I think the bright future of software (and hardware) is in the open development and free sourcing of the code, while paying attention to portability to multiple platforms.
To make money with open software you get paid by servicing the software (or maybe not so… but still…). This will make people use your software (because it’s free) and they will pay you to add features to it.
Anyway, here’s some of open software that I’ve been (really!) impressed with… I call it Cool Open Source Software or COSS:
Mathematical/Modeling Tools
- http://maxima.sourceforge.net/ (computer algebra system)
- http://www.gnu.org/software/octave/ (instead of Matlab)
- http://www.sagemath.org/ (mathematics software)
- http://www.scilab.org/ (replaces Matlab and Simulink)
Engineering Tools
- http://sourceforge.net/projects/free-cad/ (3D CAD/CAE program)
Editing Tools
- http://www.blender.org/ (3D modeling, instead of Maya or 3DS)
- http://www.gimp.org/ (instead of Photoshop)
- http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ (audio editing)
Embedded Electronics
- http://fritzing.org/ (interactive electronics)
- http://wiring.org.co/ (electronics prototyping)
Open Frameworks
- http://opencv.willowgarage.com/wiki/ (real time computer vision)
- http://qt.nokia.com/ (IDE for Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and mobile platforms Symbian, Maemo, MeeGo (Nokia N9))
Other
- http://www.videolan.org/vlc/ (full featured player)
- http://gnuradio.org/
If you have open sourced software that you use and you feel it’s heading somewhere please send me a tweet @spacemig. Let the COSS movement begin! :=)
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