About

The goal of the Open Source Software Directory is to collect the best and most promising open source and free software available on the Internet. The focus is on end-user programs for home users and small & medium businesses. In addition, it contains applications for software developers and system administrators.

Some requirements for inclusion are: the software must be released under an Open Source Initiative (OSI) approved open source license, the software must be stable or a stable release is expected in the near future, there must be some sign of activity (if a project is dead it will not be included) and last but not least there must be a public website to download the source code from.

Open source software

Open source software is software of which the source code is made available to users and developers. Source code is the text that programmers write. Open source software is usually developed by people who work together using the internet.

More information about open source software can be found on this page of Wikipedia.

Advantages of open source software
  • No (licensing) costs
  • No trial periods, spyware or advertisements
  • The freedom to customize or extend the software
Comparison to other software directories

Advantages of the Open Source Software Directory are:

  • Only open source software
  • Only stable software
  • Only end-user applications (no scripts or libraries)
  • All operating systems
  • Fast and easy navigation
Partner websites
Contact

Do you know a good open source project that is not in the directory?
Please send me an e-mail!

J. Verhoeckx

News
28 August 2019

Added and removed a few applications, checked for dead links and re-added the search icon.

30 Juli 2018

Added 30 new applications, removed 15 applications and answered my e-mail. Added the section 'Last added' to the homepage of the mobile version of the website.

2 April 2017

Restructured the CSS code of the left menu, added some new software and checked all external links. This website will now go in maintenance mode. I will check the email box every few weeks.

August 16, 2016

Rebuild the website with Bootstrap to make the website responsive. Also upgraded to the latest version of CodeIgniter. In the coming weeks I will add some more new applications.

August 18, 2015

Checked all the links, removed 436 unmaintained or outdated applications and added 40 new ones.

August 28, 2014

Implemented a completely new design (designed by StudioBont), cleaned up the database, validated the links and answered my e-mails ;-). IE7, IE8 and IE9 are not supported anymore.

August 21, 2012

Rewrote the complete website with CodeIgniter and Jquery. The URL's have been restructured to improve the searchability for web crawlers. The option to rate an application has been removed.

May 23, 2012

Filled the website up to 1000 applications, chose a new font, removed the bullets in the left menu, added a gradient effect to the background and the birds in the footer got a green field to land on.

September 30, 2011

Added 40 new applications, removed 10 applications, re-added the Facebook and Twitter buttons, polished the design, removed Java as an operating system and renamed UNIX to FreeBSD.

September 5, 2010

The third version of the Open Source Software Directory has been released today! The website has been redesigned by StudioBont and it's now possible to rate a program. Two new menu items have been added: 'Most popular' and 'Last added'.

August 2, 2009

The website got a new logo and banner designed by graphic designer Jasper Wolters. The categories have been divided into four sections and it is now possible to bookmark a subcategory. Besides these changes many small issues have been resolved.

January 22, 2009

The final version of the Open Source Software Directory has been launched today!

August 31, 2008

The site got a new colour theme and a few hundred applications were added. Several bugs have been fixed.

April 19, 2008

The beta version of the Open Source Software Directory has been released today. The goal of the beta period is to process users' feedback and to add more applications.