Alternatives to Proprietary Software

Firefox instead of IE

Others Include:

Galeon

Konqueror

Dillo

Epiphany

Links

Chrome

What Firefox Does Better

The Internet

The TLUG website and many other websites

No ActiveX exploits

Truly Free

OpenOffice instead of Microsoft Office

Others Include:

Koffice

Gnome Office

What OpenOffice Does Better

No annoying talking paper clip

Uses a truly open format

Opens and saves in a lot more formats

Free

The Gimp instead of Photoshop

Others Include:

CinePaint

ImageMagick

What The Gimp Does Better

I've never used Photoshop so I personally don't know if it does anything better.

Made all the stuff for the TLUG website

Free

Kompozer instead of Dreamweaver/Frontpage

Others Include:

Amaya

What Kompozer Does Better

Original(2006-2007) TLUG website created in it

Still used to do quick tweaks to the TLUG website

Good first step into learning HTML

If you want horrible compatibility plagued web pages I don't suggest Kompozer but instead recommend you Frontpage and Dreamweaver

Free

Pidgin instead of AIM/MSN/Yahoo

Others Include:

Kopete

What Pidgin Does Better

A ton of protocols all in one program that can be used simultaneously

No advertisements

Truly Free

Thunderbird instead of Outlook

Others Include:

Evolution

Claws Mail

Mutt

Balsa

Kmail

What Thunderbird Does Better

Better spam filter

Less chance of getting a virus

Cooler name

Free

Rhythmbox instead of iTunes

Others Include:

XMMS

Amarok

Banshee

What Rhythmbox Does Better

Ever heard of that better than all the other lossy formats called ogg that iTunes doesn't support

Not an Apple product

Truly Free

K3B instead of Nero/Sonic

Others Include:

Brasero

Arson

Gnome Toaster

What K3B Does Better

Hands down the best cd/dvd burning application out there

Its just better get over it

Free

VLC instead of Quicktime/Windows Media Player

Others Include:

Mplayer

Xine

Totem

What VLC Does Better

Hands down the best media player out there

Simple interface but has a ton of features like format conversion

Plays every format ever conceived or at least the ones I've come across

Truly Free

Evince instead of Adobe Acrobat Reader

Others Include:

Kpdf

GhostView

Xpdf

What Evince Does Better

Nothing really, they are pretty equal in my use

Truly Free

Virtual Box instead of Vmware

Others Include:

QEMU

What Virtual Box Does Better

You get all the cool features without having to pay for them

Gdesklets instead of Vista Sidebar

Others Include:

Screenlets

SuperKaramba

What Gdesklets Does Better

You can create your own easily from scratch or you can use the templates provided

Runs on an infinitely better operating system

Free

Firestarter instead of Norton Personal Firewall

Others Include:

IPTables

MoBlock

What Firestarter Does Better

Linux Firewall>all windows firewalls for actually protecting you

Free

RecordMyDesktop instead of Fraps

Others Include:

Istanbul

What RecordMyDesktop Does Better

Can record wobbly windows, enough said

Truly Free

Cinelerra instead of Final Cut Pro

Others Include:

LiVes

Kino

Avidemux

What Cinelerra Does Better

You get all the same features except it cost you no money

Why Have This

When You Can Have This

What Linux Does Better

Everything

Free

Links

http://www.linuxrsp.ru/win-lin-soft/table-eng.html

http://whdb.com/2008/the-top-50-proprietary-programs-that-drive-you-crazy-and-their-open-source-alternatives/

Questions?