Free and Open Source Software
Posted by iipaceo on 17 April, 2008
A number of years ago while looking for free (as in no charge) software I first discovered open source software, since then I have been gradually immersed in a parallel computing universe where sharing and community has replaced patents and secrecy as the way to do business. The open source world is a place where a mix of professionals and gifted amateurs work together on code that is open to anyone to examine and change, a feature that actually makes the software more secure.
The range of available software is mind-boggling everything from whole operating systems to small text editors are available for “free”, with free usually being in both terms of cost, and in terms of having the freedom to access and change the source coded.
Over time I will bring many of the developments to your attention through this blog, but today I will start with just two, openoffice an suite of tools similar to Microsoft Office, and GnuCash my favoured open source accounts package.
Openoffice.org
Openoffice.org is a complete suite of productivity tools which broadly match those available in the Microsoft Office suite. It includes a wordprocessor, spreadsheet, presentation, database, drawing and expression creation software. The interface will be very familiar to those who are used to MS Office, but that said there are some differences, so switching to OOO may require a small amount of relearning – but not very much. You will find all of your favourite features in OOO such as spell check, table creation, insert image, and in addition you will find some that you don’t have in MS Office, but you will find very useful – the ability to create a pdf document from within any OOO programme springs to mind. In addition you can set up openoffice to save all of your documents into the familiar Microsoft Office formats (.doc, .xls etc) meaning that if you need to send it on to somebody still using MS Office they will be able to read it without even knowing that it came from a different software package.
GnuCash
GnuCash is my preferred accounting package. I have been using it for around a year now and have found it easy to use and very customisable – I can get the reports and chart of accounts that I want with ease. While I generally do not run windows (I run Ubuntu an open source operating system) I have just checked the website and found GnuCash available for Windows and Mac also.
I should point out that I only use it to take the accounts to Trial Balance stage, and I create in the Openoffice Spreadsheet program from there, but I love what it does for me and I have found it great to use – even better that many paid for software.
A Word of Warning
It is only fair to point out that most Open Source software is released on an “as-is” basis and you use it at your own risk. That said more and more large companies are releasing their software as free and open source and charging for support. The names are surprising and include; IBM, Sun Microsystems, VMWare, Google, and even Microsoft (I know, I know). All of that said, I have yet to come across a problem that I cannot fix with a couple of searches on Google.
