Freedom: Coming to a Windows Box Near You
Free Agent
Matthew Newton keeps a watchful eye on Open Source and Free Software, and shows that you don't need commercial apps to get the job done. Freedom: Coming to a Windows Box Near You Who said that Free Software is just for Linux users? Matthew Newton, PC World Friday, June 25, 2004 The four-year-old Dell that serves as my Linux test bed here at PC World HQ bit the dust yesterday: The cause appears to be a catastrophic drive failure. That means I can't test Linux software for this column, but it also gives me the opportunity to switch gears a bit and make a point I've been meaning to get to for a few months now: You don't have to run Linux to enjoy the benefits of Free Software. If you're a Microsoft Windows user and you're reading this column with Mozilla, for instance, you know what I'm talking about. Mozilla is probably the highest-profile Free application for Windows, but there are many more. I've recently discovered a nifty way for Windows folks to explore the possibilities of Free Softwa TheOpenCD. Forget about stumbling around the Web looking for the greatest Free and Open Source Windows software. Instead, download one ISO image of TheOpenCD, burn it to disc, and you're off to the races. TheOpenCD (no typographical error--the words are deliberately run together) sports installers for more than twenty top-notch apps for Windows, all 100 percent Free. You peruse the CD's contents via an on-screen directory that greets you with the sort of message you're probably not used to seeing if you dwell solely in the land of commercial softwa This disc contains a compilation of high quality Open Source software for Windows. It is intended as a first introduction to the rich world of Open Source. Also included are relevant add-ons, documentation, and tutorials. Feel free to use the programs on multiple computers and make copies for your friends. This software is free! Toto, I don't think we're in Redmond anymore. Free for the Taking So what-all is on TheOpenCD? For starters, there's the Windows version of OpenOffice.org, the office suite whose open development is supported by Sun Microsystems. A lot of people find the current version of OpenOffice.org to be bloated and sluggish. If all you need is a word processor, TheOpenCD can hook you up with AbiWord, a lightweight scribe's tool that is under very active development and has a devoted fan base. If graphics is your game, you're set: TheOpenCD sports two versions of The GIMP, a powerful app that's similar to Adobe Photoshop. The rock-solid, but ugly and unwieldy, The GIMP 1.x is TheOpenCD's default version; the recently released (and still a bit rough around the edges) 2.0 version is also on the CD. The GIMP 2.0 features a far cleaner and friendlier interface than version 1.x, and thus has a more manageable learning curve. This is not an application to approach without some serious documentation, though. Luckily, TheOpenCD contains an electronic version of "Grokking the GIMP," the best introduction to the program I've seen. I sincerely hope a new version is in the works: The current edition predates GIMP 2.0. The most interesting (and perhaps the most useful) tool on TheOpenCD is PDFCreator. Creating PDF files in Windows is no longer an expensive proposition. PDFCreator works by installing a dummy printer definition on your Windows box. Anytime you want to create a PDF, all you have to do is select File, Print in whatever application you're in, select the PDFCreator dummy printer, and watch the magic happen. PDFCreator has more options than you can shake a stick at, and I have yet to see it generate a poor-quality PDF. TheOpenCD also includes a sophisticated audio editor; a Zip file extractor; an FTP client; some mind-blowing screen savers; a couple of simple-yet-addictive games; and Windows Privacy Tools, a front-end to the GNU Privacy Guard encryption system. If you're looking to lock up your files or send encrypted e-mail, Windows Privacy Tools is all you need. Being Open, Running Free I was recently asked why I tend to use the term "Free Software" even when I'm referring to software that defines itself as "Open Source"--as some of the apps on TheOpenCD do. What's the difference between Free and Open anyhow? When I use the term "Free Software" or talk about software that is Free (with a capital F), I'm not necessarily talking about something that is cost-free. When you buy a boxed Linux distribution, for instance, you're paying money for Free Software. If you're a Linspire/Lindows user and you subscribe to the Click-N-Run warehouse, you're paying for the privilege of downloading Free Software. (Quite foolish, in my opinion; but you're, uh, free to do so.) The Free Software Foundation suggests you think of "Free" as in "Free Speech," not "free" as in "free beer." That gets us part of the way there; the official Free Software Definition gets into some simple and useful specifics. Under that definition, "Free" means four very specific things: You can run the program anytime and anywhere you like, for any purpose. In other words, Free Software never carries a restriction like "You may only use this software in a noncommercial setting." You can access and modify the source code. Most of us (myself included) don't have the skills to do this, but we can always hire a geek--many will work for caffeine--to do the work for us if we've discovered an app that's missing a key feature. Try doing that with, say, Microsoft Word. You can copy and redistribute the software without restriction. Yep, that means you can charge people for it if you like. If you (or your hired hacker) modify the program and make those modifications public, the new version must also be Free. Now, if you're a freedom-lovin' geek like me, this all sounds really good. But if you're Big Business, the very concept of embracing something that is "Free" is scary. The types of folks who write business plans and marketing strategies can't stand the F-word. Some biz-savvy geeks realized this several years back, and decided to start pushing Free Software in the business realm by rechristening it "Open Source." They trademarked the term so that it could not be abused, and explicitly defined what it means. The Open Source Definition has roots in the Free Software Definition, but it drops the final requirement and goes into far greater detail on others. It's not enough simply to make the source available. The upshot of all this: All Free Software is Open Source, and most Open Source software is Free. If you can allow just a wee bit of wiggle room (sloppiness, some say), the terms are pretty much interchangeable. Why, then, do I prefer to talk about "Free Software" instead of "Open Source"? Two reasons: First, most end users don't care if they can get at the source or not, so the term "Open Source" holds little value for them. Second, the term "Free Software" works to remind us that what is at stake is freedom in the digital realm--freedom from restrictive license agreements, freedom from lock-in, freedom from the forced upgrade treadmill, freedom from closed file formats that can maroon your own creative works, freedom from a convicted monopoly telling you what you can and cannot do with your PC. I think these things are worth talking about, and one way to keep such ideas flowing is to use a term that reminds us up front what the real issue is. In the end, it really is all about freedom. Lastly, a Few Linux Bits There have been several interesting developments in Penguin Land since my last column. First up is Xandros's introduction of an Open Circulation Edition of its Linux distribution. Unlike other Xandros offerings, the Open Circulation Edition is freely downloadable. But there is nothing Free (or Open) about it: You can use it in noncommercial settings only; the default browser is the ad-supported version of Opera; and the CD burning features built into the Xandros File Manager are severely crippled. Go ahead and give this a try if you like. But what's the point when you can download unrestricted, un-ad-laden, uncrippled copies of Mandrake or Fedora Core? Speaking of Mandrake, we can look forward to the return of Mandrake boxes to store shelves here in the United States--the company has inked a distribution deal with book publisher O'Reilly. I've gotten some e-mail lately chastising me for badmouthing Mandrake in recent columns without providing specifics. I never meant to indicate I'd entirely lost faith in the distribution: I've just grown sick of certain bugs that never seem to get fixed, as well as the broken English in many of Mandrake's configuration tools. But I remain a Mandrake fan overall. I tried putting Fedora Core 2 on my Thinkpad, and it was nothing but a string of disasters. Mandrake 10.0 installed without a hitch and is running beautifully, especially since I've used a third-party package repository to install Gnome 2.6, which y'all are certainly tired of hearing me praise. Next month I'll try to leave the ideology behind and focus squarely on Linux once again. The Linux for Grandma project will probably be approaching completion by then, so I'll likely have some new stuff to report on that front. Till then, be as Free as you can. Matthew Newton is a self-described "writer-editor-tinkerer-geek" who would love to hear from you. http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/...062504X,00.asp == "Any idiot can survive a crisis; day-to-day living is what kills you." -- Unknown "If you always do what interests you, at least one person is pleased." -- Katharine Hepburn |
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