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Yet Another Open Source Hub

What is this?

I don't know if it's really necessary, but I think there's a need for a central hub for anyone who wants to find this or that major software project. This page is a categorized list of some of the most significant projects out there, plus a few others that IMHO should be.

The Open Source world suffers from a lack of attention to detail on the user end; there's been a lot of handwringing about this, but the fact is that the vast majority of Open Source geeks are more likely to spend their time on code than interface development and tech writing. I don't mind the documentation part myself, so consider this my little contribution to the future of the Open Source world: a little corner of the Web where you'll (eventually) find everything significant.

Contents

• Top Ten Projects -- My personal listing of the most influential Open Source projects.
• Operating Systems -- The biggest Open Source OSes -- Linux, *BSD, and a couple of medium-profile interlopers.
• Networking Software -- Open Source built the Internet long before Open Source had a name; server-side networking apps such as BIND, Samba, and Apache are therefore some of its greatest successes.
• Languages -- How software becomes software.
• Libraries and APIs -- Some of the most significant software in a system is stuff that the end user doesn't really pay much attention to. These are publicly created services that are now pretty standard.
• Applications -- These are what you need to do day-to-day work on your system.
• Middleware -- Things like database servers and CGI scripts.
• Games -- A few of the best games available have source code free for the taking.
• Information and Documentation -- Websites that provide tech support when there's no one to call. Includes news, hardware info, software info, etc.
• Other Links -- Sites that don't fit in above.

What's in, what's out

Software on this page is something with a) a license in compliance with the Open Source Definition or something reasonably close and b) significant influence and name recognition. I won't include My Favorite Toy Whatevers (like var'aq, for example :-) ) unless they've become significant factors in their markets. I won't include "Shared Source" packages like Sun Solaris, since they make source available but not freely reusable.

I won't go into great detail; instead you'll find links to further information on the subject.