MESSAGE
| DATE | 2005-03-24 |
| FROM | From: "Inker, Evan"
|
| SUBJECT | Subject: [hangout] Open Source: Free Windows Apps
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Open Source: Free Windows Apps
by Nick Francesco
http://www.techny.com/articles.cfm?getarticle=694&go=0.17651816
Open Source delivers all that you need
You're probably sick and tired of hearing the term "Open Source," and maybe
sick of me telling you all about it. Unless you're a Linux user, then you're
all about Open Source. But for the rest of us, it's kind of a turn-off, you
know? Well, maybe.
Open Source is software whose source code is available for any user to
download, read, modify, and so on. It also generally implies that the
software is without cost. Frankly, the "Open Source" part doesn't really
interest me all that much; I continue to maintain that I am not a
programmer, so looking through thousands of lines of somebody else's code
just doesn't do all that much for me. The part that I like is that it's
free, and you should too.
I can hear you saying, "But Nick, I don't use Linux; what do I care about
Open Source?" Funny you should ask! Well, not that funny, given the
circumstances, but let's not break the fourth wall, shall we?
Open Source is available for every operating system - that's one of the cool
benefits of Open Source. Take, for example, OpenOffice.org; I've talked
about that here before, but to refresh your memory, it's a complete office
suite, with a word processor, a spreadsheet, a presentation program; and it
reads and writes Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files. In fact, I'm soaking in
it right now! Check it out at www.openoffice.org.
How about Firefox? This free, Open Source browser is a terrific product. No
popups, a lot less worry about what websites you go to, it's fast and light,
and you get lots of extras like tabbed browsing. And it's free! Just go to
www.mozilla.org to find it.
You can compliment Firefox with Thunderbird, an Open Source email program
from the same Mozilla folks. Like Firefox, it's small, light, and fast. Also
like Firefox, it has lots of nifty features. You'll find it at the same site
as Firefox.
Speaking of that site, you can also download the entire Mozilla suite, which
includes a web browser, email client, newsgroup reader, IRC client, and HTML
editor. All for free at the same site.
I can hear you say (and that still frightens me), "Well Nick, that's all
nice, but I've heard about those all too often. What else ya got?"
If you're looking for some great free, Open Source software, you should
definitely check out www.freshmeat.net for some great stuff. Not all of the
software is for Windows, but you're going to find Linux, Windows, and Mac
software there. And all of it's free, all of it Open Source.
Do you ever want to record or edit audio? Check out Audacity, one of the
truly incredible free, Open Source projects. It is an audio editor with more
features than the average person will ever use.
One of the hottest graphics programs on the market today is The GIMP (Gnu
Image Manipulation Program - www.gimp.org). Not terribly easy to learn, but
that's true of so many really powerful programs.
I can still hear you say (even though I've plugged my ears with cotton),
"But Nick, what about quality? What about support?" It's absolutely true
that Open Source software can vary in quality, but so can commercial
software. As for support, just about every good Open Source product has an
email address or forum through which you can make contact with someone to
help you solve any problems or answer any questions you may have. In fact,
it has been my experience over the years that, with the exception of the
original WordPerfect team, Open Source software authors are much more
responsive than commercial software companies.
Basically, my point here is that there's a whole world of high quality,
well-supported, free software out there. In these economically dicey times,
you owe it to yourself to check out free apps like a free office suite
before plunking down $500 for a commercial office suite. At worst it can't
hurt, and at best you'll save yourself a bundle.
Well, the voices in my head have finally decided: sushi for supper. Time to
finish writing this in OpenOffice.org Writer, mail it off through
Thunderbird, and head off. When I get back, I'll polish up some Web site
graphics in the GIMP, check the results in Firefox, and maybe clean up some
Old Time Radio with Audacity. And all of it absolutely free and absolutely
legal. How can you beat that?
Nick offers computer advice and answers to people's tech questions at his
Website at www.AskNick.com. Nick is a computer celebrity here in Rochester
and writes a Q&A column for the Democrat & Chronicle and founded Sound
Bytes, a weekly computer talk show on WHAM 1180 AM in Rochester, NY.
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