Open Source Software

Open Source 101

This lens provides information about "the best" Open Source software. Many of these solutions have versions for Microsoft Windows, Linux and Mac operating systems.

You can save thousands of dollars!

The quality of Open Source software has evolved to a level that makes many of these software packages viable solutions for small business.

If you use software that you think should be added to this lens send an email to MistaRox.

"The Best" Open Source Software

Inkscape: Inkscape is an Open Source vector graphics editor, with capabilities similar to Illustrator, Freehand, CorelDraw, or Xara X using the W3C standard Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) file format.
OpenOffice: Open Office is a free office suite of applications available for many different operating systems including Microsoft Windows, Linux, Solaris and Mac OS X. It is intended to be a compatible alternative to Microsoft Office. It supports the OpenDocument standard for data interchange.
GIMP: GIMP can be used to create and edit digital graphics and photographs. GIMP can also be used to create animated images using an improved layers method. It is used as a free software replacement for Adobe Photoshop, which is the dominant bitmap editor in the printing and graphics industries.
PDF Creator: PDFCreator easily creates PDFs from any Windows program.
CDex: CDex is a CD-Ripper, extracting digital audio data from an Audio CD.
Audacity: Audacity is free, open source software for recording and editing sounds. It is available for Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, GNU/Linux, and other operating systems.
Blender: Blender is the open source software for 3D modeling, animation, rendering, post-production, interactive creation and playback. Available for all major operating systems under the GNU General Public License.

WYSIWYG HTML Editor

Nvu: Nvu (pronounced N-view)
Finally! A complete Web Authoring System for Linux desktop users as well as Microsoft Windows and Macintosh users to rival programs like FrontPage and Dreamweaver. Nvu (which stands for "new view") makes managing a web site a snap. Now anyone can create web pages and manage a website with no technical expertise or knowledge of HTML.