Open Source

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Open-source software is computer software for which the source code is available under a license (or arrangement such as the public domain) that meets the Open Source Definition. Open Source Software is commonly associated with freeware even though not all freeware is open source and open source software does not have to be free (as in zero price). In the words of Richard Stallman, founder of the Free Software Foundation, open source software is "free as in speech, not free as in beer".

In the DataFlex world Open Source products such as VDF Query and The Hammer are commonly used by developers.

There are many Open Source programs available in a wide range of languages, many of which can be found on the popular Sourceforge site.

Notable VDF Open Source Programs

Popular Open Source Programs

  • Linux - A Unix-like operating system
  • Apache - The most widely used web server on the internet (currently - Nov 2007 - about 50% share[1], down from a maximum of just under 70% in 2005)
  • MySQL and PostgreSQL - Database Servers
  • Sendmail - A very widely deployed e-mail server
  • BIND - The canonical DNS (Domain Name Server/Service/System) server implementation
  • GCC - The GNU Compiler Collection - compiles C, C++, Objective-C, Fortran, Java and Ada
  • Perl, Python, PHP and Ruby - Popular and widely-used programming languages (all four are scripting languages)
  • Samba - Allows Unix/Linux servers to act as Windows File and Print Servers
  • Open Office - A complete office automation suite, including word-processing, spreadsheet, presentation and other programs
  • 7-Zip - File Compression Software [2]
  • Eclipse - Development IDE [3]
  • Mediawiki - Wiki software used for this site [4]
  • Notepad++ - Text Editor [5]

Open Source Repositories