Open Source Backup Software

Open Source is a “computer originated” ideology that bases it’s principles on the fact that everyone should be able to see how things are done and to maybe modify them to improve them. It’s commonly used to talk about software where the source code (programming language code) is available so that everyone can take a look at it and even customize it to meet their specific needs, however it doesn’t stop there. He’ve read in the news about open source desings, where all blue prints are made available to interested parties (a eco-friendly car design was released this way) and there has even been an open source animation movie, where people could download the 3D models used to create the movie, the soundtrack and the full scripts so fans could create their own scenes.

Getting back on track, Open Source Backup Software is software that is designed to perform backup and restore tasks but that it’s source code is made available to those interested. Sometimes the source code isn’t included in the standard download, as most users aren’t that geeky to actually bother looking at it, but it still is available for download if you’re insterested. By downloading the source code you can learn about how the author or authors of that software acomplish everything the software does, you can make sure that there aren’t any bugs and you can even remove or add functions as needed.

Some people mistakenly think that Open Source equals free, in most cases it’s true as most Open Source software is released free of charge, but that’s not a rule. There are lots of commercial applications (a.k.a. Programs) that will have a price tag on them but that by paying for your license, you get access to the source code and a specia license that allows you to modify the original code but that won’t let you redistribute it or distribute your changes or enhancements.

Among the most famous Open Source Backup Softwares you’ll find one to fit every different user, which include network based backups (AMANDA is a perfect open source backup software to do network backups), full image backups (CloneZilla wins the first prize when it comes to image backups) and multi-platform tools like BackupPC that can back up a Windows based PC, a Mac or a Unix system to a remote server.

You can find lots of Open Source Backup Software tools in open source repositories such as Freshmeat or Sourceforge, which specialize on Open Source software and have efficient search engines so that you can locate them in a few seconds, just enter backup as your search term.