Internet is an amazing thing. It is capable of connecting people from the most remote physical locations. Boundaries erased, passports obsolete, citizenships unnecessary. All we need is access to a device able to connect us to this web.
This is why every modern website has to be accessible on any device. The current trend is responsive design, which fluidly adapts to the size of the screen it is viewed on. And that is great. But it’s not enough. What is needed is a platform for communication, for sharing ideas. For simple things, one can use email, or text messaging. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other social networks are also of great benefit. They let us connect in ways previously not possible. However, there are times when you need something a bit more… well, "yours."
Some ideas are just better communicated through dedicated websites. These are fairly simple to build with corporate budgets. Technology abounds, as long as you’re willing to hire enough of the right people. For the individual, or non-profits, this is not a viable option. Budgets are usually tight, but the need to convey ideas and share information is huge. So what do we do? Enter the world of open-source software.
What is open-source software? It’s software not owned, controlled, or limited by corporations. It’s free. And it’s awesome. It’s when great people get together and donate some of their time and skills to make something free. A 'regular' world citizen can now do some of the things only people with money could do before. It opens a world of possibilities. It promotes freedom of ideas.
Linux, Drupal, Joomla, WordPress, Apache, Mozilla, Tomcat and OpenOffice are just a few great examples of collaborative goodness. And they help us run incredibly useful things in this world. Millions of servers and computers rely on the Linux operating system. Hundreds of millions of people are sharing thoughts with the help of Drupal, WordPress, or Joomla content management systems. People who don’t have any coding knowledge, or the funds to outsource, are able to share ideas at the same level as those with corporate budgets. Everyone can now communicate better with the world. It’s democracy in the information age.
But what's the big fuss? It's just free software... but it's more than that. It's a way for people to get together in way previously impossible. Twitter, Facebook, and other networks are helping to change the world. But CMS helps to take it one step further. We no longer need to rely on the few major news sources. We can get unfiltered, uncorrupted news at the speed of light. And people can change the world for the better. So yeah, it's great to have tools like Drupal and Joomla to extend your social media presence.
On that note, to all who contribute to any open-source project, THANK YOU.
For more information about open-source software, please visit Wikipedia's page and links available here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_software.