I was talking to someone the other day and he said, You get what you pay for. I said to him I get much I don’t pay for and I lurve free stuff. Seriously how many of you have actually looked at open source software and how many of you use open source packages daily?
I always used all the paid software while I was in the UK, path of least resistance, money to burn and so on. I slowly got onto the OSS bandwagon, one piece of software at a time. I bought myself a new PC yesterday and have paid for Vista business because I am not ready to try and work through all the issues in linux. But here’s the thing I don’t want to spend big bucks on software to make sure that I can do my job.
I have been using Open Office for months now. I had to download a patch to see Office 2007 files but then again if I was using Office 2003 and couldn’t afford the upgrade I’d have to do the same. I know that 2007 has some nifty tools but heres the thing I used word for typing letters, not much else. I use a spreadsheet to do some calculations. Since I moved onto MYSQL as a database Access has lost all of its charms, and then of course theres presentations.
I don’t know that presentations made with 2007 are any more effective than those made in Office 97. I can tell you that Open Office is also no slouch in this department. Open office will save all your docs in Office format so that your spendthrift clients can still open them. It will open all the documents produced in word and here is the thing It cost bupkiss.
I also use Thunderbird as my email and calendar client. The anti spam measures are proving to be a godsend and once again I didn’t have to pay through the nose for the software.
There are a few other tools like camstudio, zoomit and so on that I use for all the things I do. I like free software. Today I am downloading GIMP to check it out. I have been using CS2 so I will be critical but I looked at CS4 and the prices are damned scary.
I am also on the lookout for some great video editing software. I looked at the CS4 suite but at close to R 25 000 it feels a little extravagant for what I have in mind.
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Tags: Open Office, Open Source, THunderbird
April 16th, 2009 at 10:59 am
What issues in Linux … I have 4 machines at the moment and all run linux . Ubuntu and have not had one issue … in fact I had more issues running Windows than I have running Linux. I use GIMP and it is great for what I need to do with my photos. One of my machines is a very cheap old piece of hardware and Linux together with XBMC makes it a great Media Centre for watching movies, listening to music and watching photos.
And all (except the hardware) has not costed me a cent and everything is legal.
Mariuss last blog post..Just unbelievable and briljant .. I am speechless…
April 16th, 2009 at 5:01 pm
What Canon equipment do you use for your photographic projects? Anything you can recommend?
April 18th, 2009 at 3:49 am
Open Source is the way to go. I have actually downloaded the latest Open office a while back and will be installing it at work as we receive new pc’s. There are more than enough functionality for the average pc user and you are saving a fortune on MS licenses. In my opinion there’s not a huge difference between the two and it doesn’t take long getting used to it. There is still a lot of work to be done with OS software but it’s getting there and it will grow from strength to strength in future.
May 3rd, 2009 at 5:00 pm
I currently have Ubuntu Linux on my laptop and desktop (dual boot) and have absolutely no troubles with it.. they have come so far in recent years with the GUI that even people who aren’t “techie” can navigate around it and get it to do what they need. I am a huge fan of all things free, and feel the community that supports open source projects is at least half of the equation that makes the projects what they are.
Jesses last blog post..What is my niche? Do I have to commit to just one?