Have you ever seen the Southpark episode entitled "
Simpsons Already Did It"? Open Source software is kind of like that episode.
A lot of software has passed under the bridge since the personal computer was first introduced to the mass market. Operating systems, word processing and database programs, graphic editors and webpage editors. The fact is, some company has probably already built a program to handle your computing needs. Odds are that software cost you money or pops a nag screen when you use it. If I was a betting Mowse, I would bet that your favorite applications have been around in some version for at least a decade. I would wager that for every tried and true app, there's an Open Source version that works just as well and is absolutely free of charge and nag screens.
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"Open Source Software is free. OS programs are just as good, if not better than their non-free versions. OS updates and upgrades are produced almost daily and are only a click away." |
The term Open Source software is beguilingly self-descriptive. Underlying every software program is the code for that program. The code for a software program such as Microsoft Word, is proprietary meaning that users/outside programmers aren't allowed to alter or recreate the code without licensing from MS.
With Open Source software, the source code is open to basically anyone. If you want to modify an Open Source program, you're free to do so. If you want install someone else's modified version, that's cool too. If you simply want software that will replace the products you're tired of re-leasing and re-paying for, Open Source is for you. Sure. Adobe already makes great software. Apple already makes. Bill Gates already makes (groan) great software. That's the point. Why should some monolithic corporation continue to hold financial sway over something as integral to your work as a word processing program? After all these years of word processing applications having been on the market? Considering the fact that these software makers really don't offer that much with each upgrade and new license agreement? Fuck that.
Open Source Software is free. OS programs are just as good, if not better than their non-free versions. OS updates and upgrades are produced almost daily and are only a click away. Open Source applications and Operating Systems can replace or enhance the tools of any user.
Let's get down to it. In this first part, I will name some super-basic Open Source must-haves and where you can get them. In part two I will name some additional OS downloads that you might find useful. Here's the first list:
Operating System Software
You don't have to load a strange, new Operating System in order to get Open Source software to work. These days, most Open Source is available for Windows and MAC and comes with appropriate installers. The thing is, Windows is becoming practically unusable due to its oppressive restrictions and crappy upgrades like Vista. Apple machines are sweet but they cost an awful damned lot of money. What you may not know is that you can install a fresh Open Source, Linux-based, Operating System on any machine, no matter how old it is. You don't have to buy a new PC or Laptop just to get the OS upgrade. We're talking nightly builds, people! My favorite Open Source Operating System is Ubuntu and its derivatives. Ubuntu is complete. With it, you get the same types of base applications that come with any new Windows or MAC machine: Internet Browser, Email Client, Media Player, File Manager, Games, Image/Photo Editor, Wireless/DSL/Networking applications, plus an entire suite of Office-type software. All you have to do is download an Ubuntu distribution, burn it to CD or DVD, pop it in a drive, boot the machine to that disk and walk through the installation process. You don't even have to load Ubuntu to your hard drive. You can try it out by running it from the CD/DVD. Get Ubuntu here. Also, if you'd like to do some shopping around for other Open Source OS distros, my favorite site to browse is DistroWatch.
I'm old school. I still do a lot of my web page coding by hand. Mind you, I'm not bragging about my l33t skills. Every adult webmaster needs to learn HTML, as well as some XML, PHP, CSS, Javascript, etc. We all screw up but you can't fix the problem if you can't read the code. Just the same, there's at least one Open Source version of web building software that is comparable to the most well-known Win/MAC brands. I like BlueFish because it most resembles my pet HTML Editor, Arachnophilia. BlueFish can be downloaded here. If you're more of a WYSIWYG fan, then you should try Kompozer. It's designed to operate like DreamWeaver and it's the project of those wonderful Mozilla folks. Get Kompozer at this URL.
This is an image-based business and graphic creation/editing software is an absolute necessity. Have you priced the newest Photo Shop CS3 suites lately? And the fact of the matter is that most of us will never need software as powerful as the beast from Adobe. We just want a graphic/drawing program that works with layers and transparencies, in different formats and offers decent filters and plugins. Resize and crop photos. Make logos and design graphics. Batch processing and plenty of memory for undo. Just an all-around graphics workhorse. For this type of need, GIMP is an outstanding option. GIMP stands for GNU Image Manipulation Program. GNU is a free Operating System started in the 1980s. Most Open Source software exists because of the GNU Project. GIMP is sweet. I love it. There are versions for Linux, MAC and Windows. Download it from here
Already, three types of software indispensable to the adult webmaster, available in a free, Open Source version. Just because Bill Gates already did it, that doesn't mean it can't be done again, and without cost. Stay Cozy and wait for Part II, where I unload a huge load of additional Open Source programs on you.
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