When he started researching online, he found out about RepRap, an open-source project for 3D printing, which provided the foundation to at least start creating a 3D printer, not only because of the open-source instructions but also because of a community of enthusiastic tinkerers like himself.

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But a few have also been tinkering with open-source platforms like Tizen (a collaboration between Samsung and Intel) Linux, GENIVI, and Android.

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Sun's OpenOffice.org project should be ready by October and will not only give users access to open-source code but will also provide filters to allow Sun customers to use Microsoft's rival products.

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Open source projects require the writing of code, sure, but also developing documentation and training methods, managing and researching communities of users, testing the quality of existing code and designing the interfaces and interactions of user experience.

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