Open Source Life: My Little Experiment
For years I’ve been using and exploring free alternatives to commercial software. The search started out as a pseudo-necessity in college: I wanted good programs on a college budget. My college years started in 1994 and ended in 1998. During that time I watched open source software groups seed themselves and develop into micro-communities. The concept of open source software development fascinated me; watching people, in their spare time, developing software for (usually) the greater good of those brave enough to trust the software. Engineers who put their personal reputation on the line by giving software applications, (usually) without the backing of companies with big money bags, to the general, potentially easily annoyed populace.
As the years passed, the concept of collaborative open source software continued to fascinate me way beyond the greatly lessened need to get my hands on free stuff. In my jobs, I’ve always been in more of a customer facing, customer impressing role, so I need solid, trustworthy software that doesn’t alienate me from the Microsoft centric folks I often come into contact with. Additionally, the IT departments in the companies I have worked with have a way of standardizing things and setting everyone up with a more standard, commercial set of software. Yet, I’ve always wondered why more people don’t something other than the usual software packages a chance. The inquiry never disappeared.
In February of this year, I quit the W2 world and became a 1099. During this switch, I returned my corporate laptop and needed to purchase my own. During the moment of purchase, I had a choice. Do I plunk down the money for commercial software or do I finally give open source software the go I think it deserves by a more mainstream person? The decision turned into a fun experiment that’s been running for the last 5 months: get a laptop with Windows on it but avoid using commercial software as much as possible.
The following series of “Open Source Life” articles will be about my great number of successes, and the few failures, with open source software. The aim of these articles is to describe, in simple terms, my experiences with the different software packages I’ve tried, and what I view are the pros and cons of each. I will only review software that I feel I’ve spent enough time using that would warrant a thoughtful review.
If you are an open source developer, don’t feel bad if I don’t review your stuff, but definitely let me know about your project. I’m always on the lookout for something new.
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This will be a MOST INTERESTING series. So many of us soapbox in favor of open source, but few of us detail our personal experience with the software, both pro and con. I’ll follow the thread with great interest.
Tom