MESSAGE
| DATE | 2005-08-03 |
| FROM | From: "Inker, Evan"
|
| SUBJECT | Subject: [NYLXS - HANGOUT] Never pay for software again
|
Never pay for software again
By Tom Merritt
Editor, CNET.com
August 2, 2005
http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-3000_7-6279918-1.html?tag=nl.e501
I recently bought a new laptop and decided to see just how far I could go in
setting it up without having to pay for software. Granted, I was using a
Windows machine, so I wasn't totally geeking out. I just wanted to see if I
could live on free software other than the OS, and whether that's something
a reasonably intelligent average user could do. I also decided not to steal
software I should pay for (as that's against the law and all). Besides,
Software Freedom Day is coming up September 10, and I want to be ready.
started in the obvious place, by downloading the Mozilla Suite. I chose the
Mozilla suite over Firefox and Thunderbird so that I could get the browser,
e-mail functionality, Web editor, and IRC client all in one package. Of
course, downloading it meant I had to open Internet Explorer once, since
that was the default browser that came with my laptop. Yes, I could have
logged in to a shell and downloaded through Unix, but I think I made it
clear I wasn't geeking out here.
Office politics
The biggest bugaboo for some people trying to go free is how to get around
paying an arm and a leg for Microsoft Office. You can get 75 percent of the
way there by downloading OpenOffice. It's a free word processor,
spreadsheet, and presentation graphics program that is fully compatible with
Microsoft file formats.
The only problem is that OpenOffice doesn't contain an Outlook replacement
for e-mail or calendaring. I had e-mail covered through the Mozilla suite,
but I needed some kind of calendar system, so I downloaded the Mozilla
calendar plug-in.
Sound and graphics
After I got the basic productivity apps down, I branched out into more fun
stuff, such as pictures and audio. I like to manipulate images, so I needed
a replacement for Photoshop. I decided to give the GIMP a shot. The GIMP is
the GNU Image Manipulation Program, but it got a bad rap because of
difficult installation and a pretty bad user interface. Still, if you
haven't tried the GIMP in a while, give it a second shot. It's a much easier
install now, and the interface has improved tremendously. If you've never
tried it, you'll find it an amazingly powerful graphics package for free.
For sound editing, I took the recommendation of MP3.com's Eliot Van Buskirk
and downloaded Audacity. I haven't put it through its paces yet, but I've
toyed around with it, and it's very easy to use. Comes in handy for
recording podcasts.
The hits keep on coming
>From there the options are endless. Our Editors' Choice for Internet
telephony, Skype, makes my list, as does iPodder for subscribing to
podcasts, though you can now do that in iTunes, which is also a free
download. There are many other lovely freeware efforts out there that will
do everything from letting you create PDF files to replacing Dreamweaver.
You can find a great collection of some of the best free programs for
Windows at TheOpenCD.org, which aims to create a totally free environment
for Windows machines. The site's main purpose is the distribution of a CD
that has a bootable, installed distribution of Linux called Ubuntu with all
the free software you need already installed. A bootable CD means you put
the CD in any computer and boot up from the CD drive. Without having to
install anything, you have a whole new operating system you can experiment
with. All your data and your original operating system are still on your
hard drive.
The rub
So, in the end, how's all this free stuff working? Well, I can do almost
everything seamlessly--except corporate mail (which runs on the Exchange
server). I can check my corporate mail from Mozilla, but I can't respond to
or accept invitations to meetings. And boy, do we have a lot of meetings.
I'm wavering on whether to cave and install Outlook. But that's just for
convenience--I could exist totally free. If you're not enmeshed in a
Microsoft Exchange- or Lotus-only environment, or if you're braver than me
and will blow off meetings, you need never pay another dime for software.
Ever wondered how technology and the Web really work? CNET's Tom Merritt
gives you the Real Deal on deals, steals, tips, and tricks.
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