Open Source Alternative News

Typo3 added to osalt.com

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 14:11:03 GMT

Typo3, a content management system (CMS), is feature rich and yet is one of the easiest systems to learn. With new functions being created by more than 300 registered developers on a frequent basis, Typo3 gives you over eight hundred available extensions with new ones being constantly developed. When choosing a CMS, all to often you're forced to choose between functionality and ease of use but Typo3 gives you both.

Administrators will like the wizard that allows them to create a site with one of several HTML templates. Typo3 uses Typoscript, a scripting that offers many tools to access data easily and quickly. It also has a tool to make your own extensions called Extension Kickstarter. While it may take awhile to learn all the aspects and uses of Typo3, making a basic site is simple and there are many tutorials available to help. This CMS allows restricting and limiting usage to certain users and groups very easy and is rich in security features.

Content editors can learn to use Typo3 in as little as 30 minutes! It can run on Windows, Linux or Mac and is compatible with most browsers. Text editing is done using familiar Office icons; Typo3 features a rich text editor and WYSIWYG editors as well as the ability to add or remove buttons and styles. There is a spell checker built in and help icons beside most of the functions. Typo3 also displays file management functions in a directory-tree format so that content editors can locate pages and files easily and quickly. The intuitive user interface saves time and aggravation as well.

Typo3 rivals most commercial systems in quality and ease of use. With so many CMSs available, it can be difficult to choose among them but Typo3 will quickly convince you that you've made the right choice.

Osalt.com now in Spanish

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 12:16:53 GMT

(read this announcement in Spanish below)

The popular Open source directory Osalt.com (Open Source as Alternative) is now available in Spanish

- How do you avoid paying for a Final Cut or Visio license and support the open source community all at once? Find a free open source alternative to expensive commercial software at Osalt.com, Lifehacker.com suggested its readers on 23 May last year.

Open source versus commercial software
Osalt.com is a quick guide to the best open source software. Hundreds of open source products are systematically listed in categories ranging from business to development, education and databases. Each product description contains pros and cons compared to similar commercial software as well as user ratings.

More than 200,000 visitors per month
- Since the launch of Osalt.com back in March 2006, approximately 2.8 million users have visited the site; 40% of these from the US, states Anders Ingeman Rasmussen, owner of Osalt.com. - This makes the site one of the world's most well-known open source sites, he continues, - and by translating the site into Spanish, we expect a factor two increase in the numbers of Spanish-speaking visitors.

Why open source?
By choosing an open source product, the user obtains a number of advantages compared to commercial products. Besides the fact that open source is always available for free, it is a transparent application, in that you are invited exclusively behind the scenes to view all source code and thereby to suggest improvements to the product. Furthermore, every product is covered by a large dedicated network, or community, who is more than willing to answer any questions, you may have.

Visit Osalt.com in Spanish

Osalt.com ahora en español

El popular directorio de software de código abierto Osalt.com (Código Abierto como Alternativa) está ahora disponible en español.

¿Cómo puedes evitar pagar una licencia de Final Cut o de Visio y apoyar a la comunidad de código abierto de inmediato? Busca una opción gratuita de código abierto en Osalt.com como alternativa a los caros software comerciales, Lifehacker.com les sugirió a sus lectores el 23 de mayo del año pasado.

Código abierto versus software comercial
Osalt.com es una guía rápida hacia el mejor software de código abierto. Cientos de productos de código abierto se encuentran sistemáticamente incluidos en nuestros listados, en categorías que comprenden desde el campo comercial hasta los de desarrollo, educación y bases de datos. Cada descripción del producto contiene sus pros y contras en comparación con el software comercial similar, como así también el puntaje de los usuarios.

Más de 200.000 visitas por mes
Desde el lanzamiento de Osalt.com, en marzo de 2006, han visitado el sitio aproximadamente 2.8 millones de usuarios. El 40 por ciento de ellos son de los Estados Unidos -comenta Anders Ingeman Rasmussen, propietario de Osalt.com-. Este dato hace que nuestro sitio sea uno de los más conocidos de código abierto del mundo –agrega-, y al traducirlo al español, esperamos duplicar ese número en la cantidad de visitas de hispano hablantes.

Por qué optar por el código abierto?
Al elegir un producto de código abierto, el usuario obtiene una serie de ventajas respecto de los productos comerciales. Además del hecho de que el código abierto siempre está disponible en forma gratuita, se trata de una aplicación transparente, en el sentido de que eres invitado a revisar entre bambalinas toda la codificación de la fuente y por lo tanto puedes sugerir mejoras al producto. Además, cada producto está respaldado por una red virtual de gran dedicación, cuyos miembros están dispuestos a contestar todas tus preguntas.

Visita Osalt.com/es

Sage added to osalt.com

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 19:47:34 GMT

SAGE is open source mathematics software that can be used to studying elementary to advanced number theory, algebra, cryptography, group theory and so much more. It includes interfaces to many other software applications, both commercial and open source, enabling you to use them together. Mathematica, GAP, Octave and MATLAB are just a few of the interfaces that SAGE provides its users.

The use of Python scripting instead of a less common language allows for the writing of programs that can combine mathematics with other elements limited only by the creativity and needs of the user. Therefore, anyone using SAGE should have knowledge of Python to fully appreciate all the functions and abilities of the software. New users who don't know Python can still use SAGE but will spend a little more time learning all the attributes and tools.

SAGE can be used from a web browser connected to a program on your computer or one running elsewhere and works with Windows, Mac and Linux with Mozilla Firefox as the optimum browser. The SAGE notebook can create mathematical formulae, embedded graphics and more. Visualizing formulas and other calculations is easy with SAGE.

Two very active email lists provide support should you need it. There is documentation and manuals to download and even a manual for newbies. SAGE is both simple to use and versatile, providing an open source product that equals the quality of commercial offerings such as Magma and Mathematica.

Please note that the Windows version is actually a VMWare image.

Deki Wiki added to osalt.com

Tue, 20 May 2008 11:07:39 GMT

MindTouch Deki Wiki is the Web's most popular commercially supported wiki platform for creating content and mashups using a wiki interface. The free, open source application is an easy to use program for authoring, aggregating, organizing, and sharing almost any kind of content. Enterprises can build online communities and in-house Intranets, create collaborative applications, or add wiki capabilities to existing applications. Deki Wiki includes a state-of-the-art WYSIWYG editor, integration with the LDAP, and open source providers like WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, and Mambo. Deki Wiki is also a platform for building collaborative Web applications that access functionality or data from anywhere on the Internet. Its flexible architecture even allows wiki capabilities to be added to existing applications regardless of the underlying language or technology.

Additionally, Deki Wiki comes with an enterprise strength search engine; Lucene. Which is used to index all pages and most common file types. Finding what you're looking for in pages, files or tags is just a simple search away.

Also available with Deki Wiki are two powerful desktop tools; the Desktop connector allows you to upload/download files to/from your wiki via an intuitive drag-drop, client side application. Plus, the Outlook Connector provides one-click publishing of emails and email file attachments to Deki Wiki where they can be versioned, searched, shared. Both of these tools and dramatically improve your efficiency by bridging your email inbox and Deki Wiki.

More Importantly, Deki wiki is the only multilingual Polyglot wiki/web application in the world. Specifically, Deki Wiki supports multiple languages in a single instance. Languages can be specified by sections and pages thereby automatically adapting the user interface of Deki Wiki to the appropriate language. Also, users may search across all languages and search results are prioritized by the user's default language.

MindTouch Deki Wiki, is built with a Web Oriented Architecture (WOA), it enables users to connect teams, enterprise systems, Web services and Web 2.0 applications with IT governance. Users easily access and organize data and systems efficiently to achieve their business objectives.

Editra added to osalt.com

Mon, 19 May 2008 12:15:41 GMT

Editra is an open source text editor that supports a variety of features, including syntax highlighting, for over sixty programming languages. Since it is built using wxWidgets, it can run on Windows, Mac and Linux.

Style sheets (used for highlighting) are easily written using the built-in style editor, which lets you test your code on the fly. It allows customization of text controls styles and you can export all setting in an Editra Style Sheet format. Among the other features are file history, tabbed windows, language keyword helper, line edit commands and transparency support. In the latest edition, it has a Perspectives manager to let you save as many custom workspace views as you need that can be used from session to session. It contains a new CodeBrowser plugin for browsing functions, classes, variables and other attributes of a document. The Projects plugin has support for the use of the Bazaar source control system along with some other minor feature additions.

Editra allows you to navigate menus without mousing with its menu mnemonics, automatically checks for updates during startup and allows you to set preferred fonts in your preferences. Launch lets you run scripts from within Editra and allows for custom output parsing and filtering for languages including perl, lua and python. Editra has a growing developer community around the globe.

Translations of Editra include Dutch, Chinese, Russian, Japanese and German. Editra is a very efficient editor that just keeps getting better.

Pencil added to osalt.com

Mon, 05 May 2008 13:25:26 GMT

Pencil is a program of creating of hand-drawn animation. When creating animations it uses four types of layers: vector graphics, bitmap, sound and camera. These layers and be added or removed dynamically and you can change each layer as it has a track that lets you change it as a function of time by inserting keys at certain frames in the track. These keys create the sequence that enables animation.

Pencil can also be used as a simple drawing program with standard design tools like pen, brush, paint bucket and more with an unlimited canvas space. The options palatte lets you choose the size or color of each tool. If you select a vector image layer, you can use those same tools but all your strokes are converted to geometrical shapes. That way, you can enlarge your drawings without any aliasing effect. The color is automatically changed in the vector image when you change it in the colors palette. This makes the vector images perfect for clear-cut drawings as in a character animation while bitmap images are ideal for backgrounds or quick drafts.

Pencil even lets you import existing drawings on real paper into the program, creating a key for each image. This is very useful if you have a lot of paper images to work on. You can also copy and paste images from other applications. Pencil also has simple sound support should you want to add a sound layer and choose where you want it to begin playing.

Pencil saves your work in an SML format with a folder containing the bitmap data. You can export your work as a series of PNG images, a Flash or a Quicktime movie. Pencil is a versatile drawing program that is easy to learn and produces superb results.

Amaya added to osalt.com

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 11:56:33 GMT

Amaya, developed by W3C, is a web editor/browser that creates and updates documents directly on your website. W3C (WWW Consortium) needed a framework that could include as many of their technologies as possible and Amaya was developed for that purpose. What started as an HTML editor now supports XML, XHTML, MathML and SVG, allowing those to be edited in compound documents simultaneously. Amaya is open source and users are encouraged to contribute ideas and fixes.

Amaya is unique in several ways, one of which is the ability to edit multiple documents simultaneously on the web. This is a great feature for webmasters; Amaya allows the user to browse and make web pages from scratch or copy and paste content from existing sources. Editing and browsing are combined in a single tool. It has a collaborative annotation application that lets you add comments or remarks to any web document or add them to a part of the document that you select.

It also contains a contextual menu and the user interface can be customized by accessing Preferences. It has Amaya themes, a style panel for documents and template support. The editor isn't limited to HTML anchors; XLINK allows any MathML and SVG element to be links as well. It includes TrueType fonts, but there are others that you can add. Amaya comes in seven other languages besides English and uses HTTP PUT to support remote publishing. Support for WebDAV is limited.

HydraIRC added to osalt.com

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 11:19:30 GMT

Hydra IRC, an open source chat client, is quickly gaining a stellar reputation. Internet Relay Chat (IRC) used to be only for the computer literate but Hydra makes it easy for anyone to enjoy it.

Hydra has a remarkably long list of features including DCC support, file transfers, dockable floating and autohide windows and an event viewer. Audible notifications can be set to the user's individual needs. Hydra can connect to as many servers on as many different networks as you wish and is able to maintain multiple user identities. Users can also bookmark channels, change color schemes and create their own themes.

If you like the appearance of Windows, you'll love Hydra IRC. The interface is very easy to use; it was originally developed to address the shortcomings of other IRCs whose bugs and difficult navigation can be frustrating.

Although Hydra is an ongoing project, it certainly doesn't appear to be or run like one. This lightweight application installs smoothly and the friendly, clean interface promotes quick learning. There are pre-loaded IRC networks if you don't wish to add your own. The Hydra website has online support in a forum, but you are more likely to get support through thier IRC channel. On the rare occasion there's not a human there when you need them, a bot named Spocky will do its best to answer your questions!

Drupal added to osalt.com

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 11:19:21 GMT

Drupal is an open source software package for individuals or communities of users that need to publish, organize and manage a website's content also know as a content management system (CMS). Individual users as well as organizations can use it on personal or business web sites and blogs, discussion and e-commerce sites. Just download and begin using it with the easy web installer. Dozens of free add-on modules have features like forums, blogs, peer to peer networking, newsletters, picture galleries, file uploads and downloads and many more. Drupal even works for multi-user blogs.

Organizations that need content management will like Drupal's effective security, support infrastructure, scalability, customizable permissions and user roles. Images and other media are supported as are comments. Organizers can easily share ideas, use the preconfigured tools for community management and the self-organizing features.

Small business owners can set up their own site, customize its style and layout and change it as their business grows. Drupal has e-commerce support for shopping carts and paid-content subscriptions. The permissions don't require that each person be authorized; permissions can be assigned to roles which in turn can be assigned to a group, saving time and simplifying collaboration.

Website designers and builders enjoy the ease of creating their own themes and providing client support. Access to designer/developer communities is a real asset. Programmers like the modular system that can be customized and extended, access to developer communities, system and architecture documentation and coding standards.

Drupal has many other unique features, such as a collaborative "book" that others can contribute to. URLs are both user and search engine friendly and online help is available to you on your own site. All content is fully indexed for the built-in search module.

Traverso DAW added to osalt.com

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 11:21:10 GMT

Traverso DAW (digital audio workstation) is an easy to use, open source multitrack audio recording and editing suite with a great user interface. You'll find yourself doing more work in half the time thanks to the unique interface geared toward both the home user and profession musician; instead of endless menus and submenus, Traverso uses both the mouse and the keyboard together for precision and speed.

The consistent, rather stark interface and the many tools let the user work without the need to learn a lot of applications. Learning Traverso is as easy as using it! Audio sources are kept in their original state as filters are applied resulting in non-destructive editing. The "History" feature allows for unlimited changes and lets the user create as many tracks as desired; Tracks supports one or two channels and any number of mono or stereo audio clips you need.

Traverso's realtime audio processing gives smooth, uninterrupted playback of audio as well as superior recording. Read/writes are accomplish with lockless ringbuffers for the very best process execution, resulting in low latency and high performance. The on-the-fly, transparent sample rate conversion means the end of converting your audio files to your audio card's sample rate. This feature saves time and aggravation as well as opening new creative possibilities.

Traverso has impressed users with its stability and long list of exceptional features.