Why Open Source?


Access to the right kind of tools can make or break a craftsman. With the advent of Linux the open source community worldwide received a boost. How could an application that was for all intent and purposes free be causing such a furor on the Internet? It was a combination of many factors, but it was its collaborative nature that made it so special. Just as in the origins of the Internet, where early users shared their applications freely and willingly, this cummulative and collaborative effort by programmers worldwide provided the foundations for a very reliable operating system, Linux, and the many “flavors” it presently has.

Just as developers have made Linux a sought-after operating system for servers and desk top users alike, so have they made some huge strides in developing applications that run on traditional operating systems (Windows, Macs, etc.) These applications include entries in traditional proprietary (for pay) software categories such as business, communications, databases, development, graphic applications, internet & networking, multimedia & audio, security & privacy, system utilities and web development, among others. Sourceforge.org (open source project repository) lists over 151,000 active projects!

The list below provides examples of software whose source code (the human-readable code programmers use to develop applications) is freely available, allowing them a transparent view of the “engine” that runs the software they need to work with. This “Open Source” quality is a philosophical milestone away from proprietary software that just offers the compiled source code (the ones and zeros computers understand.) There are no “thousand eyes and minds” looking at and improving the code, so response times, when there are problems, are traditionally slow and tied to that company’s marketing plan. Also, more often than not, software performance adjustments and tweaks are very hard to obtain, especially from huge companies. Free open source applications are, in most cases, as robust as their proprietary counterparts, and in some cases, even more so.

It is important to note that not all “free” software is open source. Reliance on this type of “free for as long as our company wants it so” software, has some of the response time and update drawbacks that for-pay proprietary products have. Caveat emptor.

If you are wanting to become a software skilled craftsman (or just want to have a chance of learning about “what’s out there” without spending a fortune), open source software may be your tool. Teachers are using it and, in many cases, giving the applications to their students legally, so everybody has the same tools and there are no piracy or per-copy license fees to worry about.

For more information check out this local Open Source resource.

Which Open Source applications are available that cost nothing and are the equivalent to proprietary PC programs? The list below should help:
Microsoft Internet Explorer ===> Firefox , SeaMonkey and Opera
Microsoft Office suite ===> Open Office suite. More specifically,

In addition Open Office provides OO Math, OO Draw, and OO Base

MS Outlook or Outlook Express ===> Thunderbird
MS Access, Filemaker Pro ===> Open Office Base
MSN Messanger ===> Gaim
Microsoft Money, Quicken ===> Grisbi and GnuCash
Photoshop, Paint, Corel Draw, Paint Shop Pro ===> Gimp, Paint.NET and CinePaint
Corel Draw, Illustrator or Freehand ===> Inkscape
Adobe After Effects ===> Jahshaka
Windows Media Player ===> VLC and MPlayer
MS MovieMaker, FinalCutPro, Adobe Premiere ===> Avidemux and VirtualDub
Macromedia Flash ===> OpenLazlo and OO Impress
Macromedia Captivate ===> CamStudio
Mind Manager ===> FreeMind
Kid Pix ===> Tux Paint
MS Visio ===> Dia, inkscape, starUML and OO Draw
Dreamweaver ===> NVU, SeaMonkey’s Composer, Amaya and KompoZer
MS Publisher, PageMaker or Adobe InDesign ===> Scribus
Microsoft Projects ===> OpenWorkbench and GanttProject
Adobe Acrobat ===> PDFCreator and SumatraPDF
Blackboard, WebCT ===> Moodle
McAfee Virus Scan ===> ClamWin and Winpooch
MS Office Clip Art ===> OpenClipArt
Nero Burning Rom, Roxio Record Now ===> Infrarecorder and CDRDAO
SASIxp ===> SchoolTool
MS FTP Server ===> FileZilla
Symantec Norton Ghost ===> g4u
Symantec Norton Partition Magic ===> gparted
VMWare ===> Virtual Box, Xen and CoLinux

Other applications worth considering:

Audacity: a sound editing program which can record, playback, and mix sounds or apply effects using a variety of filters. It’s an Open Source alternative to Adobe Audition

Celestia: a simulation of the entire universe, based on current astronomical information.

Juice: a cross-platform aggregator application that is used to download podcast media files, such as oggs and mp3s.

Stellarium: a free open source planetarium for your computer. It shows a realistic sky in 3D.

GCompris: educational software which propose different activities to children from 2 to 10 years old.

Childsplay: a suite of educational games for young children.

Gramps: free genealogy program

Blender: a free open source 3D content creation suite, to model, shade,animate, render and compose interactive 3D graphics. See also PovRay.

If you are looking for a place to find open source software alternatives to well-known commercial software, visit http://www.osalt.com/.For diverse opinions and a place to vote for your favorite Open Source applications go to GroupThink’s Open Source page.The UK has a site dedicated to Free, Libre and Open Source Software solutions for Education (use the right column for categories)