Incase you haven’t heard of “Open Source“, check out the Wikipedia description of it.
I have recently been playing with open-source projects during the last few months, and as a programmer, I am thrilled at the concept of free software that is robust, easy to install, and (generally) easy to configure. I also love the ability to have the source code to make any custom changes I desire rather than having to deal with too much or too little functionality of closed-source software.
Many web hosting companies offer the Fantastico autoinstaller package for free with their services. This package allows you to choose from a variety of open-source softwares and takes care of the installation process for you. Then it’s just a matter of customizing the actual software. I’ve been installing and playing around with many of these software packages and am highly impressed. This has prompted me to find other open-source projects on the internet and play around with them too.
Additional places to find open-source software are:
SourceForge.net
FreshMeat.net
Must not forget Google’s contribution to the world of Open Source:
Google Code | Summer of Code