When choosing a program to carry out a task on the computer (surf the Internet, play videos, listen to music, edit photos, etc.) we can find a wide variety of alternatives. Some of the programs are paid, others are free, and others, in addition to free, open source. Many times we tend to opt for the most popular programs, which are generally closed source (both free and paid). However, it never hurts to give open source programs a chance, programs equal (or better) than commercial ones and that will undoubtedly surprise us.
Open source programs are those that, unlike proprietary software, have their source code available to everyone . The code is usually public so that anyone can access it, review it, help with development and even copy it (respecting the license) to reuse it in other programs. This type of software is generally free, so we can download it for free and use it legally on our computer.
There are more and more free and open source programs that we must give a try. Next we will see which are the best and best known.
VLC, the best multimedia player
VLC is the media player par excellence. This software will allow us to play all kinds of videos and music without having to download, install and configure any codec on our computer. It is a very light program, which offers very good quality of reproduction and, in addition, highly configurable. It has a very active development and, in addition, we can find it available for practically any operating system.
We can download VLC for free from this link .
LibreOffice, the best alternative to Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office is the best known, most used, and expensive office suite that we can find. So if we want to save a significant amount of money and not miss any of the features in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, we can give LibreOffice a try. This office suite brings everything you need to work with a word processor, with spreadsheets and even with slide shows. One of the best OpenSource programs that we can install on any operating system that is also compatible with Office formats.
We can download LibreOffice for free from here .
Firefox, a 100% open and private browser
Although the most used web browser is Google Chrome, and it is free, this browser is closed source. If we want a free browser that gives us greater security and, above all, greater privacy, then we must look for a more reliable alternative, as is the case with Firefox. This Mozilla-owned web browser is one of the best we can find. It will allow us to browse the web with total security and privacy, in addition to customizing its operation based on extensions.
We can download Firefox from the Mozilla website .
GIMP, the OpenSource rival that Photoshop fears
When we talk about editing photos, one of the most popular programs, and probably the first that comes to mind, is Photoshop. Adobe software is one of the most complete, powerful and professional that we can find on the net. However, it is also one of the most expensive. Luckily, there is a totally OpenSource alternative, GIMP, which will allow us to do almost the same as Photoshop, but without having to pay a single penny. A very complete software, with a very active development, that cannot be missing in any PC.
We can download GIMP from its website .
VirtualBox, OpenSource software to test other operating systems
The possibility of testing other operating systems above ours is very interesting. Thanks to this we can see what is beyond Windows, and even have a second operating system to run programs safely without endangering our PC. VirtualBox is a completely free and open source program developed for this purpose. This program is at the height of other professional virtualization solutions so that we can install both Windows and macOS, Linux or any other old system. And all without altering our PC.
We can download VirtualBox from this website .