Free Open Source software has enlightened lots of small scale businesses and helped in the development of the internet. There are lots of software programs out there on the internet, which allows us to do lots of tasks efficiently.
If you’re striving to check out the best free open source software of 2020? then don’t worry, in this post, I’ll let you know about the best free open source software list.
But, before that, let’s know about what is open source software?
What is Open Source Software?
Open Source software is typically a free software that is mainly released under the license of free usage. The copyright holder literally grants users the right to study the code, change the system, and even distribute the software to anyone for any purpose. That’s what is called open-source software. These open-source software are free to use.
Let’s check out the best free open source software for 2020 in the below post.
Before that, let’s check out the importance of Open Source Software.
Importance of free Open Source Software:
Open Source software has been empowering the internet for a long time. It has developed the web with the LAMP Configuration services that usually run on Linux, Apache, PHP, and MySQL.
Not only that, there are various other free open source software programs out there on the web, which helps lots of small and big organizations to ease up their work. With the open-source software, anyone can edit files, add any option to it, enhance the software by changing or improvising the code, and so on.
Its open nature is the crucial strength to it because it invites a wide range of collaboration. With developers trying different codes and command lines, the software can be enhanced in different ways.
In some cases, where the open-source projects become prominent means, it can cause trouble because of different opinions as the communities become more abundant, and it can be divided into groups working in different directions. But, let’s take positives out of it as open-source software has helped lots of organizations.
The power of open-source software remains vital in this modern world, despite the influence of proprietary software platforms. Open Source software is used as alternatives to the paid programs and serving lots of organizations as well.
As you are striving to check out the best free open source software for 2020, let’s check them out in the below list.
Best Free Open Source Software for 2020: Home & Business:
In this list of best free open source software for 2020, i have included popular free open source software’s which are trending.
LibreOffice:
LibreOffice is one of the popular open source software and prime alternative to the Microsoft office. It is available for windows, mac, or Linux operating systems, and it offers spreadsheets, presentations, databases, and documents.
Although Microsoft is a popular tool, its pricing hasn’t been accessible to some users. So, for them, this is the best alternative to Microsoft office.
Features:
- Full feature range and can open all documents.
- Fully compatible with MS files such as doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx, .ppt, .pptx files.
- You will get lots of templates in this LibreOffice.
VLC Media Player:
Everyone definitely needs one media player to play audio and video files. If you are in search of the best free open source software, then its VLC media player. This player can handle all the virtual formats and works with all audio formats.
It’s, in fact, the world’s most popular free media player as it can handle all files. This player can give you a fantastic degree of control over playback, and it optimizes video and audio for your system as well. It’s the latest version that can be used for a 360-degree playback option as well.
Features:
- It works with all audio formats.
- VLC can play and handle all major video formats.
- VR Audio
- Streams internet radio.
Best Free Open Source Software Linux:
Linux is one of the main open source operating systems. These are mainly used by tech geeks and code junkies. The craze of Linux and crazy working days are gone, previously it used to be an alternative to Mac and windows as well.
All the efforts of developers have helped to edge Linux towards the mainstream but still, windows have the upper hand. But, coming to security, Linux is more secure than windows as windows can be hacked easily than Linux. Linux has a lot of talks, but I won’t cover them all because it will take lots of time.
Linux is one of the best free open source software for 2020 as well as its having a certain amount of craze.
Features:
- This platform is increasingly accessible.
- It has good features because of that its popular widely.
- This is stronger in terms of security.
- You can find an overwhelming choice of distros.
Audacity:
Audacity is one of the best free open source software in 2020. I’m saying that because it’s the perfect tool for recording and editing the podcasts and the music as well.
The best part is even the music aspirants have cash in hand to buy audio editor; but, they stick to Audacity because of its useful features. This software has almost all the tools because of that it is used for recording and editing sound files.
You can use the extensions to add more features to the software for free. Because of this tools features you can combine audio clips, copy and paste the audio sections, remove noise and Strip vocals from songs, applying echo, and more.
Features:
- It has a wide range of premium features because of that its popular.
- You can find hell lot of extensions.
- The performance of this app is excellent.
Popular Open Source Software GIMP:
GIMP is one of the popular open source photo editors. This open source software is packed with powerful tools that are close to the Adobe photoshop. We can say its one of the near alternatives to Adobe Photoshop as you can get it for free. This software supports layers and has advanced editing options and many other plugins. You can start enhancing your pictures and create new ones from scratch with this app.
In this software, you can adjust every aspect of your image and apply customized filters to make your picture look stunning. Along with these, you can get a massive array of themes and effects on the internet as well.
Features:
- This app supports layers.
- It has advanced editing options.
- Thousands of plugins & Effects, because of those its popular.
Open Source Web Browser Mozilla Firefox:
Firefox is an open-source browser that has tons of features than other basic browsers. It replaces internet explorer as the primary browser for basic users. This powerful open-source browser has a plugin for every purpose.
Mozilla Firefox is incredibly flexible, and it’s easy to transform firefox into the perfect browser. The source code of firefox includes specialist projects like tor, waterfox, and more. Despite the popularity, it has struggled with flash extensions.
Features:
- Thousands of plugins are available for free.
- Private browsing option.
- Memory hog option.
Best Free Open Source Software File Zilla:
Filezilla is one of the best free open source FTP software clients. If you have knowledge of running your own website, then the chances of knowing about the FTP software will be higher as you have to upload the files to the server.
They are some other FTP Clients out there, but they are premium, but file Zilla is a free open source software. This software does all the things you need, such as uploading clients and doing changes to the server and more. It has an easy drag and drop option and has full features as well.
Feature:
- It’s easy to use so its popular.
- This has a drag and drop functionality.
- File Zilla is having a wide range of features.
Mozilla Thunderbird:
Mozilla Thunderbird is the best free open source software for 2020 and its best alternative to the Microsoft Outlook. If you have multiple accounts and want to manage them? then you can use Mozilla thunderbird will save your time similar to outlook.
The thunder’s bird standard feature is an RSS Reader because of that its popular, and it has the ability to link to the larger files and send as attachments quickly. You can even include weather forecasts and other google tabs as well. This lacks cloud-based support as it’s free.
Features:
- It has tons of features because of that its popular.
- You can get additional plugins.
KeePass Password Safe:
If you’re searching for the best free open source software for 2020? then KeePass password safe will be on the list. This is a password safe that generates secure passwords for your accounts and stores them in a secure vault.
Usually, there is no shortage of password managers, but KeePass is best among other software because of its open source software. It’s not that flashy, but it’s power-packed full of features. This has some best features like AES Encryption, two-factor authentication, password key generation, and more therefore its the best option.
Features:
- It has the most robust encryption because of that its quit popular.
- This is a portable program.
- It’s effortless to use.
Bit Torrent:
Bittorrent is another essential free open source software. If you love to download torrent files means you should have a bit torrent. Although they are other tools such as Utorrent and so on. Bittorrent is an open source and a smooth working tool.
It is a peer-assisted digital content platform that delivers content faster and most efficiently. So, you can transfer and download the files very efficiently.
Features:
- Easy to use, because of that its popular among torrent downloaders.
- Downloads torrent faster.
This is all about the 10 best free open source software for 2020. If you want more softwares then you wait for our next blog post on open source software.
