AlternativeTo
Encyclopedia
AlternativeTo is a website
which lists alternatives to web-based software
, desktop computer software, and mobile apps, and sorts the alternatives by various criteria, including the number of registered users who have clicked the "Like" button for each of them on AlternativeTo.
Users can search the site to, for instance, find better alternatives to an application they are using or previously have used, or free alternatives, perhaps choosing a free web application (cloud computing
) which does not require any installation and can be accessed from any browser.
to find software, which offers an alternative way of finding related software. Users can also narrow their search by focusing on particular platforms and license types (such as "free for non-commercial use").
Unlike Wikipedia
, AlternativeTo does not require listed alternatives to be notable to have a full entry on the site. However, AlternativeTo does not have comparison tables listing software features side-by-side, which Wikipedia does have for some types of software. Only basic information such as platform and license type is listed at the top of each entry.
AlternativeTo allows anyone to register and suggest new alternatives, or to update the information held about existing entries. Suggestions and alterations are reviewed before being made publicly visible. Registration can be done via Facebook Connect, or OpenID
, both of which obviate the need to create a new password for the site.
As AlternativeTo is itself a web application, it even has a page for alternatives to itself.
. Each application has an RSS feed for notifying users of newly-listed alternatives to that application. After a user has clicked the Like button next to an application, they are offered the opportunity to tell their friends on Facebook
or their followers on Twitter that they liked it, and the tweet or post can be customised.
The site also has a forum. For software developers, a JSON
API is available.
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
which lists alternatives to web-based software
Web application
A web application is an application that is accessed over a network such as the Internet or an intranet. The term may also mean a computer software application that is coded in a browser-supported language and reliant on a common web browser to render the application executable.Web applications are...
, desktop computer software, and mobile apps, and sorts the alternatives by various criteria, including the number of registered users who have clicked the "Like" button for each of them on AlternativeTo.
Users can search the site to, for instance, find better alternatives to an application they are using or previously have used, or free alternatives, perhaps choosing a free web application (cloud computing
Cloud computing
Cloud computing is the delivery of computing as a service rather than a product, whereby shared resources, software, and information are provided to computers and other devices as a utility over a network ....
) which does not require any installation and can be accessed from any browser.
Differences between AlternativeTo and other software directory websites
Unlike a number of other software directory websites, the software is not arranged into categories, but each individual piece of software has its own list of alternatives, permitting a more tailored listing approach. However, users can also search by tagTag (metadata)
In online computer systems terminology, a tag is a non-hierarchical keyword or term assigned to a piece of information . This kind of metadata helps describe an item and allows it to be found again by browsing or searching...
to find software, which offers an alternative way of finding related software. Users can also narrow their search by focusing on particular platforms and license types (such as "free for non-commercial use").
Unlike Wikipedia
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 20 million articles have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. Almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site,...
, AlternativeTo does not require listed alternatives to be notable to have a full entry on the site. However, AlternativeTo does not have comparison tables listing software features side-by-side, which Wikipedia does have for some types of software. Only basic information such as platform and license type is listed at the top of each entry.
AlternativeTo allows anyone to register and suggest new alternatives, or to update the information held about existing entries. Suggestions and alterations are reviewed before being made publicly visible. Registration can be done via Facebook Connect, or OpenID
OpenID
OpenID is an open standard that describes how users can be authenticated in a decentralized manner, eliminating the need for services to provide their own ad hoc systems and allowing users to consolidate their digital identities...
, both of which obviate the need to create a new password for the site.
As AlternativeTo is itself a web application, it even has a page for alternatives to itself.
Social web features
Tweets from anyone mentioning particular pieces of software are also pulled in dynamically from TwitterTwitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
. Each application has an RSS feed for notifying users of newly-listed alternatives to that application. After a user has clicked the Like button next to an application, they are offered the opportunity to tell their friends on Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
or their followers on Twitter that they liked it, and the tweet or post can be customised.
The site also has a forum. For software developers, a JSON
JSON
JSON , or JavaScript Object Notation, is a lightweight text-based open standard designed for human-readable data interchange. It is derived from the JavaScript scripting language for representing simple data structures and associative arrays, called objects...
API is available.