t’s the afternoon of September 30th and for reasons beyond my understanding the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) is up more than 3.5% after yesterday’s financial fiasco. Hello, Wall Street, what part of “No one has a new bailout deal; the House hated the old deal, and it’s the week of Rosh Hashanah so it won’t be a full week at Congress anyway” do you not understand? Even if you believe the bailout will magically work wonders for the economy — I don’t — it’s not going to happen this week.
No matter what happens to the bailout, it’s a safe bet that times are going to be hard. So what can you do if you’re not in Congress and you want to get new programs, but not pay an arm and a leg? After all, it’s not like you can print money. Unlike, say, the U.S. government. The choice is clear: switch to open-source software.
Like what you ask? Like these five prime examples of open-source software that’s every bit as good, if not better, than their proprietary equivalents.