What the heck is "Open Source"?

I've been messing around with solutions for my next version of website. For me, "Open Source" was something I had to look at! Afterall, it can be some of the best quality products out there, and it's FREE!

People I talk to in the horse business ask the next obvious question to them, "What the heck is "Open Source"? Simply put, "Open Source" is a product that is put together by volunteer programmers around the world, believe it or not! One person or group then puts the pieces together, and you have some of the most vigorously tested software around!

Some of the more well known "Open Source" projects are the webserver Apache and the operating system Linux (like Windows is an operating system). These are 2 of the most popular "Open Source" products, and are being widely used by both large and small companies. Apache runs approximately 66% of all web servers across the internet! This is quoted from recent Google article "Web Server Software and Malware".

So, "Open Source"? For me, I am looking at a project known as "Drupal". Categorized as a Content Management System. I intend to use it to create a portal for the horse industry. Anyone with knowledge on this, please feel free to contact me.