Sourceforge.net has announced its 2008 Community Choice finalists, and includes a wide range of projects that I'm seeing for the first time. Sure, there are old favorites like OpenOffice and Firebird, but when was the last time you used Sphinx (SQL full-text search engine), FreeMind (mind mapper), or Habari (next-generation blogging platform)?
Some of the finalists - or, rather where they were voted - are quite silly. Under the "Most Likely to Be the Next $1B Acquisition" category, only a small fraction of the candidates are actually corporations capable of being purchased for $1 billion. (Zenoss, Magento, and Talend welcome your $1 billion. :-)
Others are a little closer to the truth. Under "Most Likely to Change the World," Linux and Ubuntu both feature, though arguably they already have. OpenOffice also features there but, come on, if it hasn't changed the world by now, why should we expect it to do so tomorrow?
... Read moreMicrosoft has a clever Home Use Program that "provides a simple way for staff to work at home with the same Microsoft products they use at work." It's also a great way for Microsoft to spread its software and prevent would-be Mac or open-source users from straying from the Microsoft fold.
Speaking of which, Apple has a similar program, of which my company takes part. I can get Apple hardware and software at a discount, even when not buying it for work. To Apple (and Microsoft), it's a way to expand adoption at a lower cost of sale.
To these efforts, however, we should add a third "Home Use Program." It's called Sourceforge.net. At Sourceforge.net you can download popular open-source projects at work...for free. You can then head home to buy these exact same programs...for free!
It's the ultimate Home Use Program. Completely free. What a bargain!
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