Most tools I use are Open Source: meaning these tools can be modified by anyone in the world. This usually leads to very usable tools that fill real-world needs. They are also “free”, meaning you can download them at no cost. Open Source runs the vast majority of web sites in the world.
Ruby on Rails
Ruby on Rails, often shortened to Rails or RoR, is an open source web application framework for the Ruby programming language. It is intended to be used with an Agile development methodology that is used by web developers for rapid development.
Ruby
Ruby is a dynamic, reflective, general purpose object-oriented programming language that combines syntax inspired by Perl with Smalltalk-like features. Ruby originated in Japan during the mid-1990s and was initially developed and designed by Yukihiro “Matz” Matsumoto. It is based on Perl, Smalltalk, Eiffel, Ada, and Lisp.
Capistrano
Capistrano is an open source tool for running scripts on multiple servers; its main use is deploying web applications. It automates the process of making a new version of an application available on one or more web servers, including supporting tasks such as changing databases.
SQLite
SQLite is an embedded relational database management system contained in a relatively small library. It’s blazingly fast and ridiculously easy to setup. The source code for SQLite is in the public domain. It’s my favourite database for apps that are mostly read and hardly written.
MySQL
MySQL is a relational database management system (RDBMS) that has more than 11 million installations. MySQL is often used in free software projects that require a full-featured database management system, including projects such as WordPress, phpBB and other software built on the LAMP software stack. It is also used in many high-profile, large-scale World Wide Web products including Wikipedia, Google and Facebook.
Apache
The Apache HTTP Server, commonly referred to as Apache, is web server software notable for playing a key role in the initial growth of the World Wide Web. In 2009 it became the first web server software to surpass the 100 million web site milestone. Apache was the first viable alternative to the Netscape Communications Corporation web server (currently known as Sun Java System Web Server), and has since evolved to rival other Unix-based web servers in terms of functionality and performance. The majority of web servers using Apache run the Linux operating system.
Textmate
TextMate is a general-purpose GUI text editor for Mac OS X created by Allan Odgaard. Its users are mostly programmers, though it has been used for screenwriting. Notable features include declarative customizations, tabs for open documents, recordable macros, folding sections and snippets, shell integration, and an extensible bundle system.
Git
Git is a free distributed revision control, or software source code management project with an emphasis on being fast. Git was initially designed and developed by Linus Torvalds for Linux kernel development.
Github
GitHub is a web-based hosting service for projects that use the Git revision control system. It is written using Ruby on Rails by Logical Awesome developers Chris Wanstrath, PJ Hyett, and Tom Preston-Werner. GitHub offers both commercial plans and free accounts for open source projects. According to the Git User’s Survey in 2009, GitHub is the most popular Git hosting site.