Open Source Programs

     
Open source programs are a worthwhile alternative to commercial software.  Open source programs come in various forms, but most are:

• ...Free (at least for the basic versions)
• ...easier to uninstall, and more importantly, can be uninstalled more cleanly than their commercial counterparts.
• ...robust with features, but not overbuilt.  A problem with commercial products, especially Micro$oft, is that programs contain so many relatively unnecessary features that they are too large, are overly complicated, require a lot of memory, and are prone to having bugs.
• ...easier to upgrade and repair.  I have found most open source programs to be continually updated and improved and the upgrades can be installed cleanly over existing versions.
• ...less prone to crashing.  Since these programs typically rely on the general public to build and improve them, bugs are found, addressed, and offered to the public at more frequent intervals than their commercial counterparts.

Please note the above list applies to most programs.  As with any program category, there are many poor options.  A reliable source for Open Source programs is SourceForge.  SourceForge displays an activity percentile and bug report for each of its programs to inform the user how complete and bug free each program is.  It also offers a selection of program versions so that the user can find one that is compatible with his system and with which he feels comfortable.  Often latest versions are a trade off of greater features and more bugs.

Support Open Source.  By coding to open web standards and by supporting Open Source Software, we can do our part to ensure the web remains an open public space.

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Following is a list of Open Source (and free) programs I recommend.  I use each of the programs I have listed and found them to work well; oftentimes better than commercial versions of the programs.  I have also found that these programs are easy to uninstall and most will uninstall completely from your system if you find that you no longer require them.:

• SourceForge
  An excellent source for open source programs.  If you need a program and can't find it in the list I've included below, go first to SourceForge.  I have found many of these programs to be better than their commercial counterparts.
     
  
• 2xExplorer
  Alternative to using MS File Explorer.  Useful for computers with problems with MS Explorer, especially common with Windows 98.
• Axcrypt
  
File encryption software.
• CloneSpy
  Finds and deletes duplicate files.
• DocSearcher
  A search tool for indexing and searching files on a personal computer (requires Java VM).  This program has a few bugs and occasionally hangs, but is a great search tool that is far superior to Micro$oft File Explorer's Find feature.  Furthermore, it will index the contents of a number of file types.  At the time of this posting, it provided search functionality for the contents of MS Word, MS Excel, PDF, Open / Star Office, RTF, Text, and HTML files.
• EasyClean
  Hard drive utility that edits the registry, deletes empty folders, and provides other functionality.  (Only recommended for advanced users).
• FreeMind
  Mind-mapping software (requires Java VM).
• HiddenBCC
  Outlook Add-In that automatically BCC's a preselected email address with every email sent via Outlook.  This program has some errors.  If you are composing more than one email at a time, it will not BCC the additional emails and it will not BCC emails that are initiated by Window's Send To feature or from a program other than MS Outlook.  However, I have tried a number of commercial programs and found the same shortcomings with more difficulty uninstalling and greater compatibility issues.  (The free version displays a notice when you start up Outlook.  At the time of this posting, full version cost 2.50 Euro).
• jAlbum
  Photo Album generator that also creates thumbnails and resizes photos (requires Java VM).
• Java VM
  From Sun Microsystems.  As you can see from this list, this Virtual Environment program enables running various open source programs.  It also enables Java website applets, but that feature can be turned off if you find them as annoying as I do.
• JRSplit
  JR Split is an excellent DOS based file splitter.  It can be used to split large files before sending them through email.  MS Outlook & Outlook Express will do this automatically, but they take much longer to split the files and can sometimes hang while splitting.  Also, with Outlook & OE, if you experience any trouble connecting to your email server and any one section of the split email isn't sent, the receiving end will be unable to compile the file.  With JR Split, if any section does not get sent, you simply resend that section.  The program is an incredibly small .exe file that does not require installation.  They also sell a Pro version that handles larger files (1 GB +).  (This is especially useful for dial-up connections, sending large emails through Internet email interfaces, and when using Outlook & OE with a virus program, such as Norton, which can hang during extended connections with a POP email client).
      ...an alternative to using this program is to send attachments using DropLoad.  See my article on DropLoad.
  
• KnockOut
  Allows you to monitor the state of MS Outlook & MS Word and close the programs if they hang on your system. (Very useful for Office 2000 and Windows 98).
  
• MLA Auto-Generator
  Creates MLA style bibliographys.  In Windows XP, it will integrate with MS Internet Explorer.
• Mozilla
  Mozilla is the old Netscape.  I was never a big fan of Netscape and still don't care much for Mozilla's browser, but they offer two products that I highly recommend.
• The first is Mozilla Firefox.  Firefox is a next generation browser that is powerful, easy to use, relatively small, and generally faster than Microsoft Internet Explorer.  Firefox also allows tab viewing, like its cousin Mozilla and the other option, Opera.  For Windows XP users this feature is less important because the Windows bar can collapse to condense Internet Explorer tabs, but for Windows 98 & ME users, this is helpful when simultaneously surfing multiple sites.  MS IE has been the dominant browser for the past few years, but Firefox is catching up, mostly because of the recent warning from the Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team informing the general public that MS Internet Explorer is riddled with security flaws and recommending the use of other browsers (June 2004).
• I have created some Firefox Add-Ons and have made them available to the public.  Visit the following pages for further details and to download these features:
• Firefox Sort Bookmarks Extension (modified for Firefox Version 1.0)
• Firefox AdBlock Extension Filters (I update these AdBlock Extensions frequently to keep up with changes in the advertising arena)
• Firefox Search Plug-Ins
• Yahoo! Address Book Search
• Yahoo! Finance Chart
• 1 Day
• 5 Day
• 1 Year
  
• Google Search
• Returns 20 Results
• Returns 100 Results
• Google University Search for
• Binghamton University
• Long Island University
• New York University
• Translate
• English - Polish
• Polish - English
• The second Mozilla Product I recommend is Mozilla Composer, which is a component of the Mozilla Browser Suite.  Composer is a fabulous HTML Markup tool.  It reformats HTML extremely well and has some advanced features.  For simple web site development and posting to blogs, it's an excellent choice.  This blog was written up in Composer.
• When installing Mozilla, a shortcut for Composer isn't always created.  To download a copy or see the directions I have posted to create a shortcut for Composer, take a look at my Composer Shortcut post.
• The third Product from Mozilla that I highly recommend is Thunderbird.  Thunderbird is a full-featured email client that works extremely well and is very easy to configure.  I unfortunately can't use Thunderbird because it isn't supported by Microsoft's Pocket PC.  I'm hoping the Open Source community develops a synchronization program to link Thunderbird with the Pocket PC.  If I find one, I will post it here.
• Mozilla is also in the process of developing a cross-platform Calendar Project, so that together with Thunderbird it will replace Microsoft Outlook, but at the time I posted this article, their Calendar program had not been released.
  
• Open Office
  Open Source Office Suite.  Can open and save MS Office files.  Allows direct saves to PDF format.  Can create Flash objects.
• PDF Creator
  Creates PDF's from any windows program.  Runs like a printer driver.
• Windows Cleaner
  A program I have created that will create one-click buttons for Windows 95, 98 & ME to perform the following:
  
• Shutdown Windows (no need to click Start, Shutdown, Shutdown, OK)
• Clear Recent Documents List (no need to click Start, Settings, Taskbar, Start-Menu Programs, Clear, OK)
  
• Empty Temporary Folders (including the Recycle Bin, Temp, and Temporary Internet Files)

  

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According to the Open Source Initiative (OSI):

The basic idea behind open source is very simple:  When programmers can read, redistribute, and modify the source code for a piece of software, the software evolves.  People improve it, people adapt it, people fix bugs.  And this can happen at a speed that, if one is used to the slow pace of conventional software development, seems astonishing.

We in the open source community have learned that this rapid evolutionary process produces better software than the traditional closed model, in which only a very few programmers can see the source and everybody else must blindly use an opaque block of bits.

Open Source Initiative exists to make this case to the commercial world.

Open source software is an idea whose time has finally come.  For twenty years it has been building momentum in the technical cultures that built the Internet and the World Wide Web.  Now it's breaking out into the commercial world, and that's changing all the rules.  Are you ready?