial software is developed, behind closed doors, and then released into the wild. Who knows whats in it, whether its been tested properly. Why should my data and work be stored in bizarre formats that are closed off. It's my stuff, let me do what I want with it.

So what do you use?
I do a lot of my development on a Windows XP box. I'm not going to upgrade to Vista, sure it does lovely things but the hassles seem to outweigh the plusses.
Most of my testing, and general goofing around is done with the aid of Ubuntu Linux. And in the not so distant future I'll be waving goodbye to the Microsoft bandwagon and using Ubuntu exclusively. Every piece of software on my Ubuntu box is free, and in many cases is just as good if not better than it's windows equivalent.
Is it perfect? Nope, but it will do until something better comes along.