In the last couple of years we have seen many open source projects that succeeded maybe even better than some commercial software. Now, I think it makes no sense to pay for any media player, most of the file transferring software and on top of all, for any kind of web development and programming tools. Still, that's just a short list, I am sure you can find free alternatives for any kind of commercial products. What I don't understand is, why some people continue buying commercial products when you can have better products for free? Here I will show a short list of some alternatives: 1. Microsoft Office - From $119.99 to $349.99 Alternative: OpenOffice or LibreOffice (Both free, only LibreOffice is open source) 2. Antiviruses Alternative: ClaimWin (My favorite, but there are many other good ones) 3. Paid Media Players Alternative: VLC Media Player There are many other products, you just have to search for what you need, I am sure you can find a good alternative.
I agree. Unlicensed programs have become a real alternative. The quality of earnings is equal to any commercial development. We are at a stage in which cooperation is the new paradigm in software development. Of course there are exceptions, because many commercially developed software are not yet a competitor to reach their characteristics. However, the development of new software is constant. There will come a stage where the free alternatives surpassed in quality to those offered by large companies. It´s always interesting to try new software to choose the one that best suits our needs.
If you're not willing to spend all the money on MS Office, but don't need all the features that Libre/Open Office provide, then there's another alternative. Google Docs allows you to edit/create/save presentations, spreadsheets and documents all in the browser. It contains most of the features you'll need, plus the ability for multiple people to all edit the document at the same time (which when I was at university came in really useful for group projects). You'll be able to find an open-source version of nearly any piece of software you want, a good example is: Using GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) instead of Photoshop. GIMP is completely free, and well, Photoshop costs a lot!
I am a big fan of open source software. I use Libre Office instead of Microsoft Office. I also use Google Docs, but its very basic. Libre Office is much more robust. I always look for an open source comparable before buying an commercial software.
I swear by GIMP as well! I use both GIMP and Photoshop and both are equally great. I do, however, have a love for free stuff so I love GIMP and its makers for making it free. I also use just Open Office and VLC on my laptop and I love VLC because I don't have to spend too much time upgrading codecs, installing plug-ins and what not. It just plays everything.
I completely agree. I prefer LibreOffice to Microsoft Office, and I have never, EVER run into a video that VLC Player can't play. (Not saying they don't exist, just saying I haven't seen one.) I personally don't see any reason why people feel the need to buy expensive programs (or worse, pirate them) when there is a FOSS alternative, that would be so much easier to obtain. If it is not a program with a VERY specific purpose, or it depends on proprietary libraries, then I see absolutely no reason why you shouldn't be able to find a free alternative somewhere on the internet.
I moved over to Linux several years ago. The laptop is more responsive, as the basic OS is not as bloated as windows and I can do pretty much whatever I need to. Open Office/Libre Office for word processing, Gimp for images, VLC for media. I even have free font design programs and free eBook creation programs. The only thing missing are games, and if you are not a gamer it does not matter. If you are a web developer or a developer in general, then the tools in Linux are far superior to those in Windoze. I made the switch and now there is no turning back.
I on the contrary has found out that Open Source Software aren't as impressive as their commercial counterpart. This however doesn't apply to the Video Lan (VLC) Media Player which plays everything and has seen improvements lately. For Office software though, These Open Source can't do what the shareware can do.
I agree with you, I use AVG Anti-Virus and VLC media player, and I'm quite content with their performance. I think that if you're not a "simple" user like me, then you would probably not be content with just using a software that does the basic thing that it's supposed to do, and you will look for a software that has more features and benefits, so a paid software is the one for you.
There are some pretty good open source alternatives to popular commercial software (VLC, Openoffice, etc.), but the thing with most open source projects is that they're simply too small to compete. Especially with "enterprise" software like Photoshop or Maya, the effort and skills required to make a competent alternative to them is just too much for everyday programmers and hobbyist university students.
