Open Source Software and Why It’s Great

My Encounter with Open Source

It was a nice normal day. The birds were singing, sun was shining, my brother making a fuss about how school sucks. I just finished my walk home from school and had a nice, cold shower. Everything was going fine, that is, until I powered my computer to do my assignment but stopped short when Microsoft Office told me I cannot use the program since it was pirated. Way to kill the mood, Microsoft.

I know a lot of other people can relate to this. And, to those people: don’t feel bad, it’s not your fault, it’s Microsoft’s. Why the heck do they make their software so expensive to the point people have to pirate it?

Just kidding. I know it hits home, but that was a joke

I’m pretty sure many of us are guilty of one thing: pirated software. Back in the days, I ran a pirated Windows 7 and a whole bunch of other pirated applications. I didn’t think much about it, I thought it was normal. Now, as I found out, there lies the problem.

Using pirated software is not normal.

Nevertheless, the fact that so many people use it (at least here in Indonesia) makes it look normal. They teach how to use Office at my school, and for practice at home, the teacher distributed a copy of pirated Office. It was that bad. Now, I realize just how absurd that was. Piracy is illegal and people are doing that in schools. If that’s not absurd, I don’t know what is.

There was a time when my computer didn’t have a single legally acquired software. Not a single one of them. I ran a pirated copy of Windows 7, with pirated Office, pirated Adobe Creative Suite (they also teach Photoshop at school with, surprise, surprise, the pirated version), and so on. With all those piracy, I was literally a digital Jack Sparrow. There was a digital pirate lair (torrents, anyone?), where digital pirates can get digital pirated goodies.

I was a little bit disturbed by the amount of piracy, but, as I said before, everyone thought it was normal. I kind of know some open source freebies, but what’s the point of running legal open source software on a pirated OS?

Some time ago, though, I got myself a new laptop which shipped with an original copy of Windows. When I first realized it came with original Windows, I thought of it as a chance to cleanse myself of my digital sins. So, I looked up ways to avoid using pirated software, the first that came to my attention was using open source goodies. I have been using legal software more and more. I am proud to say that I am now transitioning from one of the most pirated piece of software ever — the Microsoft Office — to an open source substitute — the LibreOffice; so far, it has been an amazing experience.

OK, enough about me. Let’s talk about why you should try one too. Before I go all fanboy, I’ll let you know you can find some of the open source software I use in the links at the end of the post.

Now, let’s go.

 

Why Use Open Source

Doesn’t it feel nice to be part of a movement? Something that can make the world a better place? That is the feeling that open source can give you. Everyone can use, view, and modify open source software. You don’t have to be a developer to contribute to an open source project. In fact, it’s pretty damn easy. When it comes to open source, using is contributing. I’m serious. It’s that easy. The steps are simple:

1. Download and install your choice software
2. Be amazed (or change to another, if it turns out not that good)
3. Brag about it

Oh, and while you’re at it, kindly report any bugs to the developer. 🙂

Aside from the part-of-a-movement feeling, open source offers a plethora of more practical benefits:

1. Bugs are quick to be reported and fixed
2. Based on open standards, no compatibility issues
3. You’re in control, modify the program to suit your needs
4. Independent of any company, lives even after the company shuts down
5. and so on

All this benefits come from the fact that the software is in open development and the fact that you can freely modify the source code. You might be wondering whether you’ll be an isolated good guy in a sea of pirates. I mean, maybe all your colleagues use Office. Maybe the pirated version of the thing. Can you still collaborate?

Most of the time, yes. As far as I know, compatibility with proprietary software is one of the most central issue in any open source project. And I have yet to encounter any difficulty of the kind with open source software. I share and edit .docx files with my friends just fine (I use LibreOffice). GIMP works with loads of image formats, including .psd files. And so is the case for many other open source software.

The only disadvantage open source presents is not so user friendly UI. Some developers take UI into account during development, some focus more on functionality. Some say open source projects tend to be more in line with what the developers have in mind than what the users need. While it has some truth in it, good developers have the users in mind. So don’t worry about having to go through mumbo-jumbo features someone finds cute and decided to put inside the software you’re using. As I have learned, that rarely happens.

To conclude, open source software are made by people for the people. There’s no reason why anyone should be hindered from using their computer because of prohibitively expensive software. There’s also no reason to do it illegally when alternatives are present. This is something worth spreading.

 

As I promised, some tools you might want to check:

1. LibreOffice — Microsoft Office substitute
2. Blender — 3D creation software (modelling, animation, and more)
3. GIMP — image manipulation program, Photoshop substitute
4. Inkscape — vector graphics editor, Illustrator substitute
5. Geogebra — solve equations, plot graphs, geometry, analyze data, and many more