Introduction
The open source software has grown leaps and bounds, one might get overwhelmed on where and how do I start. While programming might not be a great item to start with using open source software itself is a first step. According to us here are the top-5 open source software that you should try and also start doing programming in order to make your hands dirty.
During 2015 team Emertxe sponsored the second edition of Hackathon at NIT Warangal, where we have asked some of the Open source enthusiasts to share their experiences. Here is a shared blog from one of the participants on how he has leveraged top 5 open source software for learning, development and usage.
Open source is that where one can explore many new things, edit, share, redistribute source code of any open source project which may be free or charged. The open source project which is free is FOSS (Free and open source).
1. Mozilla: Mozilla has multiple software like Firefox browser, Thunderbird, Firefox OS phone and so forth. I have been working as a add-ons , Firefox OS app developer since my first year in NIT Warangal. I like Mozilla because its huge impact on the community trying to make the web open. I was a mentor for some of the Hackathons and Firefox OS days hosted by Mozilla.For my contribution to Mozilla ,my name was carved on the Mozilla’s San Francisco monument.some of the projects which I have been involved are as follows :
- Coding : If you are interested in coding related stuffs, You can contribute to Mozilla code base, Firefox OS apps , add-ons , Thunderbird ,web-maker and many more.
- Add-ons : Mozilla products have a powerful extension system that allows you to make small tweaks or major additions. Learn more about how to build an add-on.
- Web development : Can help in building websites for Mozilla.
- Firefox OS app development : Develop apps for Firefox phone.
- Documentation : The Mozilla Developer Network is the hub for information about Mozilla technologies. Help make documentation better by writing new content, correcting existing material or translating content into new languages.
- Education: Help build a generation of Webmakers by teaching others how the web works.Explore what the Mozilla Webmaker project is all about or get started teaching others by setting up an event in your community today.
I was more technical guy so I have chose the above projects but there are many projects that a non-programmer can be involved that can have a larger impact on the community.
2. Android: The emergence of android mobile had a larger impact on the lifestyle of the people .I have been using android for developing apps and developed few games and home automation app that’s on android based phone, Google glass and on a Apache server. Android has brought a revolution in smartphone industry. With the advent of Android marked the era of computer in hands. Many companies started preferring Android for their mobiles devices . This is purely because of the fact that android is open source and free to make their custom changes.
3. LAMP(Linux ,Apache, MYSQL ,PHP) Software bundle:
It has made the ease of software development more easier than ever. I have been using these for various college based projects like Faculty portal ,Student portal ,Results upload portal, Faculty recruitment portal and a intra college educational network website. PHP is one of my most favorite back-end scripting language ,MySQL is the database server i have been using apart form noSQL databases like mongoDB.
4. Raspberry Pi: It was an integral part of my micro-controller coding after the Arduino. It was one of most prudent and the doable board that I have ever had before. I had the capacity learn it effectively as an I have a prior experience with Arduino and other micro-controller boards before.It comes integrated with USB slots and an Ethernet module.
5. GitHub: It was my the most favorite version control system that had made the software development more easier than ever.Version control is a system that records changes to a file or set of files over time so that you can recall specific versions later. The working on various branches simultaneously provides the user to have a better control over the software code.
So what are you waiting for? Its time to start working on any of items mentioned above.