7 Open Source Products that are FREE

Starting up a small business can be a drain on finances and purchasing software is often one of the biggest expenses a business can incur. At iBrutes, being a tech business, we come across “Open Source” software all the time capable of carrying out similar if not the same functions it’s paid counterparts are charging for.

Sometimes investing in expensive brand name sofware products is unnecessary. In most cases, there is an alternative. For business purposes, starting out with Open Source software makes sense until that time you feel it necessary to purchase a product that you deem superior.

There are alternative options for nearly every business purpose whether it be operating systems, email servers, human resource software, word processing programs, graphic design or perhaps antivirus software.

Having to invest in commercial software such as Windows Operating Licenses, Photoshop, Microsoft Exchange, Norton etc, this could cost a business thousands. It is however, good to have a choice, and make your mind up whether it is worth it.

Here are a few examples of some of the really useful everyday applications that a small business would need to operate;

Open Office

 

An alternative to Microsoft Office of course, this software is free to use. Office of course is around €12 per month per user to purchase. Open Office however has all the same capabilities. Word processing, spreadsheets, presentations and more.

 

 

OpenProj

 

Again, we all know Microsoft have Microsoft Project and it is probably the industry standard. OpenProj does everything that MP does plus some added extras that MP does not have.

 

 

GNU Cash

 

Want a free accounting package that tracks bank accounts, stocks, income and expenses? GnuCash is perfect for small businesses and is easy to use and available on Windows and Mac.

It carries out double entry accounting, stocks and bond accounts and is accurate for balancing books and accurate reporting.

 

Ubuntu

Microsoft Windows and Apple OS is not the only operating systems out there people. Ubuntu is a Linux based OS that is very easy to use, light and very powerful. It has all the features of email, office apps and browsers. Just takes a little getting used to, like everything else.

 

GIMP

 

Bring out the GIMP. You may thing Adobe is the be all and end all of graphic manipulation but you are wrong.

It means GNU Image Manipulation Program. Nothing to do with Quentin Tarantino. It does it all, photo retouching, image composition, artwork, paint etc

 

Zimbra

 

Microsoft again has triumphed in getting everybody bow down. Outlook is good but Zimbra is pretty cool too.

It works with POP and IMAP accounts and has a calendar function too. Thunderbird from Mozilla is another free email client. It syncs to smartphones and desktops too.

 

OrangeHRM

 

A free human resource management tool. It is easy to use and a popular free and stable alternative. There is professional support along side a knowledgeable worldwide open source community.

 

 

 

Here at iBrutes, we know what it is like to start from scratch and we know that investing resources wisely is important. Sometimes we find ourselves purchasing an expensive product that does multitude of tasks when all we need or use it to do one or two things.

So, if you need any advice on whether you should take that financial plunge on a big software purchase, perhaps call iBrutes to see if there is an alternative more suited to your business needs.