Free Software article discussion

Former_MSE_Lawrence

This is the discussion to link on the back of the

Free Software: Kit out your PC for nowt article

Please read the article first, and then come back here to leave feedback. Thanks

Ivan_Konstantinov

good stuff for newbies

iviv

Under 'Where to Find Other Software' wouldn't it be an idea to link to sourceforge, as its a huge repository of open source, free programms.

Also, Foxit reader could do with a mention. While Adobe reader is also free, its a bit of a resource hog, foxit does everything adobe does at less than 10% the size. The only thing it can't do is open inside internet explorer, you have to click the link and select 'open'. But thats hardly a problem.

superscaper

What about Inkscape (http://www.inkscape.org/) vector program very much like Corel Xara.

And more generally http://www.osalt.com/ , database of open source alternatives to commercial programs. Sourceforge does host a lot, but Osalt is a good tool for finding the open source equivalents. Compliment each other well.

superscaper

Two more not too obscure ones that come to mind:

Freemind (http://freemind.sourceforge.net/). I use Mindmanager 7 and iMindmap but I also find (at work) Freemind is a damn good free alternative mind mapping tool.

Truecrypt (http://www.truecrypt.org/) is there any better encryption? It's one of those times where open source actually has a functional advantage over commercial software, the source code is open and therefore can be shown to have no back doors. Some commercial encryption is used by organisations precisely because they DO have backdoors which is definitely not what you want as an individual/home user.

Marty_J

For anyone using a Mac, I would recommend:

iSquint - an iPod video converter

Camino - a Mac only browser from Mozilla

Doug's Applescripts for iTunes - a collection of AppleScripts for doing lots of cool stuff in iTunes

Windows Media Components for QuickTime - allows QuickTime to play Windows Media files

ScummVM - allows you to play classic point-and-click adventure games on your Mac (available for other platforms too). The site has free (and legal) downloads of Beneath a Steal Sky and Flight of the Amazon Queen, which are both excellent

DosBox - allows you to run DOS programs (available for other platforms too)

Adium - instant messaging client. Supports many different protocols and can use several at once (i.e. you can sign into Yahoo and MSN)

SuperCal - for calibrating your Mac's display

I'm sure there are other apps I could recommend, but that's all that comes to mind at the minute.

Marty_J

Is is just me, or has everything posted by cruisecrazy7 been about Lotus Symphony?

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=cruisecrazy7&hl=en&filter=0

Leeds_Steve

Marty_J wrote: »

Is is just me, or has everything posted by cruisecrazy7 been about Lotus Symphony?

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=cruisecrazy7&hl=en&filter=0

If you read Martin's own words on the "free office software" page, he asks that if you know of free software , "Please report it in the discussion below, and I'll investigate."

Symphony is free, office software, so what's the problem?

:money:

superscaper

Marty_J wrote: »

Is is just me, or has everything posted by cruisecrazy7 been about Lotus Symphony?

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=cruisecrazy7&hl=en&filter=0

It's rather suspicious. You're getting as bad as me in your cynicism.

I think I'll just repeat the last time I commented on Symphony. Whether it's an unbiased poster or not my following opinion would be the same:

"Not much point in it though as it's based on the OpenOffice code and as such is always going to be out of date compared to simply getting OpenOffice itself. OpenOffice 3 will be fully released soon which will have MS Office 2007 support for example. Symphony is based on OpenOffice 1.1.4 to give an idea of how different the age of the code is. It also has far less functionality and components."

Marty_J

Leeds_Steve wrote: »

If you read Martin's own words on the "free office software" page, he asks that if you know of free software , "Please report it in the discussion below, and I'll investigate."

Symphony is free, office software, so what's the problem?

:money:

The problem is that you're not allowed to advertise and given that all of cruisecrazy7's contributions to the internet have concerned Lotus Symphony, they have simply copy and pasted the product description from their website, and they've apparently joined just so they could post about it, it's not unreasonable to question whether they have some sort of link to them or not.

I posted a bunch of software above, but I only did so because I use them all personally and recommend them; I have no links to any of them.

superscaper wrote: »

It's rather suspicious. You're getting as bad as me in your cynicism.

I know, it must be contagious. :cool:

superscaper

Marty_J wrote: »

I posted a bunch of software above, but I only did so because I use them all personally and recommend them; I have no links to any of them.

Yep there is a difference between recommending a product and promoting a product. Especially considering the ethos of the site. Could genuinely be a user of Symphony who's very passionate about it (although I don't see why personally when you're essentially choosing an old version of Open Office and ignoring a current Open Office that has already been suggested). But what appears to be setting up an account merely to post a suggestion of a single product, in itself seems to be promotion rather than recommendation. I know the article itself doesn't actually specify "personal recommendations" but I'd have thought that'd be a given considering the forum rules and the point of the site etc.