Open Source Stuff

Ok!

In the last post I was talking about Open Source software and how valuable it can be. I got quite a few responses from both the blog and off it so here's the list. :-)

Open Office:

The open source equivalent of Microsoft Office, providing you with a complete suite of office applications, the more obvious being a presentation package, a writing package and a spreadsheet package. Other less obvious ones are a math package and drawing package and a database package. These programs are all compatible with office documents and can save into the office format so there is no compatibility problems. Some of the buttons are placed in different places but generally all the functionally of Microsoft's versions are in these open source ones.

Fire Fox:

So much has already been said about Fire Fox that it doesn't really seem necessary to do so here apart from the fact that it's a kick ass browser with a bookmark system that I wouldn't swap for anything!

Ink Scape:

Open source's answer to the likes of adobe illustrate. Of all the open source Apps, this is the one I am most in love with. It is so easy to find your way around and combines the very best from all the other drawing systems such as Flash, Coral draw and Free hand. I installed Ink Scape and literally within the hour I had figured out my way around just about all the basic functions of the program. The more complex functionalities took a little longer but once they are figured out. Well, it's just awesome. :-)

NVU:

The Open Source web developer package. Being able to go toe to toe with the likes of Dreamweaver is no small feet but NVU manages it.... just. Although it does lack some of the functionality of Dreamweaver (Such as a dynamic online/offline file management system) NVU totally schools it when it comes to table management. While Dreamweaver is clumsy and confusing in it's table management system, NVU is easy, simple, and understandable. All in all, if you are a casual webmaster or someone who designs websites purely for their own ventures, this software is a must.

Blender:

I haven't done much in the way of 3-D Graphics or animation so I would really have trouble trying to compare this software against its peers in it's industry segment but if anyone who does work in this area could tell me what they think of this software then I'll update the blog with a thumbs up or down :-) Having said that, from my limited experience it looks like a serious bit of software.

GnuCash:

An open source accounting program. I'm constantlly telling myself that I need to start to take proper steps to sort of my accounting and I'm confident that this program will help me with this no end. Although it should be said that there are several programms out there that are designed to sync with the commersial accounting pacakages and until they all support GnuCash it could be problamatic. But still.... £150 saving is not to be sneased at ;-)

The Gimp:

And finally! In the world of image editing there is only one constant rule. Photoshop is king. It really is hard for any product to go up against it and one of the reasons for this is it just has an unshiftable reputation as the best and that reputation doesn't seem to be letting up any time soon. However at over £500 for a full commercial version of the package it isn't cheap and unless you are going to make full use of all it's functionalities it really could be an expensive investment when you consider the open source version. The Gimp has gained something of a cult status around the graphic community especially among Linux uses who, have no other option.

Naturally the great thing about all these programs is that you can try them out at no cost before deciding whether you want to rely on them. It's unlikely that you will prefer every software package over it's closed source peers but even then the cost factor may well swing you. I recommend that you try all of them out. There's nothing to lose and a few thousand quid to gain ;-).

It should also be noted that I haven't covered Video Editing packages. After a good deal of searching I concluded that, unfortunately, the open source video and sound editing programs just aren't mature enough for them to be seriously considered. For those who want to do videography... A mac is still your best bet.

Have fun!

- James