Slashdot Mirror
TheOpenCD 1.4 Released
Lykos writes "From OpenCD's website: 'TheOpenCD is a collection of high quality Free and Open Source Software. The programs run in Windows and cover the most common tasks such as word processing, presentations, e-mail, web browsing, web design, and image manipulation.' This is a great little package to leave lying around your friends' workplace to convince them to go opensource. =) Lots of quality programs in one convenient package."
Is that when I leave the CD open, it won't boot it. I have to close the CD to get the Open CD to work.
Seriosuly, isn't this the first item on *everyone's* install list?
but just in case...
torrent
Karma: Can there be a void?
.. -. - . .-. .-. --- -...
Richard Stallman -- Lead Flute
Miguel De Icaza -- Banjo
Alan Cox -- Washboard
Heh, reminds me of the old Fred Fish disks for the Amiga, crammed with free/shareware stuff. They were great days. :)
biopowered.co.uk - catalytically cracking triglycerides for home automotive use since 2008. Just say no to big oil!
Now we'll see this CD turning up on eBay. There's a surprising amount of people selling Free software to uninformed people.
...
already slow... here's the cd list...
Office & Design
OpenOffice.org, AbiWord, PDFCreator, GIMP
Internet & Communication
Mozilla, Miranda IM, FileZilla, TightVNC, WinHTTrack, PuTTY
Multimedia & Games
Audacity, CDex, Tux Paint, Crack Attack!, Sokoban YASC,
Neverball, Celestia, Really Slick Screensavers
Utilities & Other
7-Zip, SciTE, WinPT, NetTime
oh, please. zero comments and the link is already slashdotted. Grrr.
previous coverage here and here
..at GNUWin II, a similar project.
format their drive and install a cd of opensource programs that run on windows onto their newly blank drive? Great way to get converts.
slashdot, news for crazed liberal socialist zealots
This seems like a pretty cool idea. I thought about something like this a while back. I'm not to familiar with windows any more. Would it be possible to have these programs execute straight from the cd instead of installing? That would defninitely come in handy at say, the school labs where you can't install programs and they don't have your favorite OS program installed.
Seems like a good list of programs, firefox may be a nice addition, though.
Ansi's and stupid tricks!
I'm thinking that an easy to use Web portal to this kind of software would be a better idea. That way the user can get the most up-to-date version of the software and any new software deemed "worthy" of the list could be distributed to everyone by updating a Web page.
If you want the new OpenCD, use the torrent--no mirror yet (just the overloaded site itself)
This is one of those deals that is outdated before download completes.
Poor webserver is already bending over backwards. Find your mirror here.
You guys should probably have some kind of load-test kit before you publish stories from little-known sites. This happened many times recently.
...how much my software has changed. It used to be that I'd use MS Office, Internet Explorer, Paintshop Pro, WinZIP, and other for-pay applications to get my work done. These days I find myself using FireFox, OpenOffice, JEdit, NetBeans, Cygwin, EnZIP, GIMP, and other Open Source tools. And nearly every one of them is superior to the application I replaced. Fascinating world we live in.
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
Slashdot is responsive, but even this google cache of the mirror sites isn't working for me.
Sasser, or is it just me?
The Ultimate Boot CD
This CD and the Open CD are about all you need to get your friends computer working in tip top shape.
http://ubcd.sf.net/
Saskboy's blog is good. 9 out of 10 dentists agree.
Leaving that CD around won't convince anybody to go to OpenSource software. I don't have the time to look at some CD that was left around by someone attempting to tempt me to 'go over' to their side.
As the Purchasing Agent and the entire IT Staff I get all sorts of DemoCD Crap sent to me all the time. All sorts of "Look at how awesome our crap is!", "Try it once and wonder how you ever did without it!"
Most of it is all the same, they come from silly 'Microsoft Partners' all selling the same thing... Some kind of 'Revolutionary Business Management Software' that we would have to build our business around to get anything out of it. The rest of it is a mess of various CAD/CAM systems, most of which are the worst crap you ever did see...
Do you know what I do with it all? I dump it into the trash first thing. I don't read the marketing hype, I don't waste a moment attempting to load something that then demands I 'Register' the Demo to get a Demo unlock code that does nothing but mark me as a 'target' to their sales drones...
If we need software, my job is to head out and find it. I look at OSS first, because most of the little side software packages we need won't require massive retraining, like zip software or other utilities like that...
So, would a CD Found laying around our office end up in any PC? Heck no, especially if it is unmarked... There could be all sorts of nasties on it we don't want/need on our network...
Keep your CD to yourself unless someone mentions looking for a mess of free software, then give them the CD.
If you ignore the other uses of a tool, does that make the tool less useful, or you less useful?
As usual, I downloaded their last version just two days ago.
Good thing I hadn't gotten around to burning it yet, I guess.
You can accomplish anything you set your mind to. The impossible just takes a little longer.
If you take a look at the screenshots of all the included apps you'll notice the many different sets of widgets. One uses native W32 widgets, the other one GNOME-style, the third one has own.. - this will only confuse the user and in my opinion shows a large problem free GUI software is facing today.
I dont want to run anything that isnt approved safe by my government..
Have they approved its use on windows longhorn?
sheep go baaaaah.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
I think it is interesting how important security is on slashdot to people, but there is no mention about any anti-(spam | virus | worm).
There is also no firewall? Come on...
I can't recommend it, anyway, because it doesn't have Nethack.
http://public.www.planetmirror.com/pub/opencd/
I have a general security question about open source software. I am not a programmer so bear with me if this is redundant. The idea I have is that open source would by nature be more vulnerable to viri, spywarez, etc because anyone can see the source code. wouldnt this be much easier for "evildoers" to take advantage of? obviously the argument that keeping source code secret makes it safer is a shaky one, kinda like to one about outlawing guns (then only outlaws will have em...) people are already finding tons of flaws in windsows, and M$ writing quality on the box doesnt seem to do much about this. and this is with little or no info on sourrce code. wouldnt this type of activity be much higher (if it is easier to do, more people will do it) with open source software? I think there are 2 reasons why linux virii are not a factor. 1 there are too few computers out there for anything to replicate itself. 2 more importantly, the linux crowd is a tech savvy one, keeping a regular eye on their machines, and if a problem is found they deal with it themselves. I see a big problem here with open source goin mainstream. even if open source became simple to install. ie fool proof gui, that said install, yes, no, back and next. sure more people would have it, but there will always be people that are not tech savvy. some of them may be very intelligent etc, but just do not have the time to worry about it. I know this is kinda off topic, but would be really interested to read what the /. crowd thinks about open source being more secure, and why.
Introduction
The Open CD project aims to introduce users of MS-Windows to the benefits of Open Source Software. We include only the highest quality programs, which have been carefully tested for stability and which we consider appropriate for a broad audience. We provide a description and screen-shots of each program, so you can get an idea of what it does before installing. All these applications install and un-install cleanly, so you can be comfortable testing them with the knowledge that they will not adversely affect your system. The programs on this disk are all distributed under an Open Source License (OSI approved), which allows you to freely use and distribute them.
Open Source Software
Open Source Software (OSS) is provided with a license that gives the end user the right to use it freely for private or commercial use. You also have the right to inspect and even modify the underlying source code. You can give away or sell the original version you received or one with your modifications, provided that you then in turn pass on the modified source code so that others can benefit from the changes you have made. This last clause protects the developer's work from unfair exploitation by others, while allowing the source code to be released to the community. You are not required to pay royalties to previous developers, but you are still permitted to charge money for the sale of OSS. This disk may have been given to you by a friend; or sold to you for a small fee, and both are permitted.
If you have no interest in source code, you may ask why the availability of this matters. One answer is that the release of source allows external observers to inspect the true functioning of the program, which means that you can be confident that the program treats your private data with respect. A real problem with proprietary software can be that your data is locked in to a software's proprietary file format, which means that you may eventually be forced to upgrade to newer versions of that software to retain access to your data. This does not happen with OSS, because when the source code for opening and saving files is available, a third party can easily write an import filter for the next generation of software, ensuring that your data will always be available. Finally, the release of source code has in some cases spawned large communities of volunteer developers who have in turn provided the world with highly useful, and entirely free software such as Linux, OpenOffice, and Mozilla. These are then available free of charge to schools or anyone else who may not have a large budget available for software. So, you can see that the freedom of software is important for everyone, not just software developers.
The Open CD project
There is a staggering number of OSS projects out there. A typical source (Freshmeat) lists over 30 000 projects. There are also numerous of Shareware and Freeware programs available that you can freely download from the net. However these do not qualify as OSS, because you do not have the right to modify the underlying source code. Usually you are not even able to inspect the source code, and often restrictions are placed your use of the program, such as non-commercial use only.
Enter TheOpenCD project. We have made a small collection of only the highest quality OSS for Windows, easily available on a CD. When you insert the disk into your computer it automatically launches a browser which will guide you through the contents of the disk, presenting the various programs, and allow you to easily install them. The programs are carefully selected to ensure stability, ease of use and a clean install and un-install from your computer. This CD is intended as a first introduction to the world of OSS, but it is our hope that you will later go on to explore other projects, and at some stage you may even want to try a whole new operating system such as Linux. In the Further Resource section of this disk we provide a list of other major OSS projects with links to their web pages. There is also a selection of essays about Open Source which should give you some more insight into the history and philosophy of OSS.
when will they release something like this for the Mac? I have a few open source programs, but I want something that runs natively in OS X and does what OpenOffice does. Anyone have any suggestions?
MY SECRET DIARIES
Are most of you really going to burn copies like crazy for the next few days and flood your friends with them?
Maybe I'm blinded by my exposure to all different types of software, but does it matter if the widgets are different? For example, Mac users complain about the widgets on the Mac OpenOffice port. To me this makes absolutely no difference! It's mostly aesthetic. I've heard complaints that this makes the software 'unusable.' I don't even notice! In my experience you have to learn how each piece of software works. Whether they all look/behave the same is less important than how well each of them are designed. No, I'm not saying that widgets are totally irrelevant. But I'd rather use a CD full of good, free software using many widget sets than use Internet Explorer, Office, etc.
The problem is that most people don't know about open-source alternatives. Outlook, IE, etc come with their computer, most people (well, not as many anymore) don't know about Mozilla, haven't even heard of it. In several cases, open-source IS superior to payware. You just have to let them know that it exists.
eD2K Link: TheOpenCD-1stEdition.iso
Not knowing how to use the program properly is not the programs fault. The problem is between the keyboard and the chair.
This P.I.G. will walk on the water, This P.I.G. will walk on the sea, This P.I.G. will walk whereever he wants.
The ClosedCD... Includes: Microsoft Windows XP Professional Adobe Photoshop CS Microsoft Office 2003 and a host more goodies, all packed into one tiny DVD - Available at any good Chinese Market Stall near you!
How BitTorrent became so popular, I don't know.
Its success seems to be due to the use of fast servers early on in its deployment. While its nature might improve spreading rate through coordination, the cost is centralization and "burst" pattern sharing.
I don't know why protocols like ed2k or overnet haven't caught on with the slashdot crowd.
There is a mirror of the web page here: http://www.theopencd.net/ ... that works for the time being.
According to Apple's site, you can download X11 and then you're able to run X apps like OpenOffice. Is this not the case? Or are you specifically demanding a *real* native app? In which case--I dunno.
Is there any decent, open source, video recording software for Windows? I can't find any.
"That's like somebody advocating the use of torx screws as opposed to phillips head."
As I see it, it's more like advocating buying from local coffeshops and video stores rather than giving your money to Starbucks and Blockbuster. The programs themselves are tools, but who gets your money does make a difference. Also, those producing the tools benefit from having more users.
The sad fact is, there's a company out there producing software with monopoly power. At times it has even been known to abuse that power. Some even suspect that this company is actively seeking more power and that it might begin being abusive to its customers if it feels that it has no competition to worry about. Open Source/Free Software is seen by many as a (perhaps the only) hope of competition in the software world. Personally, I find this to be reason to consider Open Source first when looking for software tools.
Information doesn't want to be anthropomorphized anymore.
There's a lot of political talk about software being free, but to me it's a question of insurance. I'd rather use OSS, because some company can't dictate the direction of the software I use. I can add features I want, if I want to. I can make it work for me.
In jobs I've done, I've had to tell customers that I can't do something because the tool I'm using doesn't let me. That's not good enough.
What would slashdotters recommend I install on a computer for Grandma? I have to reinstall her computer from scratch every MONTH or so because it becomes completely unusable due to viruses, spyware, and other random windows deitrius.
I'd rather stay Windows than Linux because it's what she know how to use. She only does web browsing and email.
With all this amazing open source software available it should be possible to set up a computer that's easy to use for a novice, and safe from malware.
- For the complete works of Shakespeare: cat
With 3200+ comments under your belt, you should be able to write your own rebuttal with half your brain tied behind your back, even if you don't believe it.
Nevertheless, because I'm avoiding studying for finals, I'll dish out the standard reply:
There are two reasons to choose a piece of open source software. The first is the pragmatic, is-this-the-best-fit reason. You choose an OSS app because it does what you want better than any of the alternatives.
The often low-to-zero price is sometimes a big advantage from this perspective, but it is just one part of the overall fit. The availability of source code is another. Availability from multiple vendors and adherence to standards can also be attractive from this viewpoint.
The second reason, of course, is all about freedom. This is the one that causes many people to embrace open source applications even when the proprietary world is kicking its butt as far as features and ease of use go. The freedom to explore, to experiment, to use in virtually any way you see fit. The freedom to modify and redistribute. Also, because anyone can take the product and fork it if they're unhappy, OSS packages generally have to avoid doing nasty things to annoy the user base. Spyware, malware, ad-ware, all becomes virtually impossible. Why? Because people don't want it, and because it's *free* nobody can force it on them.
Look at the web browser situation. When IE doesn't have stiff competition, everyone writes HTML with an eye towards IE, not towards accepted standards. This gives Microsoft a great deal of control over how most of us experience the Internet.
This is just one of many examples of how ordinary software users are affected by their choice of tools, and why software can be considered a worthwhile cause for non-developers.
You want the truthiness? You can't handle the truthiness!
edonkey P2P *is* quite popular here, but slashcode won't let you paste a working ed2k link (the slashes and pipes are stripped), and the plaintext workaround has inconvenient whitespace added: ed2k://|file|DeDRMS.cs|7389|55CBF56C77D2BF0CC9B050 A3DE139753|/
--
Power to the Peaceful
That's like somebody advocating the use of torx screws as opposed to phillips head.
Oh yeah, TOTALLY the same thing as Free software versus proprietary software.
Because, you know, phillips head screws come with 8-page LICENSES that tell you what brand of screw you can use, and how many toolboxes you can move it between, and, oh yeah, here's a 16-digit SCREWDRIVER ACTIVATION CODE! If you need to move to another room in your house, you have to re-enter to code. It only takes 30 minutes, tops!
For me the best tool is the one that doesn't have strings attached. If I can't find one, I'll take the strings-attached version, but it better be *GOOD* (Photoshop, Mac OS X, VMWare .. that's about it).
NeoOffice/J is a test version of OpenOffice for OS X that does not require X11, as it's coded in Java. It's the best version for most users right now. neooffice.org/java/
ed2k is ok I guess, but the queues are huge. At least with BT you start downloading and uploading immediately.
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
One guy was rebranding everything, QCad was LuxuriosityCAD, and then there was Luxuriosity Office.
I thought rebranding was OK, as long as the copyright notices shipped with the product adhere to the original work's license. Netscape is a rebranded Mozilla. Linspire is a rebranded Debian GNU/Linux. Mandrake began as a rebranded Red Hat Linux. Can you give more detail on what problem you have with rebranding a customized OpenOffice.org suite as Luxuriosity Office? Or do you want to reintroduce the horrid advertising clause that applied to older BSD operating systems?
Mencoder
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
I see a lot of no-bid listings...
>djgpp - UNIX emulator for DOS.
djgpp - C++ compiler for DOS
> Cygwin - UNIX emulator. Can create Windows programs, reliant on a cygwin1.dll.
Cygwin - A unix-to-Windows porting library, complete with compiler and a large collection of pre-ported software
> cd-ex - MP3/OGG encoder?
cd-ex - A freeware CD ripper that plugs nicely into MP3 and ogg encoders. Similar to Grip in the Linux world.
That seller is listing OOo with the words "Word Excel" in the listing. He's not selling Word or Excel. It's against eBay policy to use the names of similar or competing products in your title.
As for the morality / legality on the F/OSS end, I think he's relatively free and clear. In the description he's pretty honest with what they're getting, even though I didn't see him mention OOo by name.
My one complaint is that he lists OOo as "100% compatible" with MS Office, which it isn't yet. You can ding him on that.
Would I buy from this guy? No. But his feedback looks like a lot of people have and they're satisfied.
- Neil Wehneman
My legal education, in nifty podcast format
No, just because your browser doesn't render anything below the "This is cached" notice doesn't mean you've slashdotted Google. Google does not cache stylesheets but instead pulls the stylesheets from the original site. Some browsers wait until the site with the stylesheet times out before displaying anything.
Fascinating. Thanks for the info. Is this intentional? ... for some sort of potential copyright linking issues? ... or do you think if someone submitted a patch to slashcode that it would be accepted?
Perhaps some of the ed2k clients could be patched for the whitespace issue, or we could use a simple web redirection script (is there a free redirector out there that redirects to the link encoded in the url?). It's a shame that it's so difficult.
btw: I noticed that if you ascii escape the colon, it keeps the rest of the characters, but makes the whole url relative to slashdot.org.
test
My experience is that this is just not true. Most people aren't interested. As long as they've got something that works, they couldn't care less. And even if you think Mozilla is superior to IE, that's not obvious to most users. For typical everyday use by the average person, there is no difference between Mozilla and IE.
I think there's also a fundamental problem with using these CDs to evangelize free software:
Find free books.
All very similar to MozOO.org which has been around for a few months also. Only main difference is MozOO focuses on a few main applications and updates when they update. You should be able to guess. Mozilla and OpenOffice are the central packages. The two things most people will use.
You make an interesting point when you ask whether security problems will increase if Open Source 'goes mainstream'.
However, I think we need to keep in mind the fact that Closed Source limits support options. Ultimately, bug fixes must come from the party who has the source. Thus, any support provider who does not have the source is automatically a second-tier provider, at the mercy of the party that controls the source.
IBM is a multibillion dollar, international company that has (at least recently) built a large part of their business around support offerings. But if you buy a large LAN from them, and that LAN runs proprietary, closed source software, then IBM is limited in the support that they can provide when a bug is discovered. They are at the mercy of (for example) Microsoft to fix bugs in their products -- Office, Windows XP, SQL Server, and so forth. If MS doesn't see a bug as critical, then it could be some time before it is fixed -- if ever. You can change support providers, but none of the providers except for MS itself can do any better at fixing your problem. (MS is only an example here -- substitute Oracle, CA, Sibel, SAS, or any other proprietary vendor).
On the other hand, if IBM sells you the same LAN and the same support contract, but that LAN runs Open Source software, then they can fix any bugs that are discovered. They have the capability to provide top-notch support.
Even more useful: IBM has to compete with everyone else who has the source code in order to keep your support contract. If IBM doesn't come through -- if the network is buggy and unstable -- then you can turn to any other support provider and have them work on the problem for you. The little 3-man consulting shop down the street has a crack at providing better support than the multinational, and vice versa. And since (contrary to what some proprietary vendors will tell you) people hate to fork (it's way too much work!), the fixes do get sent back to the maintainers and do get rolled into the core distributions.
For this reason I think that you will find that Open Source's stability will scale as it gains acceptance in the marketplace.
No, only a minuscule minority of people are aware of issues surrounding source code and freedom (no quotes). I find that if I make people aware of the issues in terms they can understand, and explain the whole FS/OSS concept in terms that make sense from an enlightened self-interest point of view (and avoiding to seem like a zealot), people generally start caring.
The Windows Classic settings are very dull and grey in comparison to the flashy colours of the default XP, so I don't see it as a big leap, or being negative, to call it "gayified". I would think it would be a bigger negative to suggest that "dull and grey" is better (although I prefer the Classic as well).
Just a thought. Not every gay reference is automatically negative.
TheOpenCD, as well as being a collection of Free software for windows, includes rather a lot of information about OpenSource and Free Software, the idea being to help users understand why its free, and why they should care.
Software Freedom Day!.
That's not too far off what my company did a while ago. We were all upgraded(!) to Win2k, but the system team bundled a load of OSS stuff with each installation, including the excellent Gimp. No-one I'd spoken to here before had used it (sure they'd heard of it but had never been bothered to try it). Now there are lots of converts that really swear by it.
I would have modded you insightful rather than funny.
biopowered.co.uk - catalytically cracking triglycerides for home automotive use since 2008. Just say no to big oil!
I evangelize OSS software here and have attempted to push OpenOffice.org and other various applications across the network of computers.
Unfortunately most users are running MS Office and as good as OpenOffice.org is a number of our often used job tracking documents are in Excel format. No matter what we do, when those documents are opened up in OpenOffice.org time has to be spent adjusting the document to print properly.
I would love to have two versions of the documents in question, but the end-users simply wouldn't be able to deal with that... Then there is the issue of duplicating those forms electronically, it just isn't economically feasible to enter all the data into 'identical' electronic forms just to be able to open them up in whichever spreadsheet application you happen to be sitting in front of.
If you ignore the other uses of a tool, does that make the tool less useful, or you less useful?
definitely recommend this compilation over about five others I've tried in the past. [IMHO] the variety of programs and monthly updates make it the most useful.
http://pmw.myip.org/oss/
> Beware! NEVER get her a printer.. Printers are the worst thing you'll get her as a present ;-) It'll bork down whenever you want to do something fun
:-)
DOH! Too late!
Thanks for the tips...
By 'guest' account, do you mean 'limited' account? I only see two choies, 'administrator' and 'limited'.
Should I replace IE with Mozilla or (Fire|Thunder)(bird|fox)? Do they run well on Windows? Will they have trouble with some IE-specific pages?
- For the complete works of Shakespeare: cat
Better than revert to the classic theme: Disable the "Themes" service. In addition to de-uglifying your desktop you'll get back some memory and cpu cycles. Even if you have plenty of both, it is one less process that can potentially crash/be hacked.
from the page:
"AVG Free Edition CAN NOT BE INSTALLED ON SERVERS FOR ANY REASON. IT CAN NOT BE INSTALLED IN ANY NETWORKED ENVIRONMENT!"
I like to connect my computer to the Internet every now and then. I guess I can't use the free version.
Seriously though, I have a home network as probably 90% of slashdotters do. It's there so that the household can connect their various computers to the Internet and also to occasionally play LAN games. It's not like we're running a business. However, because of this, Free AVG is of no use to me.
Why can't they just allow it for all non-profit use?
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Clam Anti-Virus yet. They even have a Windows port and a Windows GUI frontend.
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