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50 Proprietary Programs We All Hate--and the OS Alternatives

whdb.com — It's not the price of the software that makes the real difference (although it's a reason to migrate from one software to another for many people); it's the idea that proprietary software comes with boundaries that keep the user experience confined to... well, being the user. Here are 50 commonly used programs that have open source alternatives.

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  • lenlee99, on 02/08/2008, -39/+25Most of these I knew about but discovered a few new jems in this article. Check it out!!
    • philthetechie, on 02/08/2008, -11/+53I think you meant "gems" not "jems"... Epic fail considering you're the first post.
      • ganlet, on 02/08/2008, -5/+11give lenlee99 a break, since when did digg users get so uptight about typing/spelling mistakes.
        • bot001220, on 02/08/2008, -1/+8First posts are held to higher standards, I guess.
        • robbh66, on 02/09/2008, -4/+1Since people are tired of putting up with retards.
    • quomen, on 02/08/2008, -1/+7your post is a plant.
    • ileftfark, on 02/08/2008, -2/+11I find your comment Truly Outrageous.
      • Kurlumbenus, on 02/08/2008, -7/+3Dugg for 80s cartoon lore.
        • mightydavefish, on 02/08/2008, -3/+5Buried for explaining it.
          As it was, only the "cool" kids got it.
      • clackerd, on 02/09/2008, -1/+1***** yeah Synergy!
    • theOster, on 02/08/2008, -2/+6what gems? I've found the k3b site doesn't offer a windows version as mentioned, the compiere site ends up with licensing oracle DBs, the dia and turboCASH sites don't work past the splash page, the ... i guess thats all.
  • aflusche, on 02/08/2008, -25/+44This is a great article! Good comparison of open source alternatives to their expensive counterparts.
    • didiman, on 02/08/2008, -2/+15It was good until I saw Matlab on the list. Yes, it's expensive, but there is no alternative.
    • xsquirrel378x, on 02/08/2008, -1/+9whoa! easy there captain obvious
    • rpgmaker, on 02/08/2008, -2/+18I don't use MS Office but I don't hate it, it's the best software package that MS has in the market right now.
      • drgmdp, on 02/08/2008, -6/+14and OO suite is not a truly alternative yet
        • franklymister, on 02/09/2008, -8/+6Are you kidding? I use OO daily, and I actually own a licensed copy of MS Office.
          I prefer the speed of OO, and some features that are easier to use, or just don't exist in MS Office.
          • Acqua206, on 02/09/2008, -4/+6The speed of OO? O'RLY? You must be kidding. I'm all for OO but that blatant lie takes away all the credibility from your statement.
          • schotty, on 02/09/2008, -1/+2Finally someone else that is willing to say it the way it is. On my machines, other than initial load, OO is smooth and snappy. Its just that initial load.
          • jambarama, on 02/10/2008, -0/+2If you disable java, and use the autoloader OO is absolutely as fast as MS Office. Disabling java is just a checkbox in the menu.

            OO is an alternative to MS office so long as you don't need an email client with calendaring, tasks, & everything else outlook comes with. Fortunately OO 3 is getting this and a ton of other nifty features - ooxml support, svn versioning, automatic wiki markup, ff-like extensions, and pdf import (thats right, you'll be able to *edit* pdfs). That, if well implemented, will make OO far superior to MS Office IMO.

            Still no OneNote replacement though :(
        • NeilM, on 02/09/2008, -2/+1is not truly a*
      • Reziarfg, on 02/09/2008, -0/+4I would say the same thing about Adobe Photoshop and GIMP. I mean, it's useful and everything and probably good enough for a lot of people. But it just isn't Photoshop. Not yet at least.
    • freeport7, on 02/08/2008, -8/+16The so-called alternatives aren't even close to the real-world apps ...
      • franklymister, on 02/09/2008, -3/+5I don't think you understand the meaning of the phrase "real-world."

        Anyhow, no one is forcing you to use any of the alternatives - but it's nice to have a convenient list of some of the most popular ones. Would you have preferred the author not write the article in the first place? What, exactly, is it you are complaining about? I'm not sure I know what you want us to do.
    • airstrike, on 02/08/2008, -0/+1thanks a lot! i couldn't really get that from the title/description!
    • BobOki, on 02/08/2008, -7/+37GIMP is NOT an alternative to Photoshop. GIMP is outright the thirds layer of hell.
      • crash331, on 02/08/2008, -2/+15Agreed, as a Photographer with a dual boot laptop, I ALWAYS find myself saying "***** it" and going back to windows when I need to do editing, even with Gimpshop installed.

        Photoshop FTW.
        • Darksaber11, on 02/09/2008, -0/+4I feel almost exactly the opposite, the difference (I suspect) is that I used GIMP before I ever used photoshop. I'll give you that GIMP can't do *everything* that photoshop does, but it does more than enough for most people who just do graphic design for fun.
      • clackerd, on 02/09/2008, -2/+2give me some CMYK support that isn't bolt-on and i promise to talk less ***** on the gimp.
    • sleepwalkers, on 02/08/2008, -0/+14It's an alright list, but it makes me wonder how much time they really spent on the list when they refer to "Office 2008 for Mac" as "Mactopia." Mactopia is what Microsoft calls their Mac part of their website.
      • richardiscool, on 02/08/2008, -0/+2I stopped reading at that point. Mactopia is just the MacBU's website...
      • freeport7, on 02/08/2008, -3/+2Not only that, but he spells Macintosh as "MacIntosh." Get at least the basic spelling of a major IT player right.
    • FutureGuy, on 02/08/2008, -6/+7Capitalism to Socialism
      We all know how great socialism is.
      • FLarsen, on 02/09/2008, -0/+4I wouldn't call open-source socialism. There is no governing entity controlling all the projects (And socialism isn't free). The concept behind open-source is freedom, socialism isn't freedom.

        It's simply for-profit vs. non-profit.

        I agree with MusicalGenius (the comment after yours). Use whatever suits your needs best. I use both ubuntu and vista, both ms office and openoffice. I prefer opera over firefox, and pidgin over msn. There is no reason to only use open-source or closed-source software.
        • Atomic1fire, on 02/09/2008, -0/+1Exactly
          Its about what you want in software and if cost is an issue
          I prefer firefox because of its customizabillity
          (It can be a full Browser/Mail/Chat if you want it to be But thats only if you want it that way)
        • imcquill, on 02/09/2008, -0/+1I'm not sure profit has much to do with it. I would suspect that most software developers who spend most of their time working would like to make money. Some projects are open source, not so that they do not make money, but for other reasons. One might be that they can get a bigger user base and then make money in different ways. Firefox is open source but google gives them a lot of money to make it the default search engine. There are a lot of big companies that make projects open source and it is not because they do not want money. They may want their techniques to be standardized, available to everyone, extendible and bug free. Some projects might benefit from open source as a result.

          I enjoy paying for good software personally.
        • bagboyrebel, on 02/09/2008, -0/+1there is nothing about socialism that takes away freedom, that's just how any system turns out if it's used as the only system.
          • FLarsen, on 02/10/2008, -0/+2Socialism is one entity (the government) deciding for you, which takes away the freedom of choice. It would decide where a percentage of your money should be spent, and what services you would be offered on certain fields. Even if there is private alternatives, you still have to pay.

            I'm norwegian btw., so I know how a socialist government works.
          • bagboyrebel, on 02/10/2008, -0/+1but the people can still change what the system decides to spend money on. Besides, there isn't any form of government where people have complete freedom, that's called anarchy. What I believe is that the government is there to serve it's citizens by protecting them through laws(which also technically take away certain freedoms) and providing services to those in need.
            I also want to say that socialism isn't a form of government, it's an economic structure. Both socialism and capitalism can be run under democracies and dictatorships.
      • wbgo, on 02/09/2008, -0/+1Totally. I'd much rather life in a lefty country--they're consistently better places to live:
        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quality-of-life_index
    • MusicalGenius, on 02/09/2008, -3/+11I have Ubuntu installed like any other smart person, but I still use Vista and more importantly THIS LIST SUCKS!!

      How people think that Open Office is better is beyond me. Is open office bad? No... NEITHER is MS Office. MS Office isn't updated often enough with features and we don't control it's development...that doesn't make it evil.

      Archimedes isn't perfect. I LOVE open source but JUST because it's free does NOT make it superior. I personally prefer Maxon for a NUMBER of reasons.

      Firefox runs a MILLION times better in Windows than in Linux... Deny it all you want and Sink me all you want. I'm basing this ONLY off FRESH installs and how much crap I've had to deal with on Both OS's.. Oh, and I'm running those fresh installs RIGHT NOW... So it is still on going.

      amsn is nothing compared to Pidgin

      Open source is great, but this list is only one persons preferences and there is one thing that Open Source has yet to win. Microsoft is very open in it's development, MSDN is great... but because it is that AND pro together they have a visual appeal that is great.

      MS comes out with some of the COOLEST stuff and all they get is crap from fanboys who are ignorant. There are plenty of diggers who like MS also, fanboys just bark loudest.

      I like Ubuntu AND Vista... get over it.
      • wbgo, on 02/09/2008, -1/+1I have both MS Office and OO installed, and I always prefer to use OO if possible (I'm a professional translator, so I need to use Word to maintain the formatting in more complex documents). Sure, OO can't do everything Word can (nor do the other components out-feature Office's other bits and bobs), but it does pretty much everything the majority of users need in a more reliable fashion than Office.

        The auto-completion and lack of Word's unbelievable tendency to randomly ***** with the format your document (especially when working with lists) make me MUCH more productive in OO.
      • subgeniusd, on 02/10/2008, -0/+1"Firefox runs a MILLION times better in Windows than in Linux" ---- well I occasionally use FF in both and haven't noticed much of a difference. But SeaMonkey definitely runs better in Linux so there are differences in the way cross-platform browsers work.
    • wcarolyn, on 02/09/2008, -2/+1Digg is really messed up. I'm a member of diggfreak (digg cheating system) but only to look; not to participate. I'm surprised how many paid digg submissoins actually made it to the front page. I don't get why Digg doesn't just create fake accounts and ban those caught cheating.
  • estvir, on 02/08/2008, -49/+26People hate AIM, Photoshop, Paint, etc? That's BS.
    • OBKenobi, on 02/08/2008, -34/+34People hate how bloated Photoshop has become.
      • Tippis, on 02/08/2008, -9/+33They do? Never heard that one, actually...
        • polyGone, on 02/08/2008, -3/+13me neither...In fact, I like the new 3D features they built in.
        • mikemx, on 02/08/2008, -0/+10when he says 'people hate how..' he means his clueless linux nerd mates with no job, talent or actual graphic design experience
          • bioskope, on 02/09/2008, -2/+1for crying out loud you guys are responding to the biggest anti-windows troll on digg there is. Take whatever he says with not a pinch but a whole barrel full of salt.
          • sirhomer, on 02/09/2008, -2/+1I still stand on my point that Photoshop zealots are the worst. Anytime a news story comes out that says anything remotely positive about The GIMP, the news story is full of pirated Photoshop ***** talkers who who talk the most ridiculous smack out of any group of people I have ever seen.

            Then there are the Photoshop ***** talkers who say Linux will never be "popular" without running Photoshop, like some $800 image editor is some kind of ***** holy grail of software which everyone and their mother owns a copy of (yet they probably use a pirated copy, no way there mommy give them $800 to buy Photoshop).
        • GawtMilk, on 02/09/2008, -0/+3Come on guys, have you ever even USED the new spot healing brush tool? The new contrast tool? The update to histogram rendering? The video and 3D compability? The integration of ACR and Bridge? Additional sharpen and blur filters? Faster load speeds? Optimization of the text tool?

          It's just unnecessary bloat! You only need the brush tool, smudge tool and the Hue / Saturation layers...I mean, after all, Photoshop is really only for making sigs on GameRenders, right?
      • plainOldFool, on 02/08/2008, -1/+30I agree withTippis. I have yet to hear complaints regarding PS's 'bloat'. I've used PS from 4.0 up to CS2. I've not used CS3, so I cannot comment on it efficiency though. However the article is correct when it comments on how PS is cost preventative. $150 per update is crazy. That's why I am usually an 'everyother version' updater for my personal licence. GIMP's best feature is that it is free. However, I hear more complaints regarding its usability than Photoshop. I've really tried hard to like GIMP. I think it's okay and I recommend it constantly to people with no photoshop experience. However, if you've used PS with success, GIMP will be annoying. I am interested in GIMPShop and Pixle, though. Anyone use these? I don't believe either are 100% free, but they do look like pretty good and low cost PS replacements.
        • pendrachken, on 02/08/2008, -4/+3The thing I don't like about GIMP is the filters ( lack there of) as far as I know there is no way for me to use my alien-skin filters in the GIMP. That said, why bother upgrading? PS7.0 is missing what from CS2/3 ? 2-3 layer blending modes? I can do the same in PS7 with 1-2 extra layers....
          • mightydavefish, on 02/08/2008, -7/+4Too bad you don't know about this thing called "Google.com". It's part of teh interwebs.
            Type "Gimp filters" in it. I did. You can too.
            It's called using your brain for 30 seconds.
            Try it, and learn how to copy over your Photoshop filters.
          • Tippis, on 02/08/2008, -0/+2CS3 introduces smart filters, which is quite useful, and which cannot be recreated in any of the earlier versions (short of accepting to go back 150 steps in your editing history and then redoing all those steps again).

            It also further integrates with the other Adobe programs (which, admittedly, happens with every release) and adds greater 3D capabilities.
        • drgmdp, on 02/08/2008, -0/+4CS3 has improved resources usage a lot....
      • SuperWinner, on 02/08/2008, -8/+13I still us PS7 because every release since then has been what I like to call a "marketing update", selling us 95% of the same product again, but charging us full price because 5% of the code is new? Thats ***** *****.
        • Changa, on 02/08/2008, -4/+8Every version has had something worth upgrading to and camera raw was worth the price of the upgrade.

          There is a large difference in features between 7 and cs3 and if you feel like it is 95% the same thing you are either not using photoshop enough or not looking hard enough at the upgrades.
        • Tippis, on 02/08/2008, -1/+6...also, if you're on a modern Mac, CS3 offers some pretty huge advantages from the previous versions.
        • mikemx, on 02/08/2008, -0/+5changa and tippis are correct, basically superwinner you're a photoshop know-nothing noob
      • TheG2, on 02/08/2008, -2/+20Photoshop isn't bloated, if anything it runs faster than previous versions. And there are plenty of new features to make it worthwhile. GIMP isn't a replacement for Photoshop and probably never will be.
      • kretik, on 02/08/2008, -1/+7No they don't. Every version actually runs faster than the previous one, despite the features that are added. On both PC and Mac.
        I bet you don't even use PS. How does it feel to be a mindless zealot?
      • sirhomer, on 02/09/2008, -0/+1I hope Adobe does some kind of crackdown on Photoshop pirates soon. I don't usually support stuff like that, but really the world would be a better place without Digg Photoshop zealots trolling The GIMP at every possible moment.
    • scallon, on 02/08/2008, -2/+50I dont think i have ever met a person who really liked aim. There are so many clutter free alternatives.
    • prophetpimp, on 02/08/2008, -6/+15People hate MSpaint? Thats one of the best software ever. Its only of the few things i miss when on my my ubuntu laptop.
    • redwallhp, on 02/08/2008, -4/+26I will never use any "alternative" to Photoshop.
      • jonshipman, on 02/08/2008, -4/+14Precisely. I hate how people tell me to use THE GiMP and it can't duotone correctly or use spot colors.
      • dcast777, on 02/08/2008, -4/+12The gimp will never be able to match the power of photoshop
      • sirhomer, on 02/09/2008, -3/+1I still stand on my point that Photoshop zealots are the worst. Anytime a news story comes out that says anything remotely positive about The GIMP, the news story is full of pirated Photoshop ***** talkers who who talk the most ridiculous smack out of any group of people I have ever seen.

        Then there are the Photoshop ***** talkers who say Linux will never be "popular" without running Photoshop, like some $800 image editor is some kind of ***** holy grail of software which everyone and their mother owns a copy of (yet they probably use a pirated copy).
        • GawtMilk, on 02/09/2008, -1/+2An Adobe representative asked a question at a Photoshop convention recently. "Who here started by pirating Photoshop?"

          Around 90% of the attendees raised their hand. People can't afford to pay $600 to see if Photoshop is right for them, so they pirate it. The truth is that in professional environments, the cost is nothing compared to what you make using Photoshop in your average assignment, so when you progress from "bedroom designer" to studio producer, you start realizing that paying $800 for the holy grail of software makes sense, as it's ***** POWERFUL.

          Maybe the thirty people who show up to a GIMP convention can smugly say that they have kernel access on their operating systems, but that doesn't change the fact that even the "Expert" tutorials for the GIMP have crappy looking results.

          http://www.gimp.org/tutorials/#Expert
          • sirhomer, on 02/10/2008, -0/+1You mean all the stupid artsy Photoshop designers are all pirates? Who would have known. Well at least the programming profession hasn't been corrupted by retards who only know how to use one tool.
  • OBKenobi, on 02/08/2008, -55/+21Vista, the most hated software in the world. They got that right.

    There is a better way than the slavery MS, along with the US government and the MAFIAA, has planned for us. Like they say in the primaries, it's time for change.
    • dcd722, on 02/08/2008, -3/+16Like they say every year in the primaries?
    • plainOldFool, on 02/08/2008, -9/+30My wife's new laptop came with Vista and I was getting ready to roll it back to XP. But I have to be 100% honest with you. I really isn't that bad. I'd never install it on my laptop though.
      • TheG2, on 02/08/2008, -6/+11Yep, I've run Vista for over a year and its great.
      • chedabob, on 02/08/2008, -0/+6I ran Vista for a bit, and the problems I faced weren't huge, but they were big enough to make me go back to XP.
        • Nitesmoke, on 02/08/2008, -1/+5I purchased Vista Ultimate but had to return to XP. Vista was great, I loved it, despite 2 driver probs, sound and video, but I solved those easily enough by installing the XP drivers. The reason I had to roll back is the best: I was teaching my son how a computer works, and had removed my P4 2.8 GHz to show him the "brain." He touched it and bent a pin. I had to dig out an old P4 2.0 GHz. After this downgrade, Vista would barely run with a 20+ minute boot time so I reinstalled it, then because I switched "brains," my Vista thought it had been installed on a different pc so I couldn't activate it. So I cracked it, but it still ran like Crysis on a Commodore 64, so back to XP I went. Remember this story when you think its OK to not use a condom.
        • GawtMilk, on 02/09/2008, -0/+2The only problem I've had with Vista is a Hibernate problem. It's pissing me off, to be honest, but it only cropped up after I replaced the Home Premium that came with the computer for Vista Ultimate.

          Does anyone know how to fix it? When I shut the laptop's lid, the computer doesn't hibernate -- it turns off.

          I've never come across any hardware problems on the desktop I built. I even got Transport Tycoon from my DOS days running.
          • chedabob, on 02/09/2008, -0/+2Install the software that came with the laptop. There should be a piece of software that controls the power management. I know on Dells they have Quickset.
      • thebellmaster1x, on 02/09/2008, -0/+2I went back to XP too, but, yeah, I never had any BIG problems. I suspect that when I get a new computer, I'll be just fine with Vista.
    • Haohmaru, on 02/08/2008, -2/+14You hear alot of general whining about the new interface and compatibility with old programs, but remember when OSX came out? It wasn't even compatible with the old hardware, never mind most apps. But of course, even when Apple craps, people view it as gold.
      • byttle, on 02/08/2008, -8/+3At least it turns out to be gold in the end. Microsoft craps, people look at it as crap, and then they add an expansion pack of crap, coming this February.
        • madeingermany, on 02/08/2008, -0/+1yeah, I'm waiting for ServiceCrap1
      • jonshipman, on 02/08/2008, -4/+1What are you talking about? OSX came out in 2000 and could run on 2 year old hardwares. At least the '98 iBooks/powerbooks/powermacs. And I think maybe before with the Biege G3s - though I don't know the exact dates those came out.
        • brycelb, on 02/09/2008, -0/+1It ran on the beige G3's till at least 10.3.
      • MacParrot, on 02/08/2008, -0/+3Most Mac users couldn't stand OS X when it first came out. It was slow, buggy, would crash more applications than even the worst version of OS 8/9 and there were no native programs for it. I saw a demo at Macworld NY and avoided it like the plague until 10.2 came out. There was no immediate acceptance from the larger part of the user base.

        jonshipman is correct about the hardware being compatible. I could (but didn't) run it on my 300MHz G3 desktop.
        • brycelb, on 02/09/2008, -1/+1Your wrong about the acceptance of the user base. When they gave out the free update to 10.1 they had lines around the block to get a copy. I know cause i stood in one.
    • kretik, on 02/08/2008, -2/+4A good change would be for people like you to stop telling us what we should like or not like because your techno religion compels you to "evangelize" 24/7/365
  • JJMacey, on 02/08/2008, -29/+1Dude,

    You are know on my Linux Blog!
  • MrTonic, on 02/08/2008, -9/+32Good list that everyone should check out. Those might not be better that their proprietary counter parts, but if one can do 95% of the stuff wants to do with these programs, is the full price of the proprietary software worth of that 5%? Other times, Open Source can be so much better than anything in the markets, like Firefox.
    • bowe, on 02/08/2008, -2/+2Someone should add up the prices of all of the programs on the left, just to see how much it would cost to get all of those proprietary programs. The ones on the right in most cases are not as polished as the proprietary solutions, but they don't cost a dime.
      • mikemx, on 02/08/2008, -1/+2and they don't earn you a dime in many cases because they are so fantastically rubbish and unsuitable for professional work

        I'd rather spend 10k to earn 100k than spend nothing and be living in a cardboard box
        • Gryphon09, on 02/09/2008, -0/+1In many peoples' cases, however, spending hundreds of dollars for a product such as photoshop isn't worth it. They won't use it enough. A free open-source is well worth it for someone who just uses to program for fun.
          If you're a professional you can afford professional-grade software. If you're not, you don't necessarily need it.
        • GawtMilk, on 02/09/2008, -0/+1Adobe really doesn't have a market share for the Average Joe with Photoshop. They get the free Photoshop Elements, 90% of the time it comes with their camera. If you can't afford professional-grade software, why not go for GOOD user-grade software?

          Elements > GIMP.
    • roosterjm2k2, on 02/08/2008, -2/+14For the difference between photoshop and GIMP .. yeah, its worth it.
      • sirhomer, on 02/09/2008, -0/+3I hope Adobe does some kind of crackdown on Photoshop pirates soon. I don't usually support stuff like that, but really the world would be a better place without Digg Photoshop zealots trolling The GIMP at every possible moment.
      • wattersm, on 02/09/2008, -0/+1The price on photoshop isn't bad considering that it's a professional tool.
    • Llanowar, on 02/09/2008, -0/+2It's a nice list indeed. But there are plenty of programs in there I don't hate.
      Mainly Photoshop, Illustrator, Kaspersky and Cuteftp.
      But also Excel, notepad and stuff like that.

      Maybe I'm wrong but I did not know they were so hated.
    • brycelb, on 02/09/2008, -1/+4You use Firefox as an example but who pays for IE or Safari? No One. So how can this be a good comparison. I think that last 5% is the only thing that matters. Lets face it, all word processors are 95% the same, it's the 5% that makes one great and one suck.
      • alittleroy101, on 02/09/2008, -1/+1Great points.
      • imcquill, on 02/09/2008, -0/+1Word processors are not all 95% the same. See Scrivener, Ulysses, Nisus Write, and of course the famous latex (which is actually open source, extended from tex, invented in the 70's, long before word). These are nothing like Word and hold many, many advantages (esp. latex).
      • bagboyrebel, on 02/09/2008, -0/+1nobody said you had to pay for IE, they said it was proprietary.
    • jhaks, on 02/09/2008, -0/+3A lot of closed or semi-closed source software is free. There is no real good reason to have an exclusive bias towards open source. If however you actually modify source code a lot then open source might be better, but really how many of you have actually compiled from the source tree to do an install let alone taken the time to understand the application design enough to modify it?
    • scy1192, on 02/09/2008, -0/+2Opera is just as good if not better than Firefox for a lot of people, yet it is not open source. Proprietary can be (and usually is) great software and shouldn't be ditched just because it doesn't carry the "open source" label.
  • doshindude, on 02/08/2008, -48/+224www.thepiratebay.org
    all your software needs. proprietary or not.
    • coldcarbon, on 02/08/2008, -22/+9don't forget about www.isohunt.com
    • centran, on 02/08/2008, -24/+8You are not suggesting people... < gasp > ... Steal?
      You are a very naughty boy and going to hell.
      Arrr!
      • krackle, on 02/08/2008, -14/+6Thumbs down @centran:
        Piracy != Theft
        • NinjaJoey, on 02/08/2008, -11/+4Of course it is theft. Do it anyway.
          • Ymeg, on 02/08/2008, -4/+6How is not paying for something not stealing?
          • GawtMilk, on 02/09/2008, -0/+1It is stealing. I still do it, but how is it NOT stealing?

            They charge $799.99 for it. You don't pay them, yet end up with their product. The thing being "stolen" is the sale.
        • Fragged, on 02/28/2008, -0/+0Tis hard to define, as stealing usually consists of somebody else losing something. In this case, nobody is losing anything unless you would buy the software if you couldnt obtain it elsewhere.

          The question is, why the ***** areyou being dugg down? your statement is legitimate. Digg is just full of tards.
      • Leviathan88, on 02/08/2008, -2/+3***** RIAA. ***** MPAA, Anyway, something you should have paid for is better than an alternative free source, check photoshop. Kthx. That is all.
        • pattink, on 02/09/2008, -2/+0Wait, I am confused, what does software have to do with the RIAA or the MPAA?
      • centran, on 02/09/2008, -2/+4Apparently no one caught my Arrr! and took it as a joke.
    • Ymeg, on 02/08/2008, -11/+2die.
    • MalDON, on 02/08/2008, -0/+5amen.
  • zplot, on 02/08/2008, -3/+23"Hate" might be exaggerated for some of these apps, but it's good to know about all the open-source alternatives out there. Too many common applications are priced beyond a reasonable range for personal use. And even those who know how to pirate software and don't have ethical issues with piracy should be a bit reluctant at times when commercial software gets bloated.

    Especially for personal use, most people require less than 10% of the features in popular software products like Msft Office. Finding a simpler and cleaner alternative makes one's computer more healthy.
  • bobsmith1234, on 02/08/2008, -25/+15I often get frustrated with the fact that many people think that these "alternatives" are inferior when in fact, many of these free programs are much better. (Like Vista to Ubuntu)
    • intellimouse, on 02/08/2008, -8/+7Haha! Good one.
    • drgmdp, on 02/08/2008, -9/+9i'm all for open source, but ubuntu is not ready yet
      • drgmdp, on 02/08/2008, -1/+2oh, ubuntu fanbois, not accepting reality...
    • sleepwalkers, on 02/08/2008, -4/+8There is no one ultimate OS to rule them all. How hard is that to understand? I see so many people bashing other operating systems as though there's one that's perfect and the rest of them might as well die in an avalanche.
      Just because you prefer Ubuntu now does not make any other OS inferior, nor will it ever.
      • MacParrot, on 02/08/2008, -0/+4Agreed. Why be so bitter that people might want to use Windows/Mac/Linux instead of Linux/Mac/Windows?
  • typicalusername, on 02/08/2008, -7/+63WTF? Notepad/Wordpad? Why the hell did someone take the time to put that in there... I don't hate Notepad, plus...it comes free with my OS.
    Secondly, couldn't you just summarize this list by saying.
    MS products, use OpenOffice or Mozilla as an alternative. That's almost the entire damn list!
    • NullPolarity, on 02/08/2008, -2/+25As soon as I found out about syntax highlighting in my younger days, I hated Notepad. Although, if the guy was going to suggest a Windows-only text editor, I think Notepad++ (http://notepad-plus.sourceforge.net/uk/site.htm ) is a much better choice, especially if he wanted to stick to open source applications. From the ConTEXT FAQ:

      Can I get ConTEXT source files?
      This is a freeware project, not OpenSource.
      • sekhui, on 02/08/2008, -0/+2notepad++ explodes any other basic text editor i've ever tried.
      • Oea420, on 02/08/2008, -0/+2Notepad++ is the best text editor I've ever used. Ever Seriously whoever thought to put tabs in that thing is my personal saviour

        http://notepad-plus.sourceforge.net/uk/site.htm
      • cryptoki, on 02/08/2008, -2/+2notepad... is quick and easy ... when you dont need all the other features...
        i still use it for small scripts etc... but for anything major... ya.. use textpad.com
        unless you like coding in black and white... ( i dont mind it most of the time... cuz.. im a sequel guy anyways from back in the day - SQL Plus (is still cool) )
        • stalefries, on 02/08/2008, -2/+1How did you manage to graduate from high school with that kind of punctuation?
        • diggdiggerid, on 02/09/2008, -0/+1Dugg for textpad
      • Murdats, on 02/09/2008, -0/+2you all suck, Vim ftw.
    • 11oops, on 02/08/2008, -2/+22Bingo- Seems like they came up with the magic number of '50' prior to beginning their list, then came up with their own bloat to make it. Microsoft Office IS Excel, Powerpoint, Word, Access, etc. Why list each separately, then repeat as a whole?

      And, for the record, if an open source program doesn't run on Windows, then it isn't a viable alternative, now is it?
      • joepaterno, on 02/09/2008, -0/+2The guy just did a search of "Microsoft *" and listed everything he got back. Only the biggest OSS apologists will tell you that each piece of software in Microsoft Office is crap. When you ask them what the problem is with Excel, inevitably the answer amounts to- "it doesn't read my mind"
    • Haohmaru, on 02/08/2008, -10/+12Yeah, I use open-source because I don't like to pay for peoples hard work.
      • akkibaba, on 02/08/2008, -3/+13Yeah, I use open-source because the authors of the software believe in sharing their hard work, for the good of humanity.
        • drgmdp, on 02/08/2008, -2/+4yea, i use open source because those two reasons
        • joepaterno, on 02/09/2008, -2/+2Why don't you share all of your cash, your house, and your car for the good of humanity? It's easy to clone a piece of software after it's been conceived, designed, and built. Every good product has a cheap and crappy knock off. Software is the only place where the knockoff artists pretend to be doing the world a service.
      • cJw314, on 02/08/2008, -4/+9Yeah, I use don't use open-source because I like bloatware, rootkits, DRM, and capitalism.
      • andycr512, on 02/08/2008, -1/+3Your point shows that you do not know how Open Source as a system works. Were the software not free, they would get nearly no patches from the community ("You charged me for it, then want me to help fix it? Fix it yourself!"). Community patches make up most of the code in the later stages of most OSS projects. In short, OSS would not exist if it weren't for the system of free redistribution it has put into place.
      • 10GunSalute, on 02/08/2008, -2/+2Ha, you really think that the majority of software sales goes back to the developers? L-O-*****-L
        • Fragged, on 02/28/2008, -0/+0Ha. You think we are going to believe you without any citation?

          I've heard about this with the music industry, but never software companies. But do you think its big news? If so, heres a news break companies stay afloat and bring out software BECAUSE THE SOFTWARE MAKES THEM MONEY. They in turn pay the devs. making money in many cases isn't about how smart or good you are at what you do, but having money.
    • freeport7, on 02/08/2008, -2/+3Yah ... except for the Visio alternative ... nice app, I couldn't even get screenshots of it to come up. You get what you pay for.
      • sleepwalkers, on 02/08/2008, -0/+1If you hold true to that mantra, then you might want to be aware of one more: "A sucker is born every minute."
    • svivian, on 02/08/2008, -0/+1I've tried nearly every text-editor there is... for Windows, Notepad++ is pretty much the best. For Linux you can't beat KATE.

      I'm not sure why Bluefish was listed as a FrontPage-equivalent app, it's just a text editor...
      • Laxaloot, on 02/08/2008, -0/+1Just to complete your list to have one for each major OS, for web development and such on the mac I recommend Smultron, it's pretty damn good. Dunno how it compares to KATE though, have never tried it.
    • Leviathan88, on 02/08/2008, -0/+1Textit, for example shows stuff written in emacs, pico whatever better than notepad, I love seeing stuff with spaces between lines. ~.~
    • locriology, on 02/08/2008, -1/+2I was about to download their "notepad alternative", then I realized it was 1.6 MB. I like Notepad because it's NOT bloated, thank you very much.
  • buildbyflying, on 02/08/2008, -0/+54avidemux is not comparable to Premiere. It's not even comparable to Imovie... but why didn't they mention cinelerra? Kino?
    • posure, on 02/08/2008, -4/+22Well, to be fair, most of the software on this list isn't comparable - like pretty much all of the office software isn't even close. Plus, where is VLC on this list? I use VLC more than any other open source programs.
      • Tippis, on 02/08/2008, -1/+8That one is particularly funny since I'm hard pressed to think of any *commercial* program that could compete with VLC... O_o
        • lacronicus, on 02/08/2008, -0/+1Really! What other program lets you watch all your videos in ascii art? None that I can think of!
        • B1663r, on 02/08/2008, -12/+1Yeah, yeah, VLC is sooooo much nicer than Windows built in remote desktop... oh wait, no its not, it is not even comparable... Then you get into the terminal server stuff that VLC doesn't do...

          Oh wait, you have no ***** clue what you are talking about do you?
          • gcopenhaver, on 02/08/2008, -1/+9If you knew what you were talking about, you'd know that VLC is the VideoLAN media player, not to be confused with VNC (Virtual Network Computing)
          • xaeon, on 02/08/2008, -1/+6Also, you're completely misunderstanding the point of VNC. It plays a very different role to RDC.

            RDC logs the local user out when it connects. You can't have multiple connections. Forget to put it in console mode and you can cause serious problems.

            RDC is great, but it has a purpose and VNC has a purpose.
          • subliminalurge, on 02/08/2008, -1/+4How the ***** does a media player compete with remote desktop software?

            Who has no ***** clue what they're talking about?
    • ywwg, on 02/08/2008, -0/+10Saying any linux-based video editing software is comparable to premiere or final cut or even imovie is like saying that notepad is comparable to Word. Or mspaint is pretty much as good as photoshop. It's not even close, and I say this as someone who a) is a full-time linux user, developer, evangelist, etc, and b) a professional video editor.
      • mikemx, on 02/08/2008, -2/+2not possible to be both. If you are a full-time linux user, then what time do you spend being the so called professional (i.e full time)video editor? You are either a full-time professional video editor and a part time linux hobbyt, or a full-time linux fiddler and part time hobby video editor

        You are right however - linux video editing software is utter utter rubbish
        • ywwg, on 02/10/2008, -0/+1My own machine is a thinkpad running Ubuntu, which I use for web, email, RSS, documents, Gimp (I don't need photoshop for what I do), and hacking on my PenguinTV RSS reader. I used to be the IT guy at my company, so I still use it to log in to the servers and fix things. Linux is my preferred environment.

          When I'm editing, I use either Avid Xpress Pro on Mac or Avid Symphony Nitris on Windows. I'm the online editor and colorist, which means that my editing skills are not needed full-time, just when a show is ready to go out the door.

          You can check out both my imdb page: http://imdb.com/name/nm1741110/, and my blog: http://ywwg.com/wordpress/


          (so there!)
    • CrushThemTorg, on 02/09/2008, -0/+3Despite having some interesting points to look into, this could be one of the most poorly written, poorly researched, incidents of open source fellatio ever. It reminds me of the olden days of something awful when Jeff K first lambasted the X-box.
  • InuX, on 02/08/2008, -1/+22I don't hate software. I just choose not to use it.
    • coldcarbon, on 02/08/2008, -13/+1so in other words you don't know how to use the software so you don't learn, YOU run.
      • intellimouse, on 02/08/2008, -2/+10Where did he say anything about "not knowing how to use it"?
  • Sererena, on 02/08/2008, -18/+6No mention of Blender3D? I'm surprised.
    • chongli, on 02/08/2008, -0/+12Did you RTFA?
      20. TruSpace to Blender: Caligari offers a range of products that enable designers and artists to produce 3D images - at a hefty price. Blender, on the other hand, provides one tool that provides full multiresolution sculpting capabilities with 2D bitmap/3D procedural brushes (Paint, Smooth, Pinch, Inflate, Grab) supporting symmetry. And, that’s just the beginning of Blender’s capabilities. This open source software is free to download and use.
    • jn1167, on 02/08/2008, -0/+3It was mentioned.
  • RichGC, on 02/08/2008, -7/+8Thought this was going to be the same old usual list, posted for the 50th time, but there were some interesting alternatives that I had not seen before, so dugg :)
  • fac3less, on 02/08/2008, -6/+41Skip the blog post & just go straight to osalt: http://www.osalt.com/
    It's a whole lot more thorough and offers thousands of alternatives.

    Open Source for the win :)
  • jlungu, on 02/08/2008, -1/+7Avast! Anti-Virus has worked well for me ...
    • krahzee, on 02/09/2008, -0/+1Avast is awesome, except for the first night I updated it. Left the speakers up really high after a late gaming session and nearly fell out of bed when that voice went off!!!!! "Virus Database has been updated" Great, but did you need to wake me up to tell me that?
      • bagboyrebel, on 02/09/2008, -0/+2I had the same thing happen while playing counterstrike at a lan party. I had headphones on so everyone thought I was crazy when I jumped away from my computer.
  • joelav22, on 02/08/2008, -4/+24Pidgin is pretty badass. They forgot imgburn and daemon tools
    • xsquirrel378x, on 02/08/2008, -6/+6neither of those is open source buddy
      • likwidfuzion, on 02/08/2008, -4/+5Pidgin is open source buddy.
        • kewidogg, on 02/08/2008, -0/+5you guys don't sound like buddies.
        • xsquirrel378x, on 02/08/2008, -0/+7youre an idiot, im not talking about pidgin. i was talking imgburn and daemon tools. freeware is not the same thing as open source
      • bliz, on 02/08/2008, -0/+4yup, imgburn and daemon tools are not open source even though imgburn is a freeware and there are free lite version for daemon tools. why they dugg you down.

        this article is about open source alternatives to proprietary software (which includes closed source freewares as well)
      • MusicalGenius, on 02/09/2008, -0/+1Most diggers here realize that the whole world isn't just open source. This is an "open" discussion.

        Live different.
        • bagboyrebel, on 02/09/2008, -0/+1when the list is supposed to be about open source software saying that they forgot non-open source software is just stupid.
  • Dipster, on 02/08/2008, -0/+11If we were talking about just the individual applications that make up the Microsoft Office suite, I'd be inclined to say, yes, there are a lot of open source alternatives. But if we're talking about the suite as a whole, and how you can get everything to integrate vis a vis Dashboard and such, you can't do it that easily in anything else, because these other "suites" are just a bunch of disparate applications all lumped together to form a single package.
  • betterth, on 02/08/2008, -17/+136I'll use Open Office when it stops looking and running like Word 97. :(
    • NullPolarity, on 02/08/2008, -19/+7Do people really need more features than Word 97 had? I didn't know there were any major technological revolutions in ink and paper in the past decade that warranted several new office suite upgrades.
    • Tarnum, on 02/08/2008, -13/+2You mean as fast as Word 97? Because that's what the people with slow computers want.
      • xsquirrel378x, on 02/08/2008, -1/+12even though i use openoffice, its hideously slow. java i guess
        • xaeon, on 02/08/2008, -8/+1I hate it when people don't understand that Java is a fantastic language for writing applications. Also, due to the virtual machine optimisations, I'd bet most people can write applications that will run faster in Java than a similar application running in C/C++, etc.

          Although, even as a full-time Java programmer I have to admit that, for web stuff, Java is hideous.
        • sirhomer, on 02/09/2008, -0/+3OpenOffice is written in C++. Check out the code for yourself.
    • tehbored, on 02/08/2008, -8/+3I would never go back to MS Office. Admittedly, the word processor in OpenOffice is a bit weak, but the presentations and spreadsheets are superior IMO.
      • blatantninja, on 02/11/2008, -0/+1Not if you code macros at all. OpenOffice's spreadsheet will make you cry and go running back to Excel.
    • svivian, on 02/08/2008, -2/+6I quite like OO Writer. Calc is so slow though, it pales in comparison to Excel.
    • element247, on 02/08/2008, -2/+2I've only ever had issues with OOWriter when using non-native files with it (.doc).
  • warispeace21, on 02/08/2008, -4/+24QuickTime Alternative anyone? I hate using QuickTime.
    http://www.codecguide.com/about_qt.htm
    • jonshipman, on 02/08/2008, -2/+6Quicktime is just a player... Get mp4/sorenon/cinepek codecs for WMP and you can open .mov/.mp4s in WMP

      Or just use VLC
      • fjc8, on 02/09/2008, -0/+1QuickTime Alternative is a package of those DirectShow codecs.
    • MacParrot, on 02/08/2008, -0/+4Unless you're on OS X or using iTunes you don't really need QuickTime.
    • accessviolation, on 02/09/2008, -0/+1Media Player Classic (my preference) or VLC. Just grab the proper codecs.
  • manicallday, on 02/08/2008, -0/+19No amarok, lyx or abiword?
    • TiMMY8765, on 02/08/2008, -0/+8yeah they put in songbird instead of amarok. WTF!?
      • sleepwalkers, on 02/08/2008, -0/+7Probably because it's cross-platform.
        Still, Songbird is not ready for prime time quite yet.
        • bagboyrebel, on 02/09/2008, -0/+1an early windows installer for amarok just came out.
    • repustech, on 02/08/2008, -0/+1yeah, Amarok is badass!
    • tehbored, on 02/08/2008, -0/+1Or VLC.
    • uncouthyouth, on 02/08/2008, -0/+0Or Foobar2000. Much more customizable than Songbird, and better performance too. The memory footprint is great, only 26868 K with my plugins. (for comparison, the iTunes helper program that runs even when iTunes is closed is 8104 K)
  • missingnoh4x, on 02/08/2008, -2/+26Did they just call it "Ubuntu OS"?
    • bseymour42, on 02/08/2008, -5/+0It is an Operating System
    • 10GunSalute, on 02/08/2008, -2/+6I suppose they could have phrased it "The distribution of the Unix-based Linux kernel referred to as 'Ubuntu'", but maybe they aren't obsessive-compulsively wrapped up in technicalities
      • cloak419, on 02/08/2008, -3/+1Lol, that means that missiongnoh4x is obsessive-compulsively wrapped up in technicalities.
        Pwnt.
        Rebuttal missingnoh4x?
    • PathDaemon, on 02/08/2008, -0/+3That, combined with mentioning the Microsoft Office Suite in addition to ALL of its component apps, calling Office Mac "Mactopia" and calling Macs "MacIntosh".... made me distrust the author's technical leetness slightly.
  • JasonHilton, on 02/08/2008, -14/+21Why isn't Real Player on there? No Digg
    • fate3, on 02/08/2008, -2/+37because people stopped using it in 1998
      • 11oops, on 02/08/2008, -1/+12True, unfortunately some companies have yet to get the memo.
        • element247, on 02/08/2008, -2/+2And even more have yet to get the joke.
      • cJw314, on 02/08/2008, -2/+6and because it still sucks.
      • xsquirrel378x, on 02/08/2008, -2/+5so when do people start getting sarcasm?
    • PathDaemon, on 02/08/2008, -0/+2Because there isn't really an open source alternative due to Real's ass licensing of its protocol.

      And while "people" stopped using it in 1998, some websites still do... which sucks.
  • tusseyd, on 02/08/2008, -11/+3What's missing here is the movement to cloud based computing. Don't replace Word with OpenOffice, use Google Docs. Outlook with Gmail, etc. Of course some of these apps don't yet have a web-based counterpoint (M/S Project for example), but that is the trend and one should provide guidance in that direction, not just replace one desktop app for another desktop app.
    • cesclaveria, on 02/08/2008, -0/+1for ms project ==> rallydev
    • subliminalurge, on 02/08/2008, -0/+5Yeah, 'cuz it'll be so cool the next time a snowstorm knocks a tree limb into my cable feed and I can't access my data for 2 days while I wait for the cable co to make repairs (which has happened to me several times over the past few years). With local apps I was still able to at least get "some" work done without an Internet connection.
    • PathDaemon, on 02/08/2008, -0/+4I prefer to have control over my applications and data, thank you.
  • fearofcorners, on 02/08/2008, -1/+11Some of these are great. On the other hand, some of these oss programs are garbage. Dio, for example, is only very marginally better than ms paint. It is nowhere near Visio.
  • zeptobyte, on 02/08/2008, -3/+70I like how they have OpenOffice, OpenOffice Writer, and OpenOffice Calc all on their list as separate programs. -_-
    • krahzee, on 02/09/2008, -0/+2Well when you are trying to impress upon the uneductated that openoffice contains all of these, it may get lost. Hell, I know quite a few uneducated users who didn't know office contained excel, word, etc...
  • krisscofield, on 02/08/2008, -16/+6People complain about GIMP compared to super-expensive Photoshop all of the time in my art classes, and because of what? It's nearly the same exact software. Not to mention if you can't download the right paintbrush you need (which there are countless DIY paintbrushes out there), you can always make it yourself, or ask for one. I think it's something having to do with the feeling of spending money...?
    • booticon, on 02/08/2008, -2/+31I don't know, I'm sure GIMP has all the same functionality, but when I've used it in the past it feels like I'm instead trying to manipulate the retarded step-brother of Photoshop. That also happens to be a burn victim.
    • pendrachken, on 02/08/2008, -1/+6lemme know when gimp supports all of even PS7's plugins and filters. I for one will continue to run PS7 through wine untill my 400$ alienskin filters work with GIMP.

      Don't get me wrong GIMP is usable if all you want to do is paint, but if you want to add specialized filter effects... no dice.
    • Changa, on 02/08/2008, -1/+10The photo raw work flow in gimp is just about non-existent. I tried the addon to the gimp and it wasn't even as good at the software that came with my camera.

      There are many tasks that the gimp just doesn't handle well that Photoshop excels at.
    • BobOki, on 02/08/2008, -2/+8I only use GIMP is I have no other alternative.
      I gave it a good school try, used it for an entire month. NEVER AGAIN.
      It took me 5-10 times longer to do anything, and the standard features I enjoy in photoshop are NOT in GIMP, no matter how much you want to say they are.
      • drgmdp, on 02/08/2008, -1/+6not to mention BUGS
        i hate losing the job i was doing for a ***** filter working bad
    • jonshipman, on 02/08/2008, -1/+5And Spot Color/Duotone/Monotone support...

      GIMP is a replacement for fireworks at best...
      • fjc8, on 02/09/2008, -0/+2Fireworks is much easier to use than The GIMP and has simple vector / reusability features that I find useful.
  • Error601, on 02/08/2008, -6/+32A lot of the alleged alternatives could only be considered an effective alternative if you never used either for any real work.
    • jorisb, on 02/08/2008, -1/+2I use firefox, gimp, and pdfcreator from that list.
      Other ones used at my place of work are MySQL, PHP, Apache, Notepad++, 7zip, GNU compilers
  • brstilson, on 02/08/2008, -1/+15This list is slightly inflated. They list each component of Microsoft Office and Open Office even though all of it is already covered in the first few entries.
  • rdolishny, on 02/08/2008, -2/+12Slow news day.
  • gharding, on 02/08/2008, -0/+28What the *****? Authorize.net to OpenSSL? Setting up a self-signed SSL cert on my box still doesn't give me a payment gateway.
    • anchorman, on 02/08/2008, -0/+11Thank you for replying on this. After reading that recommendation... I thought to myself... boy... I better go back and check some of his other recommendations. Another area of concern... Dreamweaver to NVU. That's like saying Space Shuttle to Paper Airplane. NVU is no where close to Dreamweaver... although its future could be more promising.
      • ellisgl, on 02/09/2008, -0/+1Nothing touches dreamweaver.. I only use dreamweaver in desperate times, but yeah, not close.
  • yohan, on 02/08/2008, -5/+30aMSN is NOT better than MSN Messenger. Not on this Earth.
    • cesclaveria, on 02/08/2008, -3/+3try the newest version, its a lot better.
    • Konstantino, on 02/08/2008, -0/+3Speaking of which, why does aMSN's link go to adiumx.com ?
    • stalefries, on 02/08/2008, -1/+2Then again, it's pretty hard to make something worse than MSN Messenger.
    • MusicalGenius, on 02/09/2008, -1/+1COME ON PEOPLE, PIDGIN ROCKS!!
  • bcextreme, on 02/08/2008, -6/+17I dont know why so many peole hate Vista. In my experience with the exeption of one compiler (Microfocus) every other program has been installed correctly and no problems at all. By the way guys check out the new speech recognition software from vista its very cool! (Obviously not perfect but improving)
    • BobOki, on 02/08/2008, -8/+4Yeah, and when you plug it into a microsoft network, and it thinks ITS the primary domain controller and starts to take over services, then you will know.
      • fjc8, on 02/09/2008, -2/+1I have plugged many Vista computers into a Microsoft network and the only primary domain controller has been my primary domain controller.
    • repustech, on 02/08/2008, -7/+5not that bad? well i guess IE crashing every 20-30 minutes is not that bad. it's slow even on extremely fast computers, needs a minimum of 1gb of ram to even function properly. wow, i guess a pretty theme makes this software awesome. it's too bad you can't use it for anything productive.
      • MacParrot, on 02/08/2008, -2/+5I use IE on a WinBox everyday for 2-6 hours a day depending on what I need to do. Since they moved our office to XP 3 years ago, I've had it crash once. I also haven't read much on IE crashing in Vista every 20-30 minutes. Maybe the problem is your computer?
        • grumpyrain, on 02/08/2008, -2/+1and the Firefox / digg combination seems to cause me a lot more crashes than IE ever did. If I see a story with 500 comments, I don't even bother clicking.
          • Himself, on 02/10/2008, -1/+1try configuring it intelligently
          • grumpyrain, on 02/10/2008, -0/+1How exactly? I have ABP and NoScript. Firefox + digg story with hundreds of comments = 100% CPU for 30 seconds. (This happens with a clean FF without extensions as well). You have your head in the sand if you deny that. The idea that this is configuration based is ignorant.
      • subliminalurge, on 02/08/2008, -0/+15Why would you run IE for 20 minutes?

        The only acceptable use for IE is downloading Firefox, which takes 2 or 3 minutes, tops.
      • DeathRay2K, on 02/08/2008, -3/+4IE has never crashed for me (Not that I use it much), Vista is extremely fast on my 1.5 year old computer, and it allows you to be at least as productive as Windows XP...
      • subliminalurge, on 02/08/2008, -1/+1And while you're at it, would you care to name the productive activities that you can accomplish on XP that are impossible on Vista?

        I assure you, contrary to your claim, you can be just as productive on Vista as on XP.
      • MusicalGenius, on 02/09/2008, -0/+1HELLO!! INTERNET EXPLORER ISN'T AN OS!!!!!

        We are talking about the operating system. I use Vista, MS Office and almost EVERYTHING else is open source... Firefox, Pidgin, etc...

        Get out of your hole. It's like you don't even understand what we are talking about.
      • blatantninja, on 02/11/2008, -1/+1So what you are saying is that IE is equivalent to Firefox then? I love Firefox, but it crashes every bit as much as IE.
    • grumpyrain, on 02/08/2008, -0/+1Interestingly, I have a game (Westwood - Monopoly) from the old Win 98 days that did not run under XP but works under Vista out of the box.
    • silverwolf761, on 02/09/2008, -1/+2Vista definitely has it's fair share of issues, but it is FAR better out of the box than XP was. Service Pack 1 (and eventually 2) should do wonders.
  • melonhedd, on 02/08/2008, -2/+3FileZilla has tons of features? What about all the features they keep removing?
  • scooterbaga, on 02/08/2008, -8/+3Okay... Now do the same thing, but for macs.
    • cJw314, on 02/08/2008, -4/+9pffft. who cares... (lol)
    • Tippis, on 02/08/2008, -0/+2In most cases, that would just be copypasta of the list in TFA – some distro-specific apps might be left out, but those have alternatives that come installed with OSX anyway.
    • BobOki, on 02/08/2008, -0/+2Most these programs have mac versions.
    • scooterbaga, on 02/08/2008, -0/+1Cool, I wondered about that. Can't really look into it until after work.
    • djauto23, on 02/08/2008, -0/+1More or less the same thing:
      http://www.opensourcemac.org/
  • wilcox1010, on 02/08/2008, -3/+1I likie!
  • aajjcckk, on 02/08/2008, -27/+41.) Vista. ULTRA ***** *****.
    2.) Anything else Microsoft has produced. EVAR.
    • silverwolf761, on 02/09/2008, -1/+2I weep for Humanity, I really do.
  • noisewaterphd, on 02/08/2008, -6/+11no digg. this will only create confusion, like what kind of replacement is avidemux for premiere? it's not. or how about the authorize.net to openssl comparison, WTF? Gimp sucks, inkscape is better, but still sucks. this article sucks and is going to spread misinformation and confusion.
  • j0hneb0y81, on 02/08/2008, -3/+9" It's not the price of the software that makes the real difference
    .... it's the idea that proprietary software comes with boundaries that keep the user experience confined to... well, being the user."


    raise of hands... who out there is downloading and compiling their own custom build of OpenOffice?
    yea, did think so.


    • cesclaveria, on 02/08/2008, -3/+21 hand up. Its a pain in the ass, but it can be done.
      • j0hneb0y81, on 02/08/2008, -2/+8yea, i know it can be down.. the point is that i'm guess most people don't do this, so the argument that proprietary software limits the user in some way , is false.
      • freeport7, on 02/08/2008, -0/+9it can be done, but so can sitting down to watch paint dry. The question is, "why do it."
  • ultimatetec, on 02/08/2008, -2/+53Don't forget about VLC from www.videolan.org Open Source FTW!
    • BigBallistix, on 02/08/2008, -0/+4The search function (skipping into any part of a video) is the fastest I've ever seen, even with BluRay titles.
      • stalefries, on 02/08/2008, -1/+1VLC already plays BluRay? Nice.
        • fjc8, on 02/09/2008, -0/+1It doesn't really play Blu-ray titles. It plays the video/audio streams from Blu-ray titles, which is good enough to watch the movie. The actual video stream is MPEG2, VC-1, or H264; the audio data is LPCM, Dolby Digital (traditional or Plus), DTS (regular or HD), or one of a few various lossless compression formats. There are open source implementations of all of the video formats and many of the audio formats.
    • ellisgl, on 02/09/2008, -0/+1Only a couple bugs with VLC - but over all it's the best.
  • BigBallistix, on 02/08/2008, -1/+13I'm sorry, but there just isn't a functional alternative to AutoCAD at the moment. I've tried Archimedes and it simply hasn't got as many tools. I've tried others too and they all fail.
  • fsamuels, on 02/08/2008, -2/+1Many (but not all) of those applications are cross platform too so you if you are running Windows/Linux/Mac you can run the same application. I talked about this a while back in a blog post "Cross Platform Applications That Make the Switch from Windows to Linux Easier" http://adventuresinswitching.blogspot.com/2007/12/ ... There isn't always a good replacement for your proprietary application but I would say there is always an open source alternative that has the goal to be a replacement.
  • harlowsmonkeys, on 02/08/2008, -1/+12"Authorize.net to OpenSSL"???? WTF??? Those are orthogonal.

  • martindale, on 02/08/2008, -6/+13This post smells of purchased Diggs.
  • tsaylor, on 02/08/2008, -8/+11Ubuntu may be more secure and reliable than windows, but windows does more than Ubuntu, and does it more easily.

    (I'm typing this on a Dellbuntu).
    • blatantninja, on 02/11/2008, -1/+1Agreed. Getting a wireless card to work on Ubuntu practically takes an act of God.
  • paolo27, on 02/08/2008, -6/+1I only used MS Word as a corporate program. With the new version I had to quit using that tool too.
  • thanakar, on 02/08/2008, -2/+3Nice list and all but not much use to me when most everyone I communicate with is using windows and ms products, and that isn't going to change anytime soon. My company uses MS Office, my friends, even my school, so unless there is a huge paradigm shift in the immediate future, I really don't see myself changing. Plus, I KNOW these products already and they are as comfortable to me as an old shoe.
    • cesclaveria, on 02/08/2008, -0/+2may be there is some problems with the new office formats, but if you are sitll using the old ones (doc, ppt, xls, etc) there are not major compatibility problems between OpenOffice and MS Office.

      there is always someone telling there are differences, but after years of using them I havent had a problem.
      • grumpyrain, on 02/08/2008, -0/+1Click the orb button (where print/open/save etc lives) and click 'Word Options'. Click the Save tab and choose
        Save files in this format = Word 97 to 2003 document.

        Avoid using the docx crap until they either admit it is not a vendor neutral format or they remove the proprietrary tags.
    • Dipster, on 02/08/2008, -0/+1Wait until you install Office 2007. Word 2007, for example, looks nothing like it's 2003 counterpart.
  • borneo66, on 02/08/2008, -2/+10As soon as I saw NeoOffice on the list, I stopped reading it. Anyone who honestly believes that this program is capable of replacing Office is deluding themselves. It's slow, it's buggy, it's feature-incomplete, and it is not particularly well-integrated with OS X or Cocoa. I hope that OO.o 3, when it is finally released for the Mac, will work a lot better. Until then, I will continue to use (and enjoy) iWork.
  • k1dN1c, on 02/08/2008, -4/+7i read this article expecting it to just be another MS bashfest...

    pleasantly suprised.. good article outlining open source alternatives w/out the B$ rhetoric..
  • l0k0, on 02/08/2008, -3/+74I agree with some of these but I'm sorry, Gimp is no Photoshop.
    • gyronic, on 02/08/2008, -18/+3$650 richer for using gimp.
      • accessviolation, on 02/09/2008, -1/+2Ah, but feature poor. Of course, that doesn't really matter if you're not using for serious work.
    • DoubtingThomas, on 02/08/2008, -2/+18I will gladly pay the $650 to avoid some developer's 5th grade science project version of a UI.

      Why the ***** do I have to open the layers palette EVERY time I start GIMP? Layers are fundamental to any good graphics design, it should be there as soon as I start. Don't get me start on the "app with 1,000 windows" crap toss that is GIMP.
      • Loonatickle, on 02/08/2008, -7/+1Pay $650 to get a more polished interface? Your main complaint is that the layers window doesn't open automatically?
        I own Photoshop CS3 and I use GIMP more frequently, because I prefer booting Linux. In fact, I wish I had never bought CS3. I hear a lot of complaints about GIMP, but I have yet to hear a reasonable explanation for why it isn't sufficient for the vast majority of non-professionals. Let's have some specifics that don't just apply to 1% of users... I've used Photoshop extensively for almost 10 years, and I can do *almost* everything I want with GIMP.
      • nybble41, on 02/08/2008, -8/+2The only thing "wrong" with the GIMP user interface is that it isn't exactly the same as Photoshop's UI. That's more of a testament to the inflexibility of Photoshop users than any real complaint against the GIMP.
      • blatantninja, on 02/08/2008, -0/+7Why? Because it was designed by some geek that doesn't care about seemless interfaces. It has the same problem as pretty much all other open-source software. It may be free, it may be functional, but it doesn't have people involved whose sole purpose is to make it useable to non-geeks.

        I love the open-source movement, but it will never supplant closed-source until these types of issues are resolved.
      • al13n, on 02/08/2008, -1/+2Just don't close the layers dialog before you close gimp and it will be still there next time you run gimp.
      • grumpyrain, on 02/08/2008, -1/+2> Why the ***** do I have to open the layers palette EVERY time I start GIMP?

        Yeah, that was pretty annoying. Version 2.4.2 saves whatever dialogs you have open when you exit the app, so this issue is gone. The thousands of windows doesn't bother me so much, I guess I am used to it. They have finally fixed up many of the useless preview windows, and it now recognises the embedded color space in the photos from my D70 and at least converts it to sRGB. It is ridiculous to propose it as an alternative to Photoshop for professional work, but if your just a hobbyist it is probably good enough.
      • ParanoydAndroid, on 02/09/2008, -0/+1Way back into my tender teenage years (well, 6 years ago), when I just about reached the age to get into photo editing, I couldn't afford Photoshop and I don't think I had even heard of torrents, and I found GIMP. I freakin' loved it and swore by it up and down.

        Now I work in a professional graphics design department and use the full CS3 Suite on a daily basis. Recently I had to use someone else's computer to design a funeral program ... maybe a 20 minute operation normally ... but they didn't have CS3 so I d/l gimp quickly figuring I could jump back into it after 6 years given that A.) I've used it before and B.) I have a lot more general GD experience ...

        I _hated_ it. Besides the basic GUI difference (and yes the 1000 windows thing kills me now), I just found it wasn't nearly as powerful or intuitive as Photoshop. It was definitely perfect for me as a hobbyist, and all wrong for me as a professional.
    • aldenhg, on 02/08/2008, -1/+5Amen to that. I'm just glad that wine can finally run CS2.
    • smek2, on 02/08/2008, -7/+3And why not? I used Photoshop for years and now use Gimp as well. If you're unable to invest a week to get used to a new tool, you're unprofessional.
      • Papajohn56, on 02/09/2008, -1/+2saying that GIMP has the feature set Photoshop is ignorant.
        • smek2, on 02/10/2008, -0/+3Do you even know GIMPS features? What features does it lack, besides maybe CMYK print related stuff, which many of you never really need anyway?
    • talonstriker, on 02/08/2008, -4/+1i agree... its some slow ***** and the filters aren't that great either. But why waste 650 on photoshop when you can download it for free :)
      • butyoulied, on 02/09/2008, -1/+0just because it's free doesn't make it better, bud.
    • Lutremi, on 02/09/2008, -2/+3I understand if your a professional, then you would be pretty much stupid not to use PS because it's the industry standard. The thing about GIMP is that if you are coming from having used PS for a long, long time, then obviously you would think it's inferior. For those who are amateurs and have a conscience, it's a perfect way of entering design...personally, it's the only one I've been using for 2 years and I'm nowhere near "good", but I get by on the projects I have.
      • Papajohn56, on 02/09/2008, -1/+2Have a conscience? Since when does purchasing photoshop make you less of a moral person? You need to rethink your concept of morality if you honestly believe that
    • ellisgl, on 02/09/2008, -2/+2Gimp shop sucks ass. It tries to mimic PS - but not even close. And the for the people saying "take time" with Gimp, I helped the guy porting it to windows by pointing out the errors and giving him the full error reports.. I'm sorry - but Paint.Net is better than Gimp...
    • sirhomer, on 02/09/2008, -0/+3I still stand on my point that Photoshop zealots are the worst. Anytime a news story comes out that says anything remotely positive about The GIMP, the news story is full of pirated Photoshop ***** talkers who who talk the most ridiculous smack out of any group of people I have ever seen.

      Then there are the Photoshop ***** talkers who say Linux will never be "popular" without running Photoshop, like some $800 image editor is some kind of ***** holy grail of software which everyone and their mother owns a copy of (yet they probably use a pirated copy).
      • l0k0, on 02/09/2008, -3/+1I don't pirate any of my music, movies, or software. Since I'm still a student, I got the academic version which is much cheaper than your horribly exagerated prices. http://www.academicsuperstore.com/market/marketdis ...
        Notice that it is 40% cheaper than your claim, and includes dreawmeaver, flash, illustrator, fireworks, bridge, and acrobat too. If your looking for the "***** talking zealot", take a look in the mirror.
        • dreadroberts, on 02/09/2008, -0/+2uh uh!!! you started it!
        • sirhomer, on 02/10/2008, -0/+3I am ***** sick of Photoshoppers constantly talking ***** about The GIMP who have no clue how to use it. Go learn about The GIMP, or stick with Photoshop and keep your damn mouth shut.

          Have a good day.
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