Open source software in most consumers'
eyes is the equivalent of free software. In class we discussed the
concept of open source in detail and concluded the following: “Nearly
all open source is free software,” which means that not all open
source software is free software. We view open source as a way of
licensing and free software with the focus on freedom of “speech”
rather than free “beer.”
But “speech” can be a very useful
tool, and here are some of the best free open source programs that
(potentially) replace commercial software from
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/7-free-open-source-programs-replace-commercial-windows-software/
:
LibreOffice:
This is a branch of OpenOffice, and it
replaces what most Windows users use: Microsoft Office. Granted that
Microsoft Office has been around for a while and has been very useful
to us in many ways, it is still pretty pricey for most of us.
LibreOffice has basic features that Microsoft Office offers and,
since it is open source, newer versions will come out and more
features will be available for LibreOffice lovers.
Mozilla Thunderbird and Mozilla
Firefox:
Thunderbird, the desktop mail client,
replaces Windows Live mail while Firefox replaces Internet Explorer.
These are just by preference, but personally, I like to use
Thunderbird over Windows Live mail. The open source mail client and
the web browser are very handy tools to have free of charge. But it's
mostly preference for both of these softwares.
GIMP:
GNU Image Manupulation Program (GIMP)
is a graphics editor and it has the features that match up to those
of Adobe Photoshop. It is cross-platform and useful for those who
love editing photos.
VLC:
VLC is a media player that comes with
most audio/video codecs – no more looking for missing codecs online
(yay!). I do, however like the graphical interface from Windows Media
Player, but VLC is simple and useful.
7-zip:
Having a hard time
decompressing/compressing a file? 7-zip supports most formats that
are given by WinZip or Winrar. If you do a lot of
compressing/decompressing stuff with file, then I'd definitely
recommend it.
These are some of the popular open
source software that I found to be useful in my “everyday software
needs.” These “speeches” are great tool that are helpful in
very basic every day uses for computer users.
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