Great Open Source Programs

First of all, let me apologize for the length of the posts over the last week in particular. It was never my plan to make them so long, and I realize that for a blog, they were way too long, so I promise to watch my length in the future.


Now for today's post!

Are you tired of paying big bucks for software? Looking for alternatives, but unimpressed with the cheaper alternatives you've found? Then perhaps it might be time to check out these open source programs!

First, what is Open Source? It is a method for developing software in a way that allows users to use, review, and modify the code of a program. Okay... This may not be a perfect definition, but if you are interested, you can find out more information at the Open Source Initiative's website.

So, what are some great programs?

Linux is an operating system that has been around for a while. It is gaining ground on the "big" companies. In a few years, hardware vendors may even get to the point where they may have to provide drivers that will work with this operating system. But, for now, it does remain one that is the domain of more experienced users. Outside of hardware support, though, Linux is quickly becoming widely used in the internet industry. It provides great stability and versatility. Gnome and KDE, along with the underlying X.org, have made great improvements in recent years. In fact, it is becoming easier for even the average computer user to run a Linux system with a minimal amount of help. I think this could explode once the hardware support I mentioned eventually happens.

Linux is available in several "flavors", some based on others. My distribution of choice is Debian, but other common ones include Red Hat, Suse, Slackware, and the Debian-based Ubuntu.

For an Office Suite, check out OpenOffice.org. This great collection of programs includes a word processor, a spreadsheet, a database, a graphics, and a presentation program. It even has a program to help you build complicated mathematical equations in a format that you can import into your documents. The biggest drawback with this program in my opinion is that each document requires a new program instance, but this suite is otherwise full of features similar to those of Microsoft Office (minus Outlook). The other drawback is the one I mentioned, the lack of a program comparable to Outlook, but this may come in the future. I have used Open Office over the last few years and have been fairly impressed.

Want to do computer graphics? The GIMP is your program! The Gnu Image Manipulation Program is an image editing program full of features comparable to the way more expensive Adobe Photoshop or even the less pricey Paint Shop Pro. It can do alpha channels for transparency and layer, has a variety of brushes to use with a pencil, paintbrush, or airbrush stroke, and has several pattern images easily applied with the bucket tool. This program has so many features, it is impossible to list them all in the space I have here, but it is definitely worth trying out. The interface, with its 3 window work environment, does take a little getting used to, but it is hands down way better than Microsoft's Paint program that comes with the MS operating systems.

For 3d programs, Blender, combined on occasion with Yafray, can produce stunning, realistic results comparable to Maya. Though it has a steep learning curve, this program has a lot of flexibility and power on its own. When you add some plug-ins or enhance it with some other programs, you can create works of art. Patience is the key to learning this program, but it can be worth the effort. The program does have a compositor and sequencer that is at least serviceable, though there may be better ones out there.

Audacity is a sound editing program. I have not spent a lot of time with this one, but from what little I have done with it, it can be a useful program.

The last program I want to talk about is actually a pair of programs, Firefox and Thunderbird, both available from Mozilla. Spun off from Netscape, Mozilla created Firefox as an open source browser and Thunderbird as an email client. Firefox is every bit as fully featured as Internet Explorer. In fact, I like it even better, because it comes closer to compliance with recommendations from W3C, an organization setting standards for web page development. Thunderbird is comparable to Microsoft's Outlook Express email client, and can do many of the same things, including reading email, newsgroups, and RSS feeds.

The best thing about all of these programs? Every single one of them can be gotten for FREE!! As in NO COST. Most of them operate as FREE software, not because of price (which most of them are) but FREE as in FREEdom to do various things with them. Generally, they are free to distribute, as long as you pass the source code along as well, though check the license to make sure before doing so. But even the ones that may cost you (ie versions of Linux), you can usually get CHEAPER than COMPARABLE products from Microsoft.

Check them out and happy computing!