My husband and I are buying a laptop (a Dell) for his nephew in Brazil. I can get a refurbished one for pretty cheap but it doesn't come with anything except the Microsoft XP Pro OS. Brazil is an open-source country so do I need to put Freeware or OpenOffice.org on it? Also, if we do get the open source software, how compatible will it be with programs like MSN Messenger and such? The less money we have to spend, the better, but we want to make sure we get the right software for him (and us so we can talk to him). Would it be better to get one without an OS as well, and get something else instead? I would be setting it all up for him here as I don't really know how tech-savvy he is. If you have any other ideas, please feel free to share. Thanks!!
2007-01-26 05:22:57 · 8 answers · asked by aviellesmom 2 in Computers & Internet ➔ Software
There are a whole range of open source programs and programmers. Many are better built than proprietary programs, many are not.
I would recommend OpenOffice as an office suite. It can do almost anything normal people need out of Microsoft Office and is very compatible. Check out Google for a number of Google supported programs such as Picasa, a photo program. For hard core graphic editing, Gimp is comparable to the best proprietary software. And, of course, I'd install Firefox for a better browser experience.
One other category is malware. These programs are free or have free versions (for personal use) but are not open source. For a firewall, I use ZoneAlarm. For antivirus I use Avast but I have also heard a number of good things about AVG. For spyware I use SpyBot Search and Destroy and AdAware. For system file defense, I use WinPatrol.
As far as IM, I don't use is so I can't speak from personal experience but I've heard good things about Miranda. If you want to replace Outlook, I would recommend Thunderbird (by the same group that develops Firefox) although I keep my mail online at Yahoo Mail so, again, I am not speaking from personal experience. As another person recommended, if you want to get away from MS entirely, Ubuntu is the easiest Linux distribution to use.
I would not be afraid of open source. One person mentioned viruses but you should not see any of these at reputable sites like Sourceforge. What you will see, and what you need to look out for is programs that are not ready yet. Open source tends to release code that is still in testing so that it can be tested by a broader group of people. Look for programs that have gotten past version 1.
I would also recommend searching reputable magazines like PC Magazine or PC World for some of their articles on open source and other free programs.
Good luck. Who knows, you might find some programs for your own use.
2007-01-26 05:34:21 · answer #1 · answered by Dave P 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Do you actually understand the concept of Open Source Software?
The only thing that differs from closed source software, is the price and the fact the code is open.
You can put anything you like on the Laptop. If you don't want to pay, use open source software. If you can't find it in Open source, then you'll have to pay. Things like OO (Open Office) will work fine with closed source software like MSN.
2007-01-26 05:29:17 · answer #2 · answered by Slappy 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
YES!, openoffice is amazing.. msn messenger has nothing to do with the opensource software you install, it runs on its own within the windows enviroment. if you plan to dump windows then get ubuntu, it's a great linux distrobution. i can't remember the name of the chat client that's on linux but it basically does all the chat programs in one (yahoo,msn, icq, aol, etc..) it's really cool because you only have to have one portal to talk to people on different services :)
EDIT: i see someone thumbdowned the guy that said opensource is for people that know what they are doing, that can be partially true for some programs, i mean mounting drives and crap like that isn't something a windows user can do right off the bat.
2007-01-26 05:29:52 · answer #3 · answered by blur b 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's a very good Idea, but the key is getting the files from a good source like OpenCD.
And you can get some good Opensource software from sourceforge.net (but be careful that the project is mature and WELL KNOWN) this cuts the threat of viruses way down.
Filter Require Development Status Mature
2007-01-26 05:31:41 · answer #4 · answered by webevangel2 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Based on what was around before FOSS and what the landscape is looking like now, I would DEFINITELY say that Open Source "gains" are illusory and that the Icahn/Ballmer "Let's mug Yahoo!" is a worrisome part of that (Yahoo! supports FreeBSD so download and use Freesbie). On the other hand, M$ isn't JUST being disgusting and Icahn isn't JUST being ignorant. During the eighties and nineties proprietary software made a lot of gains against the software as services models Open Source came out of. The combination of Gates's Hardware addiction, Corporate greed and stupidity, the need for Cross-platform interoperability in enterprises such as stock markets, and globalization have eroded this, however, they have been so successful in redefining the terms of the debate away from the technical one that the largest growth, if you haven't noticed, is among Warez and pirated software. That kid with the copy of Windoze he picked up who knows where has more street cred than you or me. One of the stories about that -- crack that laptop and keep it -- competition last year was that the OSes were cracked in order of the number of people trying to get their hands on them. So, most people wanted the Mac. It went down the first day. Some people wanted the Vista machine. Who knows why? It went down the next day. Maybe three people in the whole competition wanted the Ubuntu machine and because there were only three even after they were allowed to work on wireless vulnerabilities they ran out of time before cracking it. I don't see how we're being reassured by this. The guys watching security threats aren't even WATCHING ours. I had a maddening email exchange with a woman the other day. She asked where she could get free versions of Corel or Adobe software because even though she didn't need the proprietary extentions she was afraid Open Source would "harm my computer". Hello. Using warez is wrong. Why can't people listen to that? (Yes I talked up reliability of FOSS). This is the mind set that has people in Brazil getting heavily subsidized Linux Laptops in portuguese and paying idiots with English win98 disks to put it on them. The expansion in the computer market is going downward. And with M$ going wink wink at pirates in MANY economies because they are easier to understand than "socialists" like Richard Stallman this means the consultants who are adapting free software are guess who? That isn't the factor behind my calling the gains illusory (though it is what makes the Undead Deal so scary. They really don't understand the economies of a highly-networked world). Obviously, I go back SOCIALLY to the days when my brother-in-law at Bell Labs got to bring the most amazing programs home for his Apple ][ and no it wasn't stealing. After the sixties everything was "Open Source" or rather Open Source grew out of the norm which developed in the seventies as minicomputers and networks begat microcomputers. Open Source has gotten back a LOT of what it lost thanks to the Monopoly,'s arm twisting, but there really weren't metrics then and there are definitely not metrics now -- which is something M$ wants to keep the way it is. And the problem is that while people like Shuttleworth and the OLPC people have been facing down a real problem they've answered with XO and Ubuntu, most of us aren't aware of how it affects us in our own communities. Piracy hurts open source. It spreads untruth, vendor lockin, and exploitation of the Internet. And yes we should be making more of an effort.
2016-05-24 02:19:59 · answer #5 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I've been using open-source software for quite some time. Many items are quite good. I use OOo, Clam, Firefox, Tbird, among others, no problems, great performance and benefits. I keep up with their forums and even keep installing the latest "betas" and "release candidates". Clam is *very* good about catching viruses. Firefox is a very good browser, and Tbird (plus calendar add-in) is very good for email - if you use offline email. And none is incompatible in file format with "regulation" products! (I've kept copies of "regulation" products around just in case, but don't really need to...) Go to sourceforge.net for ideas on most open-source software
2007-01-26 05:35:52 · answer #6 · answered by fjpoblam 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes ur on the right track imo ... get the OS with it or that will just be a headache ... u could pirate an OS but thats illegal :) .... anyway, yes , open source will be fine ... openoffice is fine ... almost anything u want to do u can get freeware for ... and there shouldnt be any incompatibility problems if u stick to popular freeware ...
2007-01-26 05:28:54 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
if he isnt really tech savvy, then get him closed source.
open source is for people that know what they are doing.
2007-01-26 05:27:43 · answer #8 · answered by tn5421 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Like anything that you get for free you have to be careful. You get what you pay for.
2007-01-26 05:27:17 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 3⤋