What percentage of the software you use regularly is open source?
Displaying poll results.25337 total votes.
Most Votes
- By the end of 2026, how useful do you think agentic/multi-agent AI systems will actually be in your daily work or personal projects? Posted on March 11th, 2026 | 6897 votes
Most Comments
- By the end of 2026, how useful do you think agentic/multi-agent AI systems will actually be in your daily work or personal projects? Posted on March 11th, 2026 | 36 comments
Matlab and a few games (Score:3)
Well, apart of Matlab (which I could easily swap for octave or scilab, but I'm too lazy to rewrite all my code) and 2 or 3 games I use once in the year, all the other 3k+ packages on my computers are FOSS, which is probably >80%. I guess it is more or less the same for any linux user with no alternative OS.
Re: (Score:3)
I don't know. I was trying to measure this "percentage". But how do you measure it?
I have OSS that being useful, I hardly use (HDGraph for example), while I have particular software I use all the time. In your case, if you use Matlab 8 hours a day, but you putty ssh into your server for 1 min a day, how does that count?.
Is it size in bytes? Length of the package name (OSS probably wins with their odd naming conventions)?
In short, the "regularly use" seems like a non-quantifiable value I failed to understan
Re:Matlab and a few games (Score:5, Funny)
I don't know. I was trying to measure this "percentage". But how do you measure it?
What do you mean, "how do you measure it"? This is Slashdot, we don't measure things, we make them up!
Re: (Score:2)
This is Slashdot, we don't measure things, we make them up!
Could you provide a citation for this? Otherwise, I'm going to assume that you made that up...
Re: (Score:2)
I don't know. I was trying to measure this "percentage". But how do you measure it?
I have OSS that being useful, I hardly use (HDGraph for example), while I have particular software I use all the time. In your case, if you use Matlab 8 hours a day, but you putty ssh into your server for 1 min a day, how does that count?.
Is it size in bytes? Length of the package name (OSS probably wins with their odd naming conventions)?
In short, the "regularly use" seems like a non-quantifiable value I failed to understand.
Well, even if I was running Matlab 8 hours a day, it would be using a OSS desktop environment using an OSS graphic server running on an OSS kernel, which means its percentage of wasted resources cannot exceed 25%. If you add all the remaining apps (web browser, mail client, terms and text editors, and so on), I doubt it will ever be over 20%.
Re: (Score:2)
Your phone can run "linux" and still have mostly closed-sourced software.
Re: (Score:2)
What about your wireless router? The firmware in your car? Your smartphone? Hell, even MicroSD cards run an embedded OS on an ARM processor to handle bad block remapping and to make it easier to test the cards before they leave the factory.
If you want to stick strictly to your desktop PC, let's talk about the software running on your network card, GPU, SSD, hard drive (some hard drives even have serial ports that you can connect to and see terminal output!).
I guarantee you that you use a *lot* more computer
Re: Matlab and a few games (Score:5, Insightful)
If you go by title then I am around 80% if you go by install size then probably closer to 20%... M$ needs to go on weight watchers it software is obese.
Re: (Score:2)
I think they meant by actual time used. if that is the case i use open source 100% of monday-friday(ubuntu laptop but the software i use is libre office firefox and chromium)
Why are you using chromium? Google Chrome works perfectly well on just about all Linux distros as well as (cough!) MS Windows and has done so for well over two years now although to be fair your Linux distro should be less than two years old.
on weekends it's more like closed source 85% as win7/warcraft 3 tft and 15% firefox and dunno how to rank itunes.
For me I use 100% open source on my PC (Fedora 19 no MS Windows). As far as "Games for Windows" go I have never been interested in PC games preferring console games instead and since I like Action Adventure and RPG's I have no shortage of entertainment at a very reasona
Re: Matlab and a few games (Score:4, Informative)
Why are you using chromium? Google Chrome works perfectly well on just about all Linux distros as well as (cough!) MS Windows and has done so for well over two years now although to be fair your Linux distro should be less than two years old.
I can't speak for the GP, but Chromium doesn't have the code for sending usage stats to Google - that's an important plus for Chromium in my book.
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: Matlab and a few games (Score:2)
Re: Matlab and a few games (Score:4, Insightful)
Actually I think the slashdot editors deliberately make the poll questions a bit ambiguous. That way, you get more discussion. :-)
Re: (Score:2)
I'm the opposite. The only things on one of my computers at home that are closed source are flash and MP3 codecs; it runs kubuntu. Another runs XP that I use EAC on, both closed source, but that machine is seldom powered up. My notebook runs W7, but besides the OS the only programs I run on it regularly are open source, FireFox and Open Office.
At work it's 100% closed source, mostly Microsoft. I hate my work computer... glad I retire next February.
Size vs. app count vs. ... (Score:2)
Yeah, that's the problem I'm having. Do I count the number of apps? Or do I count the number of megabytes? How about libraries? Do I count them, or not? What about scripts?
Without a Cowboy Neal option, I have NO idea how to answer the question.
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Is Python really on par with Matlab yet?
Your kidding right! Python is an open source (hence free) general purpose high level programming language while Matlab is a proprietary product of MathWorks (you pay for this) numerical computing environment and fourth-generation programming language, how could they possibly be on par?
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
Is Python really on par with Matlab yet?
Your kidding right! Python is an open source (hence free) general purpose high level programming language while Matlab is a proprietary product of MathWorks (you pay for this) numerical computing environment and fourth-generation programming language, how could they possibly be on par?
SciPy and NumPy are competing with Matlab - I know many researchers who switched from Matlab, so for them it is "on par".
Re: (Score:3)
MATLAB has loads of neat stuff python does not, but the same is now also true the other way around. On a par depends on what you want to do. I never use MATLAB now-a-days, numpy, scipy, matplotlibs and the yaml libraries do 95% of what I need to do for data processing.
The most difficult thing about using python rather than MATLAB is most of my colleagues use MATLAB, but academics are geeks, and they are generally arrogant geeks. If they need to do something which only python has code for (often specialised
Re: (Score:3)
What Python needs that will kill Matlab is that GUI Matlab has. It is an interactive environment. Yes, I know IPython exists, but it really is a patchwork joke compared to the solid integrity of the MATLAB enviroment.
Here's an improvement Python could have: Index the functions like MATLAB does and then just import all packages as necessary during runtime. When trying to play with data interactively, it is a pain to all the type 'from this import whatwasthatagain'. Instead of just typing what you actually wa
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Oh come on, the indexing of functions can be a toggle or even a list of commonly used packages that can be imported at startup. It doesn't have to be an all or none thing.
Re: (Score:2)
I don't se the problem. Just pip install everything, and import it... I hope the GP has a big HD.
Re: (Score:2)
I think the MATLAB vs. python environment is something of a horses for courses situation. Spyder does a decent job replicating the MATLAB feel, and I generally prefer working in ipython than in the MATLAB terminal because the MATLAB terminal is generally speaking more sluggish. Of course I'm running it on top of Linux, so I don't know what it is like on Windows, and I suspect the situation is probably reversed.
As for importing everything in one go: ipython --pylab gets you 90% of the way there. The remainin
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Not disagreeing, but usability is only one factor. In addition the MATLAB stats package are individually easier to learn, but have no consistent interface making them globally more of a chore. If you only ever do one kind of ANOVA then MATLAB has you covered. I know plenty of academics who only ever use an ANOVA, although some of those really, really should be using something else some of the time.
Re: (Score:2)
That really depends on what you are doing (Score:2)
With Python you get an state of the art LAPACK library, great graphic tools, lots and lots of toolsets. In all of those dimensions, Python simply eclipses Mathlab, there is no comparison (yeah, even at LAPACK).
But then, if your program start doing different things, both enviroments come to a craw, in different ways. Python is more generalist, you lose a bit every time you write complex code in it, while Mathlab is a one trick pony, you'll lose very little if you code the way it wants, but it'll completely b
Mobile software (Score:4, Insightful)
Remember to include the software running on your phones and tablets. That's what lowers the percentage for me.
Re:Mobile software (Score:4, Interesting)
now that I think about it, you are right :(
Home PCs, Work PCs, Phones (Score:5, Interesting)
On our PCs at home, it's in the 80% or more category. We have a few closed-source applications (Linux versions of Mathematica, Bibble Pro, etc.), and there are some binary blobs in the video drivers, but everything else is FOSS, both applications and OS.
On our telephones, the open source fraction is much lower. Android is partly open source, but most of the applications are proprietary and closed. There are some exceptions: VLC, Firefox, ssh, AVG, and a few others are FOSS.
On our work PCs, we have some open source applications (GIMP, Inkscape, VLC, etc.) but the OS is Windows, and most of the applications are closed source. Currently even Firefox and Chromium are disallowed by corporate policy, and cannot be installed or run. I expect it to get worse, and for more FOSS software to be blocked.
Re:Home PCs, Work PCs, Phones (Score:5, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
Another recommendation for F-Droid here. A lot of the programs I use regularly on my phone are from there. The rest typically come with Android.
Among regularly-used software, on my work PC, it's Windows, MS Office, Visual Studio, and Paint.NET on the closed-source side, and Notepad++, SumatraPDF, Chromium, Thunderbird, PDFCreator for OSS; so greater than 50%.
At home I dualboot Windows (for games, which are closed-source) and Linux, but most of the software I use on both is OSS, so probably > 75% there.
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
How about Open Source games?
There are a number of them thanks to Humble Bundle.
There's also a fair number of Open Source games of decent quality from the community.
Wesnoth (TBS), Spring (RTS), Hedgewars (ballistic TBS)
Microwave Ovens, ATM Machines, Fuel Injectors (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
The stuff in your car and kitchen is probably a mix of mostly non-open source with a bit of open source.
Those are appliances, I use them not their software. I couldn't care less if they are software supported, firmware driven or rely on mechanical cybernetic automata to perform their function.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
A big chunk of the software on my phone is open-source, which helps offset the software on my game console, which mostly isn't. But both are dwarfed (at least by number if not by byte-count) by the software on my desktop, which is almost completely open-source.
Re: (Score:2)
Yes, by title I'm easily above 80% - but by time spent using them a couple of non open sourced things on my phone get used really a lot.
Whereas, on my main box... well, I did finally break down and install the actual flash plugin. That's about it, though.
Re: (Score:2)
I too answered "80-100%" without thinking about my phones/tablet.
Both PCs are mostly FOSS, with the exceptions of Skype, Flash, and (on the work laptop) oXygenXML.
Phones and tablet all run Android with (I suspect) mostly closed-source apps. I guess I should look more seriously into Cyanogenmod and F-Droid.
Re: (Score:2)
Not me. Maemo is mostly FOSS.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Game blurb (Score:2)
Even if it might not be terribly important, I wish more games were open sourced. I think the "risk" of opening the code isn't actually that bad as the companies might think. If there are some licensed parts, remove them by all means. After, say, 5 years after the release of the game, open the source and keep the art files something you have to buy. The game can still keep churning money and if you're lucky, you might get a Linux port for free, which means another bunch of extra sales. Apart from some rare
Quantity vs time (Score:2)
In terms of number of programs I probably have more proprietary ones than open source on my hard drive. However, I spend most of my time using OSS. Mostly Firefox and Thunderbird (on my home laptop anyway).
Work vs. Home (Score:2)
At work, I use almost all Windows based applications, none of which are open source At home I use FreeBSD for a lot of things, and that's all open source. I also use a lot of software I've written myself, some of which is open source, but mostly not.
I don't know (Score:2)
No, really, I don't know. I use what's best for the task at hand, and I never look to see if it's open sourced or not. For menial or rare tasks i use the best freeware I could find, and for heavy duty I usually choose the best paid application, unless its price is really huge.
Furthermore, I don't compile source code unless I have to.
Re: (Score:2)
You're on the right path to paranoia :)
Re: (Score:2)
I used to be "don't know" me too. "Who knows if photoshop, msoffice etc is free open source or not, it doesn't matter, I just download it from somewhere". But then I started to worry about what evil things closed source program might be doing behind my back so now I don't use them.
I guess I could run them inside some virtual computer program? will that be complete safe then? if the virtual computer is set to not have network it would at least prevent it from phoning home and such things, but I can't be sure it doesn't do bad things to the files I let it write to, right?
I usually explain that kind of things to myself by thinking that they would lose the trust of customers (and thus income) by doing too dirty tricks.
Intel compilers, and that's about it. (Score:2)
Mostly open but the exceptions are critical (Score:3)
Almost everything I use is open source except for some electronic design tools. However, these tools are kind of important since electronic design is how I make a living. They have no remotely viable open source alternatives and in some cases, no open source alternatives at all.
Re: (Score:2)
Wow! Wrong! (Score:2, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
Don't forget to examine the software running on the server, without which the software-as-a-service would be unusable. If, for example, someone were running a proprietary app on a LAMP stack, it should really count as 80% open source.
Re:Wow! Wrong! (Score:4, Insightful)
That's a philosophical question. When I go to facebook via my web browser, facebook is not the software. My web browser is the software. When I view the page, the web browser displays the HTML/CSS appropriately while running the JS. However, facebook's server does send me this data, and I indirectly use the server's database. If I always use an open source web browser and then I go to a proprietary site, does it nullify it? But, of course, you are providing money to the proprietary sites either via advertising or actual money.
Also, although facebook may not be open source, they have contributed to things like Memcached and have created Hiphop for PHP and use Linux servers. Linux servers are also more dominant in the market place.
This is also a very variable statistic. They may decide to switch servers (Linux/BSD vs MS/Apple). They may decide to switch programming languages/frameworks/libraries (RoR/PHP vs C#/ASP). They may decide to switch maps (Google vs Bing). How many sites use NodeJS or AngularJS or use Google Maps?
I think because this statistic is too hard to track that it should be left out for now.
Re: (Score:2)
What does the "view source" menu option do in *your* web browser? Seems like pretty much every web site is open source from my perspective.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
Most of you folks are wrong about the percentage that is open source. Are all of the web services you use open source? That is software. It is SaaS, but it is software. Online banking? Software. Social Network? Software. Even if it is just a news site, it is probably software since most sites are very heavy with Javascript these days. Now, you all use slashdot - that is actually open source. Most web sites are not.
Hadn't thought of that... my washing machine, dishwasher, microwave, car, printer, scanner, set top box, and tv all have software in them, and with the possible exception of the set top box (I think that runs linux) none of that is open source.
It's complicated (Score:2)
At home I run Linux and open source for everything except tax preparation software. So, not quite 100% open source but really close.
At work I got handed a corporate standard Windows laptop that I use for email (Outlook to an Exchange server), collaboration (IBM Sametime), and browsing (Internet Explorer). Once in a while I have to fire up something out of Microsoft Office to update a document or spreadsheet. I do most of my work using PuTTY to get into various Linux and Solaris boxes where I usually run
vmware vcenter converter (Score:2)
An easy-to-use and free way to convert your installed Windows image into a virtual machine. You can then run Linux directly on the laptop, and run the Windows VM inside vmplayer, which is also free.
Re: (Score:2)
Looked into running Windoze in some sort of VM (I'm fond of KVM). The problem is that the laptop harddrive is full disk encrypted using Sophos which seems to be integrated with the network security. Also, Windoze detects that the underlying hardware has changed (virtual devices not the same as underlying real hardware) and wants to be reactived.
Cheers,
Dave
OSS FTW! Unless its FPGA development..... (Score:2)
Games count as software and just about every big title is "closed source" in terms of both engine and assets (art, music, sound) save for the older id games engines and the few open source games out there. So I do play a lot of closed source games but tend to use open source tools and utilities.
OpenOffice, Inkscape, GIMP, VLC, Amarok pretty much cover all of my media needs. Best part is they run on both Windows and Linux so I use the same software regardless of OS.
For EDA and programming I lean toward OSS b
My top three (Score:3)
Plex is another big GPL-licensed tool I use, but at least part of the code is closed source, so I'm not really sure how to rate that one.
TWAIN-SANE is another excellent project. It allows me to support my legacy USB scanner. Perfectly good hardware, but Canon stopped supporting it years ago.
So Near, Yet So far (Score:3)
Beyond that though, the only things I run that aren't Open Source are Quickbooks (because, no, GnuCash is NOT the same) and Photoshop (because no, the GMIP is NOT the same) which run in a Windows VM about once a month.
It's been a couple of years since I even installed MS Office, despite having a legal copy.
Home vs Work (Score:3)
At home I am 99% Open source.
At work, I figure I am about 20% Open.
Regards.
I work mostly on Linux, but... (Score:2)
I do most of my editing and builds on my Linux box (Ubuntu 13.04), but I do my batch runs on a Windows 7 laptop that has a Core i7 CPU and which is about 8-10 times as fast as my "main box." But the OS is about the only thing about it that's commercial -- the batch jobs are Eclipse builds running under the Oracle-distributed JVM. And the big batches I'm running are of my own OSS project.
Not a whole lot of open source software after all (Score:2)
Since I gave up hope on the whole OSS revolution I feel a lot better (and get more done.)
I used to be one of those hard-core Debian users who eschewed any and all closed source software. Heck, I'd even buy a usb wifi dongle for my laptop just to avoid having to use ndswrapper to get my on-board wifi working by using the Windows driver in Linux.
I would spend my time: /some
Fighting to get Cinelerra to work (I could never figure it out).
Compiling and recompiling drivers for some esoteric piece of hardware that
Re: (Score:2)
LOL. Better to have been on Windows in the past (DOS?, 3.11, 95, 98 2000, XP, maybe 7) and migrate to open source now. The world of Microsoft and Apple is the most uncertain it has ever been and all the indications it is going to get harder for advanced users of technology to use Windows and Macintosh. Proprietary software seems to require that useful features be missing completely*.
*Disclaimer, at work I have seen Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012, as well as the Macintosh desktops and server offerings and
Re: (Score:2)
Profitability is not really what I was referring to, more usage of the applications and OS (for nerds). If you want to surf the web or write some document, or do some basic video/picture editing, then sure OSX is alright. However, if you write a nifty script in some applescript or cocoa in a couple of years it won't work. If you want to install quality open source programs you often need to register or pay or it will be out of date. If your device you want to connect is not blessed by apple, then you just c
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Difficult to specify (Score:2)
At work I use Ubuntu as desktop environment, plus mostly OSS. Sometimes I use Virtualbox to startup Windows XP and Photoshop. For the rest I suppose most of it is open source. At home I use OSX, Firefox, Libreoffice and Skype, Mail, Aperture. Then I have an Ubuntu desktop at home which runs 24/7 and is used for several purposes, plus a debian server in the cloud, which uses open source exclusively I think. So how do you count this? I've chosen 40-60%.
Quite a lot -- apart from games and work (Score:2)
At home I run GNU/Linux (Linux Mint), and all the software there (apart from Minecraft) is Free/OSS. I do have a copy of Windows to boot into so my wife can play Plants vs Zombies (I had it running under wine, but it didn't always work perfectly), and occasionally Half Life or Portal. I also have a lot of console games that aren't F/OSS. Really it's just the games that aren't, but I'm really not bothered by that.
At work (I'm a post doc research assistant, modelling E.coli O157 spread in cattle), in one offi
Re: (Score:2)
Work or Home? (Score:2)
At home it's nearly 100% open source (just video card driver is proprietary, and that's changing with my new computer). At work it's split 3-ways pretty evenly between open source, internally written and proprietary software. The proprietary applications I use at work are:
BeyondCompare (much better than any other diff program I have ever used),
Matlab (I use Octave at home, but use our Matlab site license at work to ensure better compatibility),
Intel C++ compiler, because it generates faster code (especially
Phone (Score:2)
My two favorites (Score:3)
Open Office lets me make my resume in a Word doc format, so recruiters can read it.
Gimp lets me do rudimentary image manipulation.
Now I need to get a good sound editor that is at least as good as that old 16 bit sound blaster pro software suite.
Re: (Score:2)
Layers (Score:4, Informative)
I use OS X (especially Safari and Mail) quite a bit, iOS a little. Definitely not open source, right? But what about Darwin? What about WebKit? What about Apache, MySQL, Linux, OpenJDK, and a zillion other open source things used to serve up the Web sites I visit?
Frankly, I think the closed-source client software I use is a pretty thin shell around lots of layers of mostly-open stuff.
Almost none use Open Source (Score:2)
Things not open source: the computer's firmware, firmware on external cd/dvd drive, monitor firmware, tv, dvr, game platforms, remote controls, thermostat, cameras, gps receiver, gps satellites, my car, traffic lights, cash registers, work computers, unknown number of routers on the internet, websites, and lots and lots more.
Free/Libre/Open-Source Software (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Excluding video games (Score:2)
For non-game software, it's probably around 60-70%. My laptop runs Windows, but my desktop dual-boots OSX/Windows and I spend most of my workdays SSHd into various Linux servers.
I usually use Firefox or Chrome as my browser, use Thunderbird for email, LibreOffice for office stuff, Komodo and CodeBlocks for coding, PuTTY as my terminal emulator, and MySQL Workbench for database stuff. All of these are open source.
The closed-source stuff I frequently use, besides Windows, is Google Talk, Windows Media Player,
But the sites you visit obfuscate their JS (Score:3, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2)
Since the whole point of open source is being able to see what the code is doing, does obfuscated JS count? After all everything's open source if you go to a low enough level; just decap the chip. While common libraries (jQuery, etc.) are open-source and reduced down to minimized versions, much software on the web, even if "open source", would be a pain to actually look at.
If you consider that they have their JS "source code" and that it is "compiled" into "obfuscated JS", then no, I wouldn't consider it to be open source.
At home one hundred percent. At work zero percent. (Score:2)
At home I run Debian Stable. Use 100% open source software on it.
For work I am _forced_ to run M$, and M$ closed source softare, as well as 3rd party closed source software, on a work-provided and locked-down laptop.
Since I run both machines when I am telecommuting, I will say my ratio is 60% debian/open-source, and 40% closed source. The higher 60% is due to the fact I will still 'surf the net or work on personal programming projects on my Debian workstation after shutting down my work laptop at the end of
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Not Many (Score:5, Informative)
You can download the source for the current version here: http://notepad-plus-plus.org/download/v6.4.5.html [notepad-plus-plus.org]. Click on "Notepad++ source code".
You can see a list of other recent versions here: http://notepad-plus-plus.org/download/all-versions.html [notepad-plus-plus.org], each of which has source available.
Older versions (2003-2011) can be had from SourceForge: http://sourceforge.net/projects/notepad-plus/files/notepad%2B%2B%20releases%20source/ [sourceforge.net].
You did look before you commented, right?
Re:Not Many (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
What's that on the front page [notepad-plus-plus.org]?
Notepad++ is a free (as in "free speech" and also as in "free beer") source code editor and Notepad replacement that supports several languages. Running in the MS Windows environment, its use is governed by GPL License.
Re:Not Many (Score:4, Informative)
Nope. Source code is right her:
http://download.tuxfamily.org/notepadplus/6.4.5/npp.6.4.5.src.7z [tuxfamily.org]
I don't know which license they use.
OK, fine, I won't be lazy....its GPL according to the website.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
How long has it been since you've tried a full Linux installation? I have been using Linux for home use now for 6 years and anymore I rarely run into show stopping bugs. At work I am forced to use Windows as it is local government. I really haven't gotten around to installing my Win7 installation back on to my laptop. In truth I am finding I have to do more work-arounds on my Win7 work machine than I ever have to do on my Kubuntu installation.
Just today in a fresh Xubuntu installation I experienced Flash video tearing, two completely different Bluetooth applets in the system tray, and once the graphics of the bottom edge of a window (the resize handle) was corrupted. Dell Latitude E4300 laptop with Intel GMA 4500MHD graphics, really standard stuff. I understand that Linux distros don't have a big budget to put on quality assurance, but I'm really tired of that kind of simple, silly things popping up all the time.