Cheap but not nasty: open source software
The rise in the finished quality of open source software and online applications has opened up the options for businesses on a budget, to give credible alternatives to an array of software that, in hindsight, you’ve unfortunately already paid for.
The thing to remember is that while open source software may be free to *purchase*, there is always a cost component either in your own time, or in hiring expertise to assist in the setting up of any solution. Your mileage may vary, depending on how involved you want to get, and how much technical knowledge you can bring to the table. At the base level though, you can always ask an expert to assist you, and reap the rewards of a pre-built, but not yet customised solution.
Firmly in open source’s favour though, is that while they may not be as well marketed (and some of them sure as heck don’t have very polished names!) they are built by users not unlike you and me - by people with technical skills, with analytical/usability testing skills, and some without any programming skills, but simply with a list of requirements defined by their own business skills.
The level of sophistication varies between any open source software, just as it would within commerical circles. There are winners and also-rans in both camps, in terms of usability, import/export capabilities, extensibilty, and levels of support, in both human and written formats.
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The following list highlights a range of different genres of software and applications, giving some of the leading options of commercial software and/or commercial web site/web application offerings.
Each section highlights open source alternatives for each genre, and gives a brief SWOT analysis of each one, and for what platforms the software is available on. For Web Applications, the software is therefore available on any platform with a web browser.
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Office suites
Microsoft Office, Lotus Notes
vs
Open Office and/or NeoOffice
These two open-source software suites are closely related, and comprise a staggering amount of complexity and sophistication - just like the commercial software they replicate. Combining a Word Processor, Spreadsheet and Presentation tool, plus numerous add-ons, and all the import/export, open/save abilities of their big brothers, if you can brave the long download, be sure to try them out.
- Open Office is all Platforms
- Neo Office is a Mac-optimised offshoot
It’s the biggest trend in IT: web-based applications. Once thought the ‘way to go’ in the mid ’90s, they fell out of fashion by the year 2000 only to be revived by Google, and aided by increased bandwidth from broadband, and a little technology called AJAX. The end result is a very new offering of Word Processing and Excel-like Spreadsheets that are stored and accessed via the Internet, but are therefore accessible whenever and where-ever you’re online. It’s not fully mature yet, but again looking like ‘the way to go’ in the future…
- Web Application.
PDF Makers
Adobe Acrobat
vs
PDF Creator
A PDF is actually an open standard file format, but it’s so closely linked to Adobe’s Acrobat range of software that it’s hard to think otherwise. This software simply lets you make PDFs from any program that you can print from - you simply print TO the PDF Creator, and voilá, you’re done. It’s for Windows only - since Mac OSX has built-in PDF creation abilities from any program.
- Windows Only.
Genealogy
Family Tree Maker
vs
PhpGedView
With a common file format in genealogy, and more and more people researching their family trees, the obvious answer is to work on your tree online, and match up your own research with others in your lineage. PhpGedView lets you work collaboratively on your own family tree, but it also lets you load up multiple GEDCOM files, and import/export other portions of your distant relatives’ trees to really extend the olive branch, so to speak.
- Web Application.
3D Rendering
Pixar Renderman, Lightwave, AutoDesk/3ds Max
vs
Blender
The world of 3D rendering is a hard world to break in to - the genre is a complex mixture of real-world physics and movie-making techniques, and so the software tends to be quite intense to make it usable. Blender seems to be a mixture of all the different ways of working, and yet has all the features of the high-end boys - all in all, it’s a great way to get started in this growing industry.
- All platforms.
Customer Relationship Management
Microsoft CRM, Peoplesoft, Salesforce
vs
SugarCRM
First up, there’s three levels of prices available - so don’t be fooled by the dollar signs up on their home page - the free version is very comprehensive for most SMEs, whereas the paid models have more features for big businesses with lots of staff and legacy systems. Apart from that, it’s the real deal - a web-based client tracker, lead tracker and case management tool - so whereever you are, and whenever you’re online, it’s all at your fingertips.
- Web Application.
Photo Editing
Adobe Photoshop
vs
Gimp
The original (?) open-source alternative program to major software, Gimp has been going close to feature-for-feature with Photoshop for many many years. If you’re into Linux, then you’re probably already using it, but Windows and Mac Photoshop users should take a look before splashing more cash.
- All platforms.
Page Layout
Adobe InDesign CS2, Quark Xpress
vs
Scribus 1.3.3.3
Wow - I’ve actually surprised myself by finding this little gem - so much so, that I’m going to have to install it and get back to you. It looks solid, but still in furious development, and the Mac and Windows versions are a little behind the major release for the Unix family.
- All platforms.
Interactive Multimedia
Adobe (Macromedia) Flash
vs
OpenLaszlo 3.3.3
All platforms. This app actually creates native .swf files via half-scripting, half-GUI, so it’s not a direct copy of the fully pallettised Flash application, but more powerful for many programmatical creations.
- All Platforms.
Music Notation/Score
Finale, page layout programs
vs
Harmony Assistant
Not open-source, but almost. Very cheap shareware, with a large community base, the complete package of notion and MIDI-style recording for less than $100.
- Windows or Mac.
Personal Video Recorders
PVRs - ie, TV-set-top recording devices
vs
MythTV
With a massive community of users worldwide, you can use off-the-shelf hardware, and this continually improving free software to record and manage your TV shows direct to your computer.
- Mac and Linux only.
Mail/Calendar Servers
Microsoft Exchange Server
vs
Zimbra 4.0
Like some other open-source software, this offering alo promotes paid models heavily on their web site, before reticently showing you where to find the free versions. Keep at it though, this software will let you go feature-for-feature for Exchenge Servers - local mailboxes, shared calendars and meeting bookings, and access via Mobiles/PDAs and other devices.
- Mac and Linux only as servers, but it then turns into a Web Application for all.
Databases/Application Development
Microsoft Access, Filemaker
vs
CogHead or Ten Fold
Databases are a newish category for open source software, as they have been typically the strongholds of large software frameworks. But with the increased bandwidth and sophistication of online applications, there are some new moves being made in online software development. It’s sort of like a robot operating on itself, the idea of online software systems building online software systems, but watch this space.
- Web Applications.
Personal/Small Business Finance
Quicken, Microsoft Money
vs
GnuCash
One of many open source or very-low-cost shareware programs, this is a great example of how a ‘moral minority’ out their heads together and created a better solution to the lock-in of the large financial software offerings. Running feature-for-feature for Quicken et al, it allows for local customisations for your region, and a wide range of import/export options come tax time.
- This one is Mac and Linux only. Many others are all Platforms.
Project Management
Microsoft Project
vs
GanttProject 2.0
Project management has been a one-horse race for a very long time - and so ‘that ‘horse’ hasn’t really seen much need to improve the feature set too often. Open source software like GanttProject takes on the task of equalling, and then bettering the competition, with a range of third-party extensions to boot.
- All platforms.
Task/Group Management
Basecamp.com
vs
Active Collab
Unashamedly going feature-for-feature with BaseCamp, it’s a web-based collaboration tool, for managing small projects - often small ongoing projects with external parties, like clients or suppliers. It’s in a rapid development phase right now - very usable, but with more to come very soon. It will be testament to the open source philisophy to see where this one heads in a few months, and whether the community behind the software can/will overtake BaseCamp for featureset.
- Web Application.
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Whew! That’s quite a list… Did I leave out a genre? Let me know.
I certainly left out many thousands of open source alternatives, so use these links as a starting point for your own research.
AB out
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