Open source software projects are built and maintained by a network of volunteer programmers and are widely used in free as well as commercial products
Prime example of an open-source product is the Apache HTTP Server
The e-commerce platform osCommerce, internet browsers Mozilla Firefox and Chromium (the project where the vast majority of development of the freeware Google Chrome is done) and the full office suite LibreOffice
One of the most successful open-source products is the GNU/Linux operating system, an open-source Unix-like operating system, and its derivative Android, an operating system for mobile devices
The most widely used Linux distribution - apart from Red Hat - is Mint
Mint is usable straight out of the box - a term rather than an actual box
Mint only takes a few minutes to download and it is easy to transfer to disk or stick - can be used live or installed onto almost any computer
Mint is also:
FREE and RELIABLE
https://www.linuxmint.com/
The MATE edition is best for beginners
In many industries, open source software is the norm
"We migrated key functions from Windows to Linux because we needed an operating system that was stable and reliable – one that would give us in-house control. So if we needed to patch, adjust, or adapt, we could."
Official statement of the United Space Alliance, which manages the computer systems for the International Space Station (ISS), regarding why they chose to switch from Windows to Debian GNU/Linux on the ISS
