With job losses rising and belts being tightened across the country, now is the perfect time to look once again at the benefits of using open source software aside from the reported $60 billion a year savings on offer.

Linux Kernel

This is a given, granted, but we couldn't form a list of what open source does right without including the brainchild of Linus Torvalds. What started as a learning experience for the young programmer has now grown into a fully fledged rival for the likes of Microsoft and Apple.

It's easy to see the benefits of Linux. Many heads working together to make something perfect. Hundreds of thousands of beta testers out there, running different combinations of architecture, seeing what works and fixing what doesn't. It's communist computer heaven.

One only has to imagine how much better Windows or OSX could be if those skilled geeks that spend their time hacking the OS were allowed to consult, improve and stabilise it.

For this reason, Linux is the cornerstone of open source.

Ubuntu

These days it seems impossible to mention Linux without hearing the word 'Ubuntu' follow shortly after. The Debian-based OS has shown clear improvement with every release and certainly lives up to its namesake.

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