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  #1  
Old 2004-12-21, 11:11 AM
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RainDawg RainDawg is offline
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An all open source or at least free-ware PC?

Just as a goal of mine, I wanted to build a Windows based system that uses all open source programs, or at least is built on all programs that can be used free of charge without any adware/spyware/malware.

I know that some people are going to suggest just using Linux, but I don't have the time to learn how to do everything with that, am not sure if all my hardware is compatible, and don't have anyone to help show me the ropes.

So, throw out some ideas for replacing these cracked or over-priced programs with legal, free, and hopefully open source ones.

For the record, I do own a legal copy of Win-XP....
I've gotten rid of MS Office and am using Open Office.
I've also done away with Visual Studio. I still have a cracked copy of Photoshop, but there has to be an open source image editor out there that compares (I don't do anything REALLY tricky). Throw some ideas at me!
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  #2  
Old 2004-12-21, 11:17 AM
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Re: An all open source or at least free-ware PC?

Image editor: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1651342,00.asp
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  #3  
Old 2004-12-21, 11:50 AM
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TheMamba TheMamba is offline
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Re: An all open source or at least free-ware PC?

I believe there is a free alternative to Photoshop. I'll have to check my bookmarks when I get home.
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  #4  
Old 2004-12-21, 12:00 PM
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Greengoat Greengoat is offline
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Re: An all open source or at least free-ware PC?

Firefox, mozilla or K-melon ( http://www.majorgeeks.com/download555.html) for your browser. Thunderbird for email. Avast! for virus protection - http://www.avast.com/index.html also available from majorgeeks.com.

And I know you said no to linux, but you could download and try this free one out on your current system. It boots either straight from the cd or you can install it. Available for download through BT. Check it out - http://www.knoppix.org/
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  #5  
Old 2004-12-21, 12:02 PM
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Re: An all open source or at least free-ware PC?

sysgate personal firewall, irfanview for image viewing. And GIMP for image editing oops, double post. I actually saw it on another site.
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  #6  
Old 2004-12-21, 12:04 PM
jazzbo jazzbo is offline
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Re: An all open source or at least free-ware PC?

Yes, as posted above, the GIMP is an excellent open source alternative to photoshop and runs on Windows.

You also should look into the cygwin project: www.cygwin.com, a lot of great unix/X software ported to Windows, and is an excellent baby step into getting into a unix/linux environment.

[The name should be familiar, all of you using shntool on Windows needs cygwin's dll file.]
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  #7  
Old 2004-12-21, 12:08 PM
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Greengoat Greengoat is offline
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Re: An all open source or at least free-ware PC?

http://www.freebyte.com/operatingsystems/
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  #8  
Old 2004-12-21, 01:16 PM
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Re: An all open source or at least free-ware PC?

Avast, how well does that work? Anti-Virus is something that I do not want to take any chances with. I still have a (legal) copy of Norton AV....when I was a student it was included with your tuition. It's version 7 though, and it'll only be a matter of time before I won't be able to update it anymore. I'll either have to download a cracked version of get a freeware one....
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What's never been,
At the ending of life and the coming of death,
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  #9  
Old 2004-12-21, 01:28 PM
Andy L Andy L is offline
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Re: An all open source or at least free-ware PC?

There's an open source operating system called ReactOS that attempts to be Windows compatible. I've not tried it myself, but it could be something for the future.

For an open source audio editor, try Audacity. Media Player Classic is great for playing videos and non-bloated too. Real Alternative and QuickTime Alternative are based around MPC and work fine with all my Real and QuickTime files and sites.
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  #10  
Old 2004-12-21, 01:44 PM
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Re: An all open source or at least free-ware PC?

Anti-Virus: AVG Free Edition

Spyware Detection/Removal: a combination of Ad-Aware and Spybot - Search & Destroy

Image Programs: Gimp has already been mentioned. Sodipodi also seems to be a similar program with a little easier time drawing. I had a little trouble getting the program to run (I had to rename a dll in the folder and still have to run the executable from the folder), but it is worth looking in to.

Browser: If you are not already using Firefox, then may the Great Magnet have mercy on your soul.

Video players: VideoLAN and Media Player Classic make the heart grow fonder.


And, just for the heck of it, I'll plug Knoppix and Gnoppix in case you ever want to experiment with Linux but don't want to install it. I keep a copy of Knoppix around just in case my system goes haywire and I need to boot from a stable OS so I can at least salvage the remaining files on my hard drive.

And for further hecking of it, AutoHotkey is a fantastic program everyone should get to learn how to use if you like scripting and automation. It takes a little work to get going, but once you do, the possibilities are endless.
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  #11  
Old 2004-12-21, 01:47 PM
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Re: An all open source or at least free-ware PC?

Firefox and VideoLAN are fixtures on my PC....anyone NOT using Firefox should be ashamed of themselves. VideoLAN still has a few files that I get from various places that it doesn't play, so occasionally I drift over to my copy of PowerDVD to handle those. I've not tried MPC yet....does it play all manner of avi, divx, mpeg-2, rm, etc files?
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Through the clouds,
Throught the lies,
We'll never see,
What's never been,
At the ending of life and the coming of death,
Pass not through its gates but into the dark.
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  #12  
Old 2004-12-21, 01:59 PM
Andy L Andy L is offline
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Re: An all open source or at least free-ware PC?

Quote:
Originally Posted by RainDawg
I've not tried MPC yet....does it play all manner of avi, divx, mpeg-2, rm, etc files?
Yep, and a lot more, e.g. DVDs, Windows Media. It works with streams from websites too (e.g. Amazon).
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  #13  
Old 2004-12-21, 02:01 PM
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TheMamba TheMamba is offline
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Re: An all open source or at least free-ware PC?

GIMP...that was it. Couldn't remember the name....
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  #14  
Old 2004-12-21, 02:02 PM
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Gizby Gizby is offline
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Re: An all open source or at least free-ware PC?

With RealAlternative, it will play Real files. Same deal with Quicktime (QuickTime Alternative). Both of those programs come with MPC in tow. It is a nicer GUI than VLC and is really quite nice for those of us who remember when Window's Media Player wasn't bloated to the nth degree. I use it whenever I want to get a screen capture from a DVD. It hasn't been updated since March, but it handles most of the major formats I can throw at it. It doesn't have the compatibility of VLC, but what does?
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  #15  
Old 2004-12-21, 02:08 PM
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RainDawg RainDawg is offline
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Re: An all open source or at least free-ware PC?

What do you mean by compatibility? If it can replace VLC on my system by playing Divx files (yeah, yeah, so I download TV shows sometimes ) as well as DVDs and WMA/Real audio streams, I'm all over it.
__________________
Through the clouds,
Throught the lies,
We'll never see,
What's never been,
At the ending of life and the coming of death,
Pass not through its gates but into the dark.
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