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Open source world
Why Open Source hardware works
By Jason Kopplin
What if there was a way to get all the productivity of expensive software free and legally?
It’s always exciting to get a new computer. Whether it’s an Apple MacBook (which are about as popular on campus as Taco Bell these days) or a boring yet dependable Windows machine, there’s nothing quite like powering up that machine for the first time and seeing what it can do. But then it hits. What can this thing do right out of the box? A computer is only as useful as the software it runs on, and software is expensive.
Even with student discounts, the bill can rise rapidly to turn a new purchase, expensive in its own right, into a useful tool. First up is an office suite. Most here will choose Microsoft Office. The Wisconsin Integrated Software Catalog (WISC), which offers discounted software to UW students, still charges $72 for Microsoft Office. Many will also want some sort of photo-editing program like Adobe Photoshop. Tack on another $298. Depending on a student’s individual needs, it could be possibly to easily add hundreds of dollars to this list.
But there are alternatives. The instinct may be piracy. While the odds of ever getting caught are slim, it is still immoral and illegal. What if there was a way to get all the productivity of expensive software free and legally? There is, and it’s known as open source software.
Many students probably already use open source software and don’t even realize it. The web browser Firefox is a good example. Another is the VLC media player found on most campus computers. Windows Media Player requires a paid license to play DVDs, but VLC has that license included at no cost since it’s a free program. That’s probably why the university chooses to use it, versus having to pay a separate fee for each computer on campus.
Open source software expands beyond the realm of DVD playback, however. Open Office is a completely free office suite available at www.openoffice.org that is completely compatible with Microsoft Office 2007. It includes equivalents for Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Open Office can open Microsoft Office files and vice versa. That just saved $72. Another big money saver is Gimp, which can function as a full-featured Photoshop replacement and is, of course, free. Gimp is available for download at www.gimp.org. These are just a few examples of free replacement programs conveniently available on the Internet.
Why stop at simple programs though? There are complete operating systems that are available for free. To many, Linux is a strange, frightening word. Linux is thought of as the domain of geeks. It causes one to picture computer nerds typing out cryptic commands that look something like: “find / /usr /var -mount -user foo –printf.”
But the truth is that there are user-friendly versions of Linux suited to everyone. Chief among them is Ubuntu. With a desktop similar to Windows or Mac OS X, most users will be right at home using Ubuntu. It also comes preinstalled with Firefox, Open Office, Gimp and many other programs. VLC media player is also available as well as a program called Songbird, from the team responsible for Firefox. Songbird is an open-source iTunes replacement that will even sync with your iPod. Yes, even Apple’s music player plays nice with Ubuntu. And it’s all free. Does it get any better than that?
Dell has even started offering computers for sale pre-installed with Ubuntu for slightly less than identical Windows-based machines. Everybody pays for Windows whether they realize it or not, it’s just built into the purchase price of the computer. But when the OS is free, the company can pass those savings on to the consumer.
Computer hardware is expensive enough as it is. Why spend even more money to unleash the true potential of the machine? With so many open and free alternatives to expensive software, from media players to complete operating systems, there’s little reason to part with even more cash.
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