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What is open source software and why do we use it?

The basic idea behind open source is very simple. When programmers on the Internet can read, redistribute, and modify the source of a piece of software, it evolves. People improve it, people adapt it, people fix bugs. Our extensive use of open source software gives our customers important benefits. In particular, we have found that open source software is simply more reliable. The main benefit for you, the customer, is best described by opensource.org:

"Because you can get access to source, you can survive the collapse of your vendor. You’re no longer totally at the mercy of unfixed bugs. You’re not shackled to every strategic decision your vendor makes. And if your vendor’s support fees become exorbitant, you can buy support from elsewhere. For this reason alone, every software customer should absolutely demand open source and refuse to deal with software vendors who close and shroud their code. It’s a matter of controlling your own destiny".

Let us give you an example how open source software can save you money straight away: Instead of buying one of the major brand software products for your daily office work, you can pocket the £360+ for a professional version by downloading OpenOffice.org 2 for free!

OpenOffice.org 2 is the leading open-source office software suite for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more. It is available in many languages and works on all common computers. It stores all your data in an international open standard format and can also read and write files from other common office software packages. It can be downloaded and used completely free of charge for any purpose.  This means you may use it for any purpose - domestic, commercial, educational, public administration. You may install it on as many computers as you like. You may make copies and give them away to family, friends, students, employees - anyone you like.