Welcome To

Open Source

Open source refers to software, hardware, or other products where the source code, design, or content is made publicly available for anyone to use, modify, and distribute. It's a development model that emphasizes collaboration, transparency, and community involvement. This contrasts with proprietary software, where the source code is kept secret and access is restricted

ReVolt promotes solutions in technology that are Open Source.

Although we are capable of servicing products and networks which use proprietary hardware, software, and solutions, our primary objective is to provide alternatives to users (that's you!). Solutions which are decorporatized, decentralized, and which are psychologically, and socially safer than their proprietary counterparts.

We want to provide a level of service that makes this a reality in our community.

We are also educators. We want you to have the knowledge and the power, so we host resources and community education events which turn the keys to your technology over to you, and creates a new generation of technicians, and designers who can provide service for you when you need a hand.

Operating Systems

Your operating system is the software that you use to interact with your device, and access your apps, files, and services.

Some of the major operating systems you may recognize are:

Microsoft Windows ("PC")
Apple OSX (Macbook, Mac Studio, Mac Pro)
Chrome OS
Apple IOS (iPhone)

Most users do not know a lot about operating systems beyond these selections. Although the above mentioned operating systems are the most common, they make up a small percentage of what is in-fact available.

At ReVolt, we are promoters, and service professionals for open source operating systems. Many of these operating systems are based on Linux.

A few examples are:

Debian Linux (Ubuntu, Raspbian, Peppermint, and many more)
MX Linux
Fedora
Open Suse
Lune OS
Pure OS
Android (Yes... Android is open source through AOSP, but it should be noted that it is owned and developed by Google)

Open source operating systems are free to download, distribute, and modify. They are usually designed and maintained by foundations, and non-profit organizations, instead of centralized corporations.

Most of these organizations allow the user to submit helpful information, but do not by-default collect user data like their corporate counterparts.

One of the problems in the past with switching to open source operating systems was local support, or lack-of rather. We plan to remedy this, and create a community of capable technicians to ensure that users are never alone in their pursuit of privacy, and non-predatory relationships with technology providers.

Applications

An operating system in and of itself has a few tricks, but the applications or apps (what we used to call programs) are generally what allow us to make use of our devices.

Luckily, there are open source apps for open source operating systems!

There is an increasingly robust selection of applications and application sources which are built into open source operating systems, or are accessible through open source stores.

For example:

Google has Playstore.

The open source community has F-Droid, GitHub, and Aurora Store.

Windows has Microsoft store.

Ubuntu has App Center.

There are very few things that the open source community does not offer an alternative software for.

Office productivity, games, calendars, file storage, development, accounting, security, IoT: it's all available.

The absence of viable alternatives for proprietary apps like Microsoft Office, and platforms for gaming such as Steam used to be a problem for mainstream users, but this has changed.

We envision a future where our applications do not spy on us for their corporate creators, charge subscription fees that lock us into predatory agreements, or use psychological devices to manipulate our desires, opinions, or social views.