Anyone following the open source phenomenon can’t help but be amazed at what appears to be volunteerism on a massive scale for corporate gain. Almost every company in the world has some strands of open source code floating around their company.

More and more organizations are relying on open source software to build, test, deploy, and run mission critical IT applications. From small start-ups to Fortune 500 companies, organizations worldwide are continuing to find open source as a cost effective means to deliver quality business applications.

Open source continues finding favor in both large enterprises and small companies. But while the nature and types of deployments may vary wildly, many have at least one thing in common: The bottom line. Cost savings from Linux and open source has long been a key selling point of the movement.

MySQL is a relational database management system. It provides a very fast, multi-threaded, multi-user, and robust SQL (Structured Query Language) database server. MySQL is the most popular open source database, and is the database component of the LAMP software stack. LAMP consists of the Apache web server, MySQL and PHP, the essential building blocks to run a general purpose web server.

The PostgreSQL Global Development Group announces the release of PostgreSQL 9.3, the latest version of the world's leading open source relational database system. This release expands PostgreSQL's reliability, availability, and ability to integrate with other databases. Users are already finding that they can build applications using version 9.3 which would not have been possible before.

There's a large selection of free and open source (FOSS) operating systems available these days, and choosing the right one for any given circumstance can be quite a challenge. This article is intended to help you pick the best operating system for your needs and experience level.

When it comes to businesses using open source software, medium and large enterprises seem to get most of the press. However, small office/home office (SOHO) setups with 10 employees or less may see even greater benefit from switching to open source applications.

If you need to set up a compact, secure, easily configurable Web server in as short a time, then we recommend installing Abyss Web Server. The software is available for Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and FreeBSD operating systems. Depending on your needs, you may choose one of the two available editions. The free personal edition (X1) is a fully usable web server with no limitations. The professional edition (X2) includes an immediate access at no additional cost to new minor and major versions for a small amount of money. Abyss isn't open source software, but it is an interesting product and can provide a full web server with no cost, on older hardware, and with high-performance results.

Many small business owners have never heard of open source software. That's unfortunate because in many ways small businesses are ideal environments for open source applications.