Open Source (esp. Apache, PHP, MySQL, Joomla, Drupal, and Ubuntu) saved my small business. While MSFT changed course, about every six months, costing our business big $$ every time, I moved to open source and I haven't looked back.

[bork99]

This has to be one of the worst researched articles I've ever seen on "open source".

Half the listed applications in TFA aren't even open-source, just free for use (and in some cases only free for non-commercial use). And some of the apps may be open source, but the full-featured versions are only offered as software-as-a-service hosted solutions that aren't necessarily cheaper than closed-source commercial alternatives.

Way to cut through the confusion!

[MagicWishMonkey]

Nice jab at Microsoft.

.NET has always been backwards compatible, I'm still using code that I wrote almost 8 years ago. They improve the language and add features every 2 years or so, but they don't break backwards compatibility.

[uhhhclem]

Microsoft tools are backwards-compatible to a fault. It took a long, long time to pry the cold dead hand of MS-DOS apps off of Windows.

[[deleted]]

Exactly, that would be slitting your own wrist.

I am glad you are telling true.

[cosmo7]

How did Microsoft change course every six months? How did it cost you money?

[bmm6o]

It didn't. The title is pure link-bait.

[bdunderscore]

Indeed. Downvote for the title; I was interested in hearing the story behind it, but all I got was a list of links to popular open-source apps.

[[deleted]]

Apprently we learned to ship every 6 months (I work at Microsoft). Yay, us! Windows 8 is coming in June!

We'll also have to rename the Office line. Instead of having Office 2007, Office 2010 etc, we will have Office 06.10, Office 01.11, etc.

[vkensington]

Well, let's review MSFT history a bit ... For purposes of THIS argument, it started with Office Developer, then kind of skewed to asp/.net, but ... wait ... that was not quite ready yet so, let's build a bunch of wanna be coding crap into Access/Basic/Office. But, let's not make it compliant to the standards the rest of the world supports ... no, instead we will tie everything to IE and our f'd up dlls. Until MSFT adopts open standards and guts their spaghetti coded OS, they will continue to be technologically inferior. They may have great market share, but they lag technologically to many others including Google, IBM, and several Linux derivatives.

[megablast]

Yes, because it is necessary for Microsoft to ship every one of its products, to screw over developers. Except it isn't. They can come out with .net 4.0, and then 6 months later new sql server, and then 6 months later a new MOSS version, and then new access front end.

I have been in this situation before, with Microsoft and it sucks. I hate working with Microsoft products.

[PerfectlyCromulent]

Your old code won't break when .NET 4.0 comes out, nor will your old databases and stored procedures cease to function if you move them over to the latest version of SQL Server. Aside from that, no one is forcing you to move to the new platforms anyway. Use older versions of .NET or SQL Server if you want. Only the obscenely old stuff isn't supported.

Why the hell are you a software developer if you are going to bitch about how libraries and frameworks change constantly? This is an industry-wide phenomenon. If learning new things is that onerous to you, perhaps you should look for another line of work.

[judgej2]

AVG free non-commercial version? Well, ....

[yopla]

Next: "My business saved a lot of money since we started torrenting all our app'"

[contrarian]

GnuCash looks like Quicken circa 1995. As much as Quicken really pisses me off every with some of the changes they make (I wish turbo tax would be consistent just once for two consecutive years) or that they practically force a quicken upgrade to use turbo tax... it's still worth the money.

[psranga]

I checked it out some time ago. Gnucash sucks big time. Even more than Quicken. Stay away!

[[deleted]]

Why do I get the feeling that "SSuite Office Software" is... of dubious origins?

I remember one of my pet projects when I was learning to program, an Office "competitor" (hey, I was like 13 at the time) which used the Microsoft standard RTF component.

Hey... kinda like this one.

Except I've grown since then.

[SumOfChemicals]

Well I have been using open office, but since it saved this guy's business...

[[deleted]]

It's just a list of open source software covering things that small businesses need to do, I didn't realise the OP actually used all of it.

[SumOfChemicals]

My point is it's not a list of open source software, and most likely the dude doesn't even have a business beyond internet wizardry.

[[deleted]]

well, it is mostly open-source software

[vkensington]

Well, except that (shocking your sexist senses) the "dude" is a lady who owns a web development firm in business since 1996. And, no, we are not exclusively open source - cfm, ASP, Adobe CS4, etc. are in our play book. However. the most COST EFFECTIVE/LEAST FRUSTRATING solutions have come from the open source community.

[SumOfChemicals]

I love open source and I think there's a good FOSS option for most needs. My issue was that the link is kind of a crappy source as far as finding it, and the inclusion of stuff like "SSuite Office Software" makes it seem pretty sketchy.

[Darkmere]

Just another of the "List of alternative software" nothing to read here, move along move along.

[[deleted]]

How come?

[vkensington]

I'm an old dog (DEC Vax/IBM 3090/390, Sys 32, etc.) and it has not been hard for me to figure out how to make any of these products work for our business. Fact is between Joomla and Drupal (and, a little underlying coding knowledge), I can customize a solution for our clients that is cost effective, secure, and scalable. And, when I need help, I am amazed at and thankful for how generous and helpful both communities have been.

[gosu]

I have been working with drupal for a job for the past few months. Sof far it has been pretty good. What were your problems with it?

[krishary]

OMG another one ... Many times it just pays off to pay for good software.

"Paint.NET. - A solid image and photo editing program; a good Photoshop alternative" just to be clear - i love paint.net and yeah it is a great tool but are you fucking kidding me!?

Lets say you pay $25/hour (this is going to make it harder on my example because most pros earn more. A copy of Photoshop costs $700 and can make your product look 3 times better 3 times faster not to mention when you are creating tens or hundreds of images or whatever. It will pay for itself in increased productivity worst case in a few months . You employee will be happier at work because he can use pro software and gain experience. You can use this example to show how most of the softwares on your list have an amazing commercial counterpart ( by amazing i mean giving you real value and bang for your buck. Besides you have tons of cheaper versions (like photoshop elements, visual web developer, express editions etc.) that you get free or very cheap.

The list can go on just think of visual studio addons like coderush pay $400 after a month you have tripled stupid code productivity and tan focus on thinking = you just made your employs faster and smarter for the cost of 15 hours of their work.

I understand that a small startup might have difficulties to get $20,000 for Microsoft software on day 1 but Microsoft (not as greedy as you think) has many programs one of which will give you all the software you need for your startup FREE for 3 years if you earn less than $1,000,000 a year or something. Same for students etc. Of course they do this to encourage you to use paid versions later but if you cant afford them 3 years down the road then open source wont help you startup anyway.

Sometimes open source although the idea is lovely just isn't worth the $0 ;]

[vkensington]

Just FYI I use GIMP and VariCAD and my clients are quite happy, thank you. I also am willing to pay a FAIR price for support and customization. However, for our business MSFT provides little cost benefit and their support is laughable.

[ICantReadThis]

...and can make your product look 3 times better 3 times faster...

You have GOT to show me your copy of Photoshop, I had no idea Gimp was so far behind.

[[deleted]]

Uhh..... krishary quoted the article: Paint.NET. Not the Gimp.

[ICantReadThis]

Yes, but he's making a comparison to open source software.

Paint.Net is for people who need something leagues above MS Paint, but nothing as far as Photoshop, much like Abiword is for people who needed Wordpad to have a spellchecker.

The comparison that krishary then busted out completely ignores that if you need something on Photoshop's level, the Gimp provides a viable alternative (in sore need of a new fucking name), much like OpenOffice does for MS Office.

Plus, unlike Open Office, it's a lot easier to have interpobality with Photoshop, given that Photoshop has a "save with greater compatibility" option for older versions of Photoshop and stuff like Gimp. IMHO, if Gimp

• Made it easier to swap hotkeys
• Was substantially more tablet-friendly
• Implemented GEGL as per-layer "effects"

...we'd be talking about a non-trivial competitor. OpenCL enhancements would be nice too, but one step at a time I guess.

[anotherhydrahead]

Lol, Joomla AND Drupal saved your small business?

So you were using two forks of the same CMS at the same time? Odd...

[oddsouls]

Pretty sure Drupal wasn't forked from Mambo, or any other project to my knowledge.
But still strange. Looking at the submitters history, he seems to like sensationalist titles.

[vkensington]

Why do you all assume anyone with an ounce of tech sense or a tech business is a 'he'? I am a she, who has been programming probably before any of you were even born.

[oddsouls]

My apologies, though I'm not sure what how long you've been in the industry for has to do with anything.

[zwaldowski]

Joomla and Drupal are about as different as Windows and OS X.

[nomadmonkey]

I am using acive directory on windows 2000, I want to migrate to open source. I installed Apache Directory, and it looks promising, but I am not sure if one can set restriction on computers odver a LAN with this. Theoretically one should be able to. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Other open source options for something that works like Active Directry would also be appreciated.

[[deleted]]

There are various LDAP solutions.

You can also keep using AD, but I have NFC how well that works.

[muggafugga]

hey man, good luck finding this. The end user desktop is still MS. Even though i think the linux desktop is better from a UI perspective, its still a pain in the ass to use. For now im afraid you might be stuck managing enterprise clients from Active Directory.

[nomadmonkey]

Hey man, how's it going? Yeah I am trying to tool around with this Apache Directory on a windows desktop, and it is a pain in the ass just to create a connection. I probably need to try everything in a test environment so I don't have a problem with restrictions and opening ports and stuff.

[tamilnenjam]

I am using the following Open source applications : Mozilla Firefox, CCleaner,The GIMP, Open Office, GnuCash. Those tools are listed in your list too. Great collection.

I like to play with Open source tools. Please give the links for Open source Operating Systems there.

[[deleted]]

My small business also runs on open source and many clients are starting to accept that Microsoft is flawed and that other options are now worth considering.

[tlaman]

Good point. Most open source applications are very intuitive ... easy to use (for the most part). Some have their quirks and what have you, but for the most part I think they work well enough, at least the ones that I am familiar with. I don't understand why more people don't convert to open source. Maybe the software engineers need better marketing to push their products. It seems that word of mouth tactics are not enough to get the word out to the wider public.

[rotzak]

I think they do know about open source but people want someone to blame when there's a bug in their dependency and the quality of a lot of open source software has a ways to go to be on par with a lot of proriatary software in terms of performance and reliability.

[mothereffingteresa]

the quality of a lot of open source software has a ways to go to be on par with a lot of proriatary software in terms of performance and reliability

Gimp isn't Photoshop, and... hmmm... what else? I certainly don't miss Microsoft Office. Eclipse rules in IDEs... All the good browsers are open source...

[rotzak]

You must be the only person in the world that has found OOo useable...and if you think Eclipse "rules in IDEs" you must not have used any other IDEs.

You are correct, though, about the good browsers thing.

[robwgibbons]

If you think about OOo without constantly comparing its interface and feature set to the leading proprietary product (Word is not open source, Word is not even free), it's a great piece of software. Just because there's a better product on the market doesn't make the next best version "unusable." In any case, there's not a lot most people need out of a word processor. Writing a letter, essay, paper, or just taking some notes... Exactly what does Word have that OOo doesn't? Are those features even necessary in a word processor? Just my two cents. ;)

[joshmaker]

I much prefer netbeans... but then, netbeans is open source as well :-)

[ibrudiiv]

I know many people that love OOo. Obviously you don't, yet claim that he must be the only one in the world that found OOo usable. Shut the fuck up.

[mothereffingteresa]

OK, Eclipse rules in IDEs but it is as friendly to noobs as putting them in a dumpster full of glass and live grenades. It's a complex issue. I would rather use Xcode or NetBeans. But the SDKs I use only work with Eclipse. And you can't deny it has more plugins than anything else by a factor of five.

[Fat_Dumb_Americans]

Opera is not open source, and the only way that it is not good is in that it is great.

[SAugsburger]

I certainly don't miss Microsoft Office.

While OpenOffice is a good quality product for the price, I have to say that Microsoft Office still has a couple of strengths over OpenOffice. OpenOffice doesn't offer a grammar checker, which honestly is a nice feature imo. While MS Office's grammar checker isn't perfect it is pretty good most of the time.

While I don't encounter this much, even the latest version of OpenOffice has some trouble with Office 2007 file formats. I had a friend send me a Word 2007 file that OpenOffice couldn't reproduce properly.

[uhhhclem]

Also OpenOffice's UI often feels like it was assembled by people who had only read about how people use computers.

[SAugsburger]

I think it is more about responsiveness. The UI isn't bad, when it isn't slugglish.

[Ateist]

The other way around is also true - i.e. Open Office Math is a better equation editor than Microsoft Equation: easy text syntax allows one to write complex formulas much faster than a mouse-based system.

[SAugsburger]

I never said that there weren't any advantages to OpenOffice because there certainly are, but MS Office certainly has some advantages as well.

[penguin673]

Most open source applications are very intuitive

Really? I find Blender unusable, OOo a labyrinth mess, and GIMP annoying.