Free software is mainly distributed over the Internet. The main cooperative development sites are:

• Sourceforge
• Savannah

Several compilation sites exist: freshmeat.net , www.framasoft.net and the Free Software Directory .

There are also websites for streaming open source operating systems : LinuxISO (ISO images of Linux distributions), Mandrake , Red Hat and SuSE .

There are personal sites that host free software, download sites (freeware, shareware and open source software) www.tucows.com , download.com , telecharger.01net.com ). There are also many online reviews and their download area.

In addition to Internet for streaming, it is possible to purchase compact discs containing an operating system distribution.

Several major industrial partners openly support free software: “IBM alone has decided to invest a billion dollars in the development of free or open source software” ( Quebec Science magazine, 2002 ).