This very short entry into this blog is because I have neglected to mention this wonderful article on Crave.

This is a site that is often digg’ed that I simply neglected to mention until I was cleaning out my e-mail closets

This site gives you their Top Ten Open Source alternatives to commercial applications. For the person who is starting out in Open Source applications this is a must read article. Some of the apps mentioned I have used for years like VLC Player, 7Zip, and Open Office. But I have never heard of Media Portal or Infra-Recorder until reading this article.

So my suggestion is to read this article, or at least store this URL when your friends or family talk about how great their applications are.