Were it not for wordpress, this blog probably wouldn’t exist. Open source software is free software which can be modified by anyone. No licenses, no fees.
It allows people to try, test and generally ‘mess’ about with software. The end result is a community who end up adding bits and pieces on to the software to enhance it i.e. firefox addons or themes.
Here’s 10 open source clones i’ve picked out which replicate some hugely popular sites. Want to build your own facebook or your own twitter? Here’s where to start…
1. Pligg
Pligg is a a digg.com clone. Digg is a social networking news site which allows users to digg or bury stories. The stories with the most diggs in the shortest amount of time get featured on the frontpage. Pligg is almost a direct clone.
2. Laconica
Want your own twitter clone? Laconica is an excellent place to start. Unlike the real twitter, you can create groups on laconica making it, in many ways, better than the original.
3. Jisko
Jisko is another twitter clone. The reason i mention a second twitter clone is because this one is very cool. Unlike twitter and laconica, it’s all AJAXy which makes for a great look and feel when using the site. It’s spanish however which is the down side. Don’t get me wrong, i’ve nothing against the spanish 
but me no speak espanyole. But where there’s a will there’s a way (google translate).
4. kissa.be
I’m sure you’ve all come across ‘tinyurl’ links before. You simple grab a url like this; http://www.smemon.com/how-to-get-attention-ryanair-style/ throw it in to tinyurl and it’ll give you something like this; http://tinyurl.com/bvnns8. It shrinks url’s which is very handy for the likes of twitter where every character counts.
5. askeet
Ever wanted your own version of yahoo answers? Askeet is the perfect solution. Simple, sleek and free – what more could you ask for!
6. phpBB
When it comes to forums, vbulletin is king. All major forums use vbulletin, but it comes at a price. phpBB is a nice, open source alternative.
7. boonex dolphin
Want your own dating site / social network? Try boonex’s dolphin. This is the base my very own BeerChief was built on.
8. elgg
Elgg is used mainly as an educational type social network. That’s not to say you can’t build a facebook or bebo from it – it’s simple, efficient and won an award for the best open source social networking platform in 2008.
9. Scuttle
Fancy creating your own delicious.com? Scuttle is one of many open source options you could use. It’s a social bookmarking website which allows you to save your favorite links but share them with others too.
10. jobberbase
Want to create your own job site? Sure why not, people are always looking for jobs! Jobberbase is a superb open source solution. Clean, classy, simple but effective – well worth checking out.