America is looking down the precipice at a fairly severe recession right now. This means that many in the world wide technology and software industry are biting their nails to see how it may affect their sales. The creators of Open Source software are sitting pretty.

Open Source software has been gaining ground as a viable option to proprietary software in recent months. As it proves that it is just as good (and frequently better, like FireFox) than its proprietary cousins, more and more people and businesses are making the switch.

Open Source has a couple of major advantages going into a recession, not the least of which is that it is free to use and open to customization for your individual needs. It is also backed by some serious industry heavy hitters, like Sun, meaning that it is no longer associated with basement dwelling programming geeks. Open Source has come into the mainstream.

I would say that 80% of the software I use on my computer is Open Source or shareware, which means the monetary outlay I have for my setup is minimal. The remainder of the software is proprietary to Apple (I use a MacBook and an eMac). I am able to create and share files for work with anyone, and never have a problem. Open Source is very accepting of proprietary formats that others may be using, including most Microsoft Office formats.

With a toehold in the software market going in to 2008 and the appeal of being cost effective, Open Source is poised for success. It is up to the creators of Open Source software and its user base to market this product now and push it over the edge into true mainstream use. It might save everyone enough money to leave them more to spend in this tight economy headed America’s way - it’s bound to ripple out into the world markets, and anything that can be done to off set it would be wise.

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