Tier 3 advocates the use of open source software.

Open source software is a movement in the computer industry to provide software to the public along with the source code used to create the product. This allows anybody interested in the software to read exactly how the software works. People can look for problems in the software and alert the creator of the product. Most open source products allow others to use parts of their own product to create another product.

Many open source applications provide a level of quality that equals or surpasses the quality of similar commercial applications. Many open source applications are currently being used in businesses of all sizes as well as all levels of government around the world.

Open source products are often, but not always, free of charge.

Open source products are not the demo or trial version of commercial products that can cause problems for the people who use them. Open source products will not put your email address on a list to receive spam email. Open source products will not install viruses on your computer. This is very different from some demo or trial versions of commercial products. Open source products are generally trustworthy. If you have open source tools, you can start working with an open source product from source code, making embedded malware impossible.

You may have already used an open source product without realizing it. If you have used the Firefox web browser or Thunderbird email client, both products from Mozilla Corp., then you have used an open source product. Tier 3 Computer Services is proud to present a brief list of other trustworthy open source products on this page. All of these products are free of charge. Many of them will work on Windows and Linux and Unix.