Open Source and Free Software

Many people hear the name Open Source and are unsure what this is. Well folks, and in the most general of descriptions is, it's software out there readily available for download and is (FREE). Now the (FREE) part should have everyone changing or scrambling to get it, right?

For some strange reason it doesn't, and it's been said it's because people think free means cheesy or cheap or not up to par, you all know the old adage the more expensive the better. When it comes to software or Operating Systems etc. I can honestly say this is the furthest thing from the truth, heck anymore with just about anything. I fall into this same thinking when it comes to hardware whether it's computers, stereos, electronics in general, but I can say that the cheap DVD player I just got which plays everything is better than the real expensive Sony I got years ago and has so many more features it's ridiculous, I've actually started changing my thinking... With that in mind it's time to change your ways and look into Open Source.

Open Sourced means too, that others not just a single company creates the content of the software. What this does is it gives the whole community the option to create content for a particular program or change items etc. or even feedback from others or requests which everyone is looking for, can be implemented.

Have you ever wanted something in Windows, Office, or even Photoshop as examples, that just did not do what you want them to do or a feature that is just non-existent? Well those people out there in the world of the internet using those same tools want those same features or options you dreamed or wished were there and with Open Source this can happen. Folks with the knowledge add or create those things and implement them for you, you as the user now have that feature you've always dreamed about with a software program that is Open Sourced. Now these features are not added to those programs mentioned above but are included into a new package altogether and even sometimes better than the brand name applications.

The only problem now is dumping what you know and moving over to that program that is Open Sourced and learning something new. Usually what you did in those expensive packages work the same way in the FREE package, it's just knowing where to dig, once you know one program it's so much easier to learn a newer or similar program.

Ok, so I'll break these programs up into sections and describe some things about them, I'm no expert with any of these programs but I've used all of them and this is simply my opinion of them and that's why they are even on my list.

Now for all those users out there waiting to move over to Vista, you've seen all the negative press - I don't agree with it and I am a Windows user, but I do see the potential of other alternatives. I'm a gamer and this is really the ONLY reason I stay with Windows and of course this is what I support at my job and have for over 15 years...

Now I've always said this, if you give someone an OS that has never used Windows they'd of course never know the difference from one OS to another, if they could chat, get their email, look at pictures, make spread sheets, documents and the like. For those that have used Windows and use the basics only, wouldn't care either, as long as they can do what they are used to doing, it doesn't matter what they use. You can give them a Mac or even Linux and these same things will become common place to the beginner over time. We all got our start with Windows and had to learn it over the years it's no different with these other OS's. My aunt as an example has only ever used a Mac and would never use Windows and would do circles around us Windows folks with her beloved OS, why? This is all she's ever known. Catch my drift???

Now as you read this, the program name is a link to the page where you can download or learn more about the mentioned OS or application. Enjoy.

So first on my list is Linux and one that I use or have installed is Fedora Core 7 with 8 coming in the not so distant future. You can download this and put on just about any PC and even most hardware works, not like Vista where you would need the most modern of equipment and that doesn't even mean everything will work. Sure there are thousands of distributions out there but one I recommend is Fedora and that's probably because that's the only one I've ever used. You can get the ISO images here and the how to install and learn more here: Fedora Core 7

Another great feature about Linux over Windows is almost everything you'll ever need is already included from burning software, to Office style programs, programming, web design, email, chat, you name it, it's all there and can be chosen during the install. When software that is included has updates, it all gets updated with a form of Windows Update, so you always can have the latest and greatest and patches etc. Another alternative to Windows is a OS called ReactOS which is still in its building stages but is trying to be that free OS that is identical to (bells and whistles) that Windows is, for those that don't know anything but Windows this would be an easier transition. So that covers the OS, now your ready to move on to applications to do all those things you've always wanted to do.

Now these programs I'll be mentioning have Linux versions for some, but I'll be talking about the Windows based versions of them. Besides getting someone to change OS is much harder than changing to a replacement program or application.

So you need a text editor. This is where a program called Notepad++ comes in. This program is definitely something you'll want in Windows to replace Notepad. It's great for doing programming, text editing, scripting, html. Probably the best text editor available.

Next you need a photo editor something similar to Photoshop, well this little program is excellent for a replacement and it's called Paint.NET and is constantly being updated with new options and requested tools - it also has several plugins. Another great program for manipulating pictures and photos is Irfanview. Another well known one is GIMP to name another. There is also a program just for cataloging all of your photos with some manipulation in Google's very own Picasa software.

Maybe you want to delve into 3D animation and effects? The Open Source program for this is called Blender.

You need that Office Program right? Heck who can afford that? Well there is even a replacement for that called Open Office, this program has a replacement for Office's many programs except email. I'll add those replacements here in this section so that it fits in with Office replacements. There are two applications for email one being Thunderbird 2 and the other being Evolution.

Now you enjoy tampering with media files, converting, manipulating and so on, well there are several programs for this, depending on what it is you want to do. The first would be a program called Super another one being VirtualDub, these are great for converting and manipulation of media files adding sound and so on. Maybe you want to stream media over the internet or within your blog or website here is a program for doing that called Star Media Center - it's great with a TV Tuner card as well. I used to stream my tv over the internet and watch it from a browser at work, when I had to work weekends (Couldn't miss the game)... Maybe you want another media player and get away from that old Windows Media player then you'd want to use VideoLAN (It also streams as well).

Now everyone has heard of these and most are sick of Internet Explorer well there are a couple replacements for this as well, it all depends on your taste, personally I only use Mozilla Firefox, I'd put that as the number one choice, but you could also use Opera as another alternative to IE. What is great about Firefox is you can add extensions and plugins to the browser that can make it one incredible browser and experience. One great one to mention is FireFTP which puts a FTP client right in the browser and since I'm mentioning FTP I'll put all internet based items within this section. Another free client and a stand alone one at that, would be FileZilla and if you want to run your own server and don't want to use IIS there is FileZilla Server or Apache.

Then there are those pesky critters you get from browsing the internet such as worms and spyware etc. well there is even software for this in Spybot, this puppy will keep you clear of most of those nasties.

If you use Newsgroups there is a program called XNews and it does just about everything for you (no more encoding and de-encoding as with Outlook Express).

So you need a database instead of Microsoft's SQL you could use MySQL which is used with many other programs and to name one use, it can be used with your website to create a forum with another free forum software called PHPBB. There are several forum programs out there and most use MySQL, but database goes much deeper than just these types of programs.

Next you have to keep that computer running good right? Well then there is a defrag program for your needs called Ultra Defragmenter which does things like Diskeeper and Perfect Disk, but of course free or Open Source as well.

You need some burning programs right here are just a couple Burnatonce is one and ImgBurn to name another.

We can't leave out you programmers out there. Python is one of these programming languages building steam. C++ is another well known language and can be had with this program called Dev-C++. Now not really Open Source but free is all the Visual languages that can be downloaded from Microsoft known as their Express line, which comes in BASIC, C++, C#, J# and new Studio still in beta probably covering all of them. You can even program for the Xbox 360 with the XNA addition to C#. These of course are great for learning the Visual languages and teaching yourself programming in general, these are also the tools the pros use for programming. Finally I must say something Microsoft has done right. So all you script kiddies out there get programming. Grab a book online and get started.

Off hand I can't think of any more at this point but these are just a few I use and have used for years. I could go on forever on software that is available as an Open Source alternative. Anything you can think of buying, there probably is an Open Source alternative for that item. Just search for an alternative for your favorite program and I'm sure you'll see something will come up. The list is endless and changing daily. Hope you've enjoyed this post and hope you try some of these goodies out. There are more to be had on the net, now get out there and start going Open Source or should I say FREE!!!