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.
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!
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
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
Like this?
Karma: Can there be a void?
.. -. - . .-. .-. --- -...
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.
This is one of those deals that is outdated before download completes.
Poor webserver is already bending over backwards. Find your mirror here.
...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
There's a surprising amount of people selling Free software to uninformed people.
And this is bad why? It spreads the free software to people who wouldn't have otherwise gotten it.
"I believe in parting a fool and his money as soon as possible" -- someone
Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
I sell OSS on ebay, and we are not taking advantage of the uninformed. I like to think we are providing a service to all the poor modem users out there who cannot download a multi-cd set of software. Besides I only charge a small "media fee" and shipping.
The days of the digital watch are numbered.
People like SuSE and RedHat, for instance?
Check www.gnu.org if you're still unclear on whether you can sell free software.
Hint: you can.
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?
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 ----
No, I'm talking about people who sell programs like OpenOffice under some other name, and do not mention at all that it is free. I'm talking about sellers like this.
...
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.
Keep in mind that these aren't the latest ISO files. If you look at the dates, you can see that they're from 2003.
It's probably going to take a little while for all the mirrors to catch up with the latest release (especially with this slashdotting...)
--
http://nemilar.net - Not your grandmother's soup kitchen
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.
Seriosuly, isn't this the first item on *everyone's* install list?
When I install Windows XP, it goes something like this:
The only thing Microsoft has on any Windows system I install is Windows itself. The rest of their junk is just that: junk. The OS is decent if you put it behind a firewall, even better if you never plug the computer in.
24 beers in a case, 24 hours in a day. Coincidence? I think not!
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!
Honestly, the guy is selling you a CD with OpenOffice burned on it for about $10. What's the big deal about that? Maybe I am familiar with it, but don't have the bandwidth, and I think it's worth the $10. Maybe I don't know I can download it for free, but dropping the $10 introduces me to something new that I had no idea existed. If you think the $10 is too much, lowball him on your bid and see if you get lucky. The guy appears to be getting a lot of positive feedback, so maybe a lot of people who would otherwise be locked into the Microsoft rut have found a viable alternative, and have decided that $10 was a fair price for enlightenment. Now, if he doesn't include the proper license, or in any other way breaks the law, then he has a problem. Otherwise, he's probably just an evangelist making a few bucks off of his preaching.
Today's Sesame Street was brought to you by the number e.
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!
If she only does email and web browsing then Linux is exactly what she needs. Might suggest installing Fedora and all of the Livna.org goodies. Make her a user account, only you have root and all the problems will magically go away.
Got Code?
i don't like windows unless it's in "classic" mode either, but surely you can come up with a better word than gay. how about, hetero. how hetero is it to have your windows in that mode.
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).
Why don't you just try telling Granny to lay off the porn sites?
Shame on Google.
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.