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Open Source Alternatives

After becoming increasing frustrated with both the cost and quality of commercial software for my PC, I decided to try to moving to open source alternatives in the early fall of 2007. Since then, I've been largely happy with the change. Here's what I'm using and come comments about each item.

Operating System: Ubuntu Linux

I was familiar with Unix-like operating systems already - I ran a FreeBSD server for several years in the late 1990s/early 2000s and have tried a couple of Linux desktop variants in the past. While FreeBSD was a terrific server platform (I'd still use it if I needed or desired a server), I wasn't happy with any of the versions of Linux I tried for my desktop machine.

However, this all changed when I tried Ubuntu (originally 7, I'm now running 8). Ubuntu installed on both my desktop and laptop without only one small difficulty (getting my HP 1020 laster printer working, which required downloading and installing a new driver - which is easier than it may sound). The process was every bit as easy as installing MS Windows, and virtually every piece of software I needed could be installed through the included application manager. Even better, my 3-4 old computers went from being painfully slow to lightning fast.

Productivity Suite: Open Office

I was using MS Office (thankfully, thanks to working for a University, I was able to buy an academic copy and hadn't spent hundreds of dollars on the suite), and I was a little reluctant to try something new after almost a decade using it. However, I quickly found Open Office easy to use and fully featured. To be fair, I'm not a "power user" - my needs are pretty simple and there may be features of MS Office missing from OO which I don't use. The only thing I haven't been able to do with Open Office is "hanging indent" which Word does nicely (there may well be a way to do it in OO - I gave up pretty quickly). However, for most non-business users, at least, OO looks pretty complete.

Open Office is available for Windows for those who want to try it but not change operating systems.

Email Suite: Evolution

I was using MS Outlook (the full version which comes with Office, not Express) for email, contact management, calendar, and task management. This was the one program I was very happy with and reluctant to change. However, evolution was a pleasant surprise to me. The email interface isn't quite as intuitive as is Outlook's, but that is probably more a function of being used to Outlook than any particular insight into interface design by Microsoft.

There is one major problem with Evolution - I can't completely sync it with my Crackberry. I am using SyncEvolution and Funambol to sync contacts, but tasks and calendar items do not work well. This isn't a short term problem - i sync my Crackberry at work where i still use Outlook - but I'd like to find a more complete solution to sync with Evolution.

Internet Browser: Firefox

Not much to say here - Firefox just beats Internet Explorer in every way, regardless of the operating system you use. I'd already switched to Firefox on Windows before the change to Linux.

Graphic Editor: GIMP

I was using Photoshop Elements to edit photographs (I don't create or edit graphics, so can't say much about the effectiveness of any editor for that purpose); on Linux, I use GIMP (there is a Windows version available too). I've found GIMP does everything I need it to do - though, as with Office, I'm not a power user. For most home users, GIMP will do what you need it to do.

What I do miss from Windows, though, is the ability to edit RAW files from my Canon Rebel XTI. I haven't starting looking for something to use, yet, though.

HTML etc. Editors: Blue Fish, Amaya, Quanta Plus

I was using Dreamweaver to edit HTML and PHP files, and I have to admit that it is better than any open source alternative I've found. Dreamweaver offers a complete solution for every need I can imagine. I have been using a couple of different editors - Blue Fish and Amaya - and they do the job. More recently, I've downloaded Quanta Plus to try. However, for non-programmers, none of these is as easy to use as DW. However, if you know HTML (or PHP) and can live without the site management functions in DW, they do the job and are free.

Problems

All in all, I have far fewer problems with Linux and open-source applications than with Windows. And everything is free. I do still have the odd browser crash or other problem - nothing is perfect - but the OS is far more stable than is Windows.