Open Source Daily Guide

Proliferation Of The Term

Chloe — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 17:00:14 +0000

While the term applied originally only to the source code of software,^[5] it is now being applied to many other areas such as open source ecology, a movement to decentralize technologies so that any human can use them. However, it is often misapplied to other areas which have different and competing principles, which overlap only partially.

Opponents of the spread of the label “open source,” including Richard Stallman, argue that the requirements and restrictions ensure the continuation of the effort, and resist attempts to redefine the labels. He argues also that most supporters of open source are actually supporters of much more equitable agreements and support re-integration of derived works and that most contributors do not intend to release their work to others who can extend it, hide the extensions, patent those very extensions, and demand royalties or restrict the use of all other users—all while not violating the open source principles with respect to the initial code they acquired. – Source

Project Gutenberg

Chloe — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 07:46:45 +0000

While an eBook isn’t exactly a software or a program, the distribution of such also involves money and copyright. It’s like buying books off a bookstore’s shelf minus all the paper usually involved in this process. Thankfully though, there are sites like Project Gutenberg which promotes the free distribution of electronic books “to encourage the creation and distribution of ebooks.”

Founded by Michael Hart, who invented ebooks in 1971, Project Gutenberg has a rich catalogue of authors and titles for your perusal. So if you like to read but you don’t have all the cash to spend for a hardbound, log on to the site and you just might find that which you wish for.

Photo credits: iofoto

Opening up the Apple

Chloe — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 07:24:35 +0000

Apple is undeniably one of the biggest things in technology today. Mac lovers are growing in number every minute with their obsessions ranging from the iPod to the Powerbook. It really has become a cult following of sorts, with the ubiquitous Apple logo also becoming a status symbol of sorts as Apple gadgets don’t come by cheap.

The good news is that despite the seeming exclusivity that comes with owning an apple-emblazoned thingamajig, even Apple has gone the Open Source route.

Photo credits: Fco. Javier Navarrete

Top 10s

Chloe — Mon, 10 May 2010 07:03:01 +0000

With hundreds of softwares and programs available out there, which ones are the most popular and possibly most useful? Your answer would surely depend on your particular needs and specific background. For instance, artists need graphic softwares more than computing programs. Similarly, those in research would find good use for database programs that make data collection and retrieval much easier.

But which softwares take the top spots in the list? Open Source Alternative gives a list of the Top 10 Open Source programs and Top 10 Commercial softwares.

Top 10 Open Source
1. OpenOffice Draw
2. Dia
3. Gimpshop
4. Partition Image
5. Paint.NET
6. InfraRecorder
7. Ghost for Unix (G4U)
8. Kivio
9. Quanta Plus
10. Avidemux

Top 10 Commercial
1. Photoshop
2. Visio
3. Norton Ghost
4. Nero Burning Rom
5. AutoCAD
6. Dreamweaver
7. Illustrator
8. Final Cut Pro
9. Publisher
10. Premiere Pro

Photo credits: Gary McCord

Paint.NET

Chloe — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 01:13:56 +0000

Paint.NET is an open source raster graphics editing program designed made for Windows and developed on the .NET framework. It was originally programmed using the C# and C++ programming language. Paint.NET was created as a project by a student in Washington State University with the purpose of making a good replacement for the MS Paint program which is being used in Windows. The program includes powerful editing tools with layers, blending, transparency and plugins. Paint.NET has MIT license. To be able to install this free software, it requires Windows XP (or Windows Server 2003), 500 MHz processor, 256 MB of RAM , 1024 x 768 screen resolution and 200+ MB hard drive space.

Sick of Notepad?

editor — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:24:02 +0000

If you want a more flexible and open source text editor, this can be useful:jEdit features include:

Runs on any operating system with a Java 2 version 1.3 or higher virtual machine – this includes MacOS X, OS/2, Unix, VMS and Windows.
Efficient keyboard shortcuts
Comprehensive online help
Unlimited undo/redo
Copy and paste with an unlimited number of clipboards (known as “registers”)
Syntax highlighting for more than 130 file types

Finding the right alternative

Chloe — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 06:50:33 +0000

The best thing about Open source is finding alternative softwares or programs that come close to the so-called “real thing” or in other words, the commercial version. This is for the simple matter that it feels great not having to pay for something you can have for free.

One of the easiest ways to find out which Open source alternative would best fit your needs, do visit Open Source Alternative. The jam-packed website lists the various open source resources in its directory which is smartly arranged into various categories such as business, graphic applications, etc.

Photo credits: Adam Ciesielski

Open Source Information

editor — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Very swiftly, Wikipedia became the tail that swallowed the dog (Nupedia). In less than a month, it had 1,000 articles; by the end of its first year, it had 20,000; by the end of its second year, it had 100,000 articles in just the English edition. (By then it had begun to spawn foreign-language editions, of which there are now 185, from Abkhazian to Klingon to Zulu, with the German edition the largest after English.) Sanger himself did not stay around to enjoy Wikipedia’s runaway growth. By late 2001 the tech boom was over, and Bomis, like most other dot-coms, was losing money and laying off employees. An effort to sell ads to pay Sanger’s salary foundered as Internet advertising tanked, and Sanger lost his job in February 2002. He continued intermittently as a volunteer but finally broke with the project in January 2003 over the project’s tolerance of problem participants and its hostility to experts.⁸

Since then, Wikipedia’s growth has accelerated. It had almost a half million articles by its third anniversary in January 2004; it broke the million mark just nine months later. More than fifty-five thousand people have made at least ten contributions to Wikipedia.⁹ Over this short history, it has also evolved a style of operation and a set of operating principles that require explanation before any discussion of history on Wikipedia.

Words that made computing history

Chloe — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 22:09:20 +0000

Hello everybody out there using minix -

I’m doing a (free) operating system (just a hobby, won’t be big and professional like gnu) for 386(486) AT clones. This has been brewing since april, and is starting to get ready. I’d like any feedback on things people like/dislike in minix, as my OS resembles it somewhat (same physical layout of the file-system (due to practical reasons)among other things).

This is the first post that Linus Torvalds, the father of Linux, made about his new project on an online discussion board in 1991. This project, the Linux kernel, would grow through the contributions of thousands of developers and would cause him to be named one of the heroes of the past 60 years by Time magazine, alongside Nelson Mandela and Pope John Paul II.

Open Security Foundation

editor — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 13:24:26 +0000

If you work in IT security or are simply want to check out some computer security information you read about, OSVDB is a helpful site. You can browse their comprehensive database and even subscribe to categories you are interested in, such as wireless routers or Microsoft products.

The site’s goal is to provide accurate, detailed, current, and unbiased technical information on security vulnerabilities. It began as an ambitious project in 2003 and through the hard work of its many volunteers is now a very successful site, cataloging computer and internet vulnerabilities in an unbiased, open way, although this job is proving to be increasingly difficult because the amount of material to cover is simply too much for even the most devoted contributors. As with many open source projects, the site survives through donations and sponsors.