After years of work by computer companies, legions of hobbyists and more than a few ideologues, open source software is coming of age. Today, its reliability and overall quality has improved to the point where open source software can replace many commercial applications. But is it a viable alternative for those of us who don’t have (or want) a computer science degree?

A brief history

The open source software movement began to take shape in the early 1990s, when Linus Torvalds, a Finnish university student, began developing a free variation of Unix, a computer language invented at Bell Laboratories. Torvald’s program, known as Linux, was noteworthy because it was not created by a centrally managed team, but by a group of volunteers who collaborated to write, test and refine the software. New versions were released frequently and bugs were identified and fixed quickly.

Linux rapidly gained a following among computer hackers^* who valued its reliability and its tight, economical structure. The development of Linux closely tracked the internet’s transition from an academic project into a modern communications tool. Today, a large portion of the Internet runs on Linux.

A defining moment for the movement occurred on January 22, 1998, when Netscape announced it was giving away the source code for its Internet browser. While not a major news story at the time, the gift had important consequences because the Netscape code became the basis for Firefox, an open source browser that is now challenging Microsoft’s dominance in this segment. Firefox recently achieved 10% market share—an impressive accomplishment when you consider that Internet Explorer is pre-installed on many new computers.

Crazy like a (Fire)fox

If you’ve been thinking of trying open source software, Firefox is a good place to start. It runs on the Windows, Macintosh and Linux operating systems, and will happily co-exist on your desktop with Internet Explorer, so you can compare the two programs without making a long-term commitment. And like all open source software, it’s free.

One of Firefox’s strengths is that it is impervious to many of the viruses, spy ware programs and worms that have been written to exploit security flaws in Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. Firefox also includes a feature called tabbed browsing, which lets you open multiple websites with a single click, and has a built-in, customizable link to a range of popular search engines. It also includes a pop-up blocker that makes the browsing experience much more pleasant.

Firefox is being continually improved, and several hundred add-on programs—called extensions—are available to add new functions to the browser. For example, you can download extensions that display multiple time zones or the weather forecast on your browser. You can also install an extension that automatically tracks UPS, FedEx and DHL shipments.

While all of these features are nice, what really makes Firefox attractive is the fact that it works well and is simple to use. In fact, the only drawback I’ve found is that there are a few websites (typically operated by banks and by Microsoft) that are built to accommodate Internet Explorer exclusively. Otherwise, it’s been my default browser for the past year.

Creative tools

To appreciate the breadth of open source software that is available, your first stop should be Sourceforge, which bills itself as the world’s largest open source development website. With over 100,000 projects, Sourceforge is a clearinghouse for everything from basic applications to specialist programming tools.

One popular category is creative tools like Inkscape, a graphics editor that offers many of the functions available in programs such as Illustrator, Freehand and Draw. Gimp is an image editor, similar to Photoshop. Both are sophisticated packages that rival commercial software costing thousands of dollars.

In addition to graphics, Sourceforge offers powerful audio software, including Audacity, a multi-platform software package that lets you record, edit, mix and modify digital sound samples.

Productivity tools

Sourceforge also offers tools for using Really Simple Syndication (RSS). With an RSS reader, you can subscribe to CNN, BBC and other news feeds, and to your favorite blogs and other content providers. RSS readers aggregate information from multiple sources in a single location, saving you time and helping you to stay on top of the news that is important to you.

You can also find a large selection of productivity tools on Sourceforge. These include Password Safe, an encrypted database for storing passwords; 7-Zip, a file-archiving program that supports many common file compression formats; and Freemind, a mind-mapping program that is useful for brainstorming and planning projects.

And that’s just the beginning. Sourceforge also includes links to games, educational programs, business and scientific applications and more, with new projects added on a daily basis.

Running for Office

While Firefox and Linux challenge Microsoft’s browser and operating system franchise, the big prize lies in creating a competitor for Microsoft’s Office software suite, traditionally one of the company’s more profitable businesses.

Unsurprisingly, an open source package—OpenOffice—has appeared to fill the void. Developed by Microsoft rival Sun Microsystems, OpenOffice includes word processing, presentation, spreadsheet, drawing, mathematics and database programs.

The recently released OpenOffice 2.0 is a major improvement over earlier versions. It has a look and feel that are very familiar, making it easy for long-time Microsoft users to switch. [I installed Open Office to write this article. The installation was straightforward, and I was able to use it without difficulty or major adjustments.]

OpenOffice includes a number of thoughtful touches. For example, in Calc, Writer and Impress—OpenOffice’s spreadsheet, word processing and presentation programs, respectively—you can save documents as PDF files, which are compact and difficult to tamper with. Calc also includes a spell checker, a helpful addition for those of us who use spreadsheets for mailing lists and other text applications. Writer, however, lacks Microsoft Word’s grammar checker, and its mail merge capabilities are not as easy to use as those of Microsoft.

Compatibility and support

The programmers behind OpenOffice have also addressed compatibility, one of the issues that prevents many people from switching. In addition to allowing you to open and modify documents created with Microsoft software, OpenOffice lets you save documents in Microsoft formats, as well as OpenOffice’s native formats.

User support—an area that has long been a source of frustration with commercial software—is available through frequently-asked-question lists, forums and a growing number of books. And while OpenOffice’s primary language is English, both the software and supporting documents are available in a number of other languages, including simplified and traditional Chinese.

So, is open source software ready for your desktop? As someone with an interest in technology but without a lot of time to spend tinkering, I found these packages surprisingly easy to install and use. And while I am not sure how appropriate they would be for a large organization, for my small business and home use, the open source software worked very well. And the price cannot be beat.

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* Unlike the vandals who ransom computer systems, steal passwords, deface websites, etc., hackers write software. As Eric Steven Raymond observed in his essay How To Become A Hacker, “Hackers build things, crackers break them.”

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This story first appeared in the January 2006 edition of The Correspondent, the official publication of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club in Hong Kong.

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