Linux Operating system
Could also be BSD, Unix, or others.
Apache Web server
Could also be FastCGI, lighthttpd, or others.
MySQL Database
Could also be PostgreSQL, or others.
Php Programming Language
Could also be Perl, Ruby, Python, C, Java, or one of many others.
Open Source software forms an excellent foundation for custom applications
Effective way to automate and simplify a complex series of business functions
Benefits to building on or using Open Source Web applications:
Background
Old way - a single spreadsheet on a shared drive
New way - a custom web application...
A wiki is a web application that allows collaborative information editing and sharing
The most notable of these is MediaWiki - the foundation of Wikipedia
Examples:
Many other companies and projects use Wikis for documentation
Content Management Systems
A framework to build powerful database-driven web sites while allowing non-developers to use and update the content
Examples of Open Source CMS
Sites based on a CMS
Customer Relations Management
Automation of customer relations process
A famous example of a (non-open source) CRM is SalesForce.com
Examples of Open source CRM systems
BLOG is short for "Web log" - a free-form writing and publishing web tool
Blogs have many uses - some of them even for business. In particular, they are a good way to provide specific useful information to an audience
The most popular Open Source Blog sofware is WordPress
Example Blogs:
Open Source Web Applications give business people powerful and effective tools to create NEW business results