Resources
Supplementary class materials
“Productivity Without the Steep Cost: An Overview of Free Open Source Software”
This web page provides additional information and resources for attendees of my presentation at Capital PC User Group and possibly other venues.
General notes
As discussed in the presentation, there are many options for both free open source software and freeware in general. For this presentation, I made the arbitrary decision to look at only software which is open source (although I also use plenty of freeware on a regular basis).
This list is not intended to be comprehensive, nor can I claim to have even tried all of the packages listed. But it should serve you as a good starting point. I welcome your feedback on what software you've tried, successfully or otherwise.
Background info
- Open Source Initiative
- Ubuntu Community List of Open Source Programs
- The Top 50 Proprietary Programs that Drive You Crazy — and Their Open Source Alternatives
- Free Software Magazine
- Creative Commons — a new approach to copyright which increases sharing and improves collaboration
- Open Source Applications for Windows
- Top 8 Linux myths debunked
Open Source packages
- Note that many of these packages are available in both free and
paid offerings. Highlighted packages are ones that I have
personally used
successfully. Find the one that's appropriate for your
needs.
- Computer operating environments
- Ubuntu — one of many free Linux distributions. I've found this to be the easiest one for non-technical people to get installed and working. Running the "live CD" allows you to try it out without changing anything on your computer.
- eyeOS — build your own "cloud", and access the data and applications from any web browser
- Office suites
- OpenOffice — a full, integrated office suite, an alternative to Microsoft Office (runs on Windows, MacOS, Linux)
- NeoOffice — similar to Open Office, specifically for MacOS
- AbiWord — a relatively lightweight alternative to WordPerfect and Microsoft Word (Windows, MacOS, Linux)
- CRM software
- SugarCRM — Customer Relationship Management software (Windows, MacOS, Linux)
- Project management
- Open Workbench — project scheduling software (Windows)
- OpenProj — another project management package (Windows, MacOS, Linux)
- ToDoList — hierarchical task manager (Windows)
- timeEdition — time tracking (Windows, MacOS, Linux)
- Miscellaneous productivity
- FreeMind — mind-mapping software (Windows, MacOS, Linux)
- Tomboy — note-taking (Windows, MacOS, Linux)
- Task Coach — to-do list management (Windows, MacOS, Linux)
- Enterprise management
- OrangeHRM — HR management (Windows, Linux)
- openQRM — data center management (Linux)
- Learning/collaboration
- Moodle — a Course Management or Learning Management System, alternative to Blackboard (Windows, MacOS)
- Dimdim — web conferencing service
- Graphics/publishing
- Inkscape — vector graphics editor (Windows, MacOS, Linux)
- The GIMP image manipulation program (Windows, MacOS, Linux)
- Paint.net — photo editing program (Windows)
- Nvu web authoring software (Windows, MacOS, Linux)
- KompoZer web authoring software — Nvu with bug fixes (Windows, MacOS, Linux)
- Dia — a diagram creating program, lightweight alternative to Visio (Windows, Linux)
- Open Clip Art Library
- Open Source Web Design
- Blender — 3D graphics editor (Windows, MacOS, Linux)
- PDF Creator (Windows)
- PDFTK — PDF Toolkit (Windows, MacOS, Linux)
- Sumatra PDF — a lightweight PDF file reader (Windows)
- Scribus — desktop publishing (Windows, MacOS, Linux)
- Audio/video
- Audacity — sound editor (Windows, MacOS, Linux)
- Avidemux — lightweight video editor (Windows, MacOS, Linux)
- BonkEnc — audio converter and CD ripper (Windows)
- InfraRecorder — CD/DVD burning (Windows)
- DVD Styler — DVD authoring (Windows, Linux)
- LightWorks — video editor (Windows)
- VLC Player — audio/video media player (Windows, MacOS, Linux)
- Songbird — music player, alternative to iTunes (Windows, MacOS, Linux)
- Financial
- GnuCash — personal and small-business accounting (Windows, MacOS, Linux)
- TurboCash — small-business accounting (Windows)
- Games
- FlightGear — flight simulator (Windows, MacOS, Linux)
- Joleem — addictive game, variation on Bejeweled (Windows)
- LBreakout2 — variation on Araknoid (Windows, Linux)
- Internet
- Firefox web browser (Windows, MacOS, Linux)
- Thunderbird email client — a great alternative to Outlook Express (Windows, MacOS, Linux)
- Pidgin — multi-protocol instant messaging client (Windows, MacOS, Linux)
- Miranda — multi-protocol instant messaging client (Windows)
- FileZilla — FTP client (Windows, MacOS, Linux) and FTP server (Windows)
- PuTTY — SSH client (Windows, Linux)
- Music
- LMMS (Linux Multi-Media Studio) — MIDI sequencer (Windows, Linux)
- LilyPond — music notation (Windows, MacOS, Linux)
- Security
- ClamWin — anti-virus (Windows)
- Eraser — secure file deletion utility (Windows)
- Password Safe — simple password management (Windows)
- TrueCrypt — data encryption (Windows, MacOS, Linux)
- Miscellaneous utilities
- Pnotes — virtual stickie notes (Windows)
- 7-Zip — file archive utility (Windows)
- PeaZip — file archive utility (Windows, Linux)
- Toucan — utility to synchronize, backup, and secure files (Windows)
- PortableApps.com — source for portable versions of many FOSS packages (Windows)
Books & Magazines
- Free Software for Busy People (the book is open source, so read or download it for free)
- Free Software Magazine — occasional e-zine