You’re probably wondering where you will find all these wonderful, free tools. I’m going to show you some websites where you can find and download excellent open source utilities.
To begin, the best thing to do is to use a search engine to find a free and/or open source alternative to what you are trying to find. For example, if I google “Photoshop open source alternative” I get several options, including the open source graphic editor called GIMP. In this chapter, I do some of the legwork for you and give you some of my sources of information and recommended programs.
The following is a list of some great sites that list open source software programs. These sites are excellent places to find the latest and greatest version of open source software programs. They sort the utilities into categories and give short descriptions of the software so you can easily find what you’re looking for.
You can find almost anything here, especially free alternatives to other programs. Don’t just look at the alternatives though; sometimes open source creates programs the mainstream software companies have not thought up yet, such as podcasting and peer-to-peer utilities. The sites then give you links that go directly to the latest versions of the utilities where you can download them.
Software tools and utilities fall into two categories: programs that you download and then install on your computer and programs that reside on websites you access with your browser. Downloading software might be a new process for you, so the following instructions walk you through how to do this.
1. Find the site that has the files you want to download and install. When you go to an open source utilities sites, you are given information about the program and a link to download the software. Make sure you find the link for downloading the latest stable version of the software that is right for your operating system.
2. Click the download link. When you download files to your computer, they usually include instructions for how to install them. Take the time to read these instructions because they can provide valuable information about how to install and run the program.
3. After the files are downloaded, follow the instructions to install the program.
To create a website, there are tools that you definitely need - ”essential” tools. All the software listed in the following sections is free and open sourced. Each of the tools performs an important task for your website or enables you to create web pages and other content.
FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol and is a fancy name for the software that enables you to easily transfer files between machines over the Internet. When uploading your website files to your web server you’ll need an FTP client - the program that does this for you. The more advanced features include queuing up multiple files and saving connection information and transfer reports.
Here are a few recommendations:
Filezilla (Windows, Linux, and Mac) - This open source FTP client offers a full range of features (and running an application with “zilla” in the name is fun).
Fetch (Mac) - This FTP client is a free download with the cutest little dog mascot. A favorite of Mac users.
Cyberduck (Mac) - A great little multifunctional, free, open source FTP client that comes in several languages.
OneButton FTP (Mac) - A simple free FTP program geared to Mac users with low technical skills who just want to move files as easily as possible.
Net2ftp - A free website FTP client that requires no download to your machine and works on several platforms with different browsers.
When building websites you must be able to edit text files, including HTML files or script files. A text file is simply a file with words and numbers and no formatting. Here are some of the better text editors:
Notepad (Windows) - This is the standard text editor that comes with all versions of Windows.
Notepad ++ (Windows, Linux) - An excellent free Notepad alternative that has many excellent features such as line numbers and text checking. notepad-plus.sourceforge.net/uk/site.htm
TextWrangler (Mac) - An excellent text editor for the Mac. barebones.com/products/textwrangler/index.shtml
XEmacs (Windows, Linux, UNIX) - A more technically oriented text editor with some advanced features. http://www.xemacs.org/index.html
A graphics editor enables you to create, edit, and format graphics files. This utility is essential in making your website look amazing, and it does this by making it possible to manipulate photos, drawings, or computer art. You might want to change an existing graphic or create something brand new.
This utility allows for unlimited creativity. In addition, a graphics editor makes it possible to change the size and file type of graphics, making your web page load quickly and efficiently.
GIMP (Windows, Mac, Linux) - This is the best and most popular open source image manipulation utility. It has many features, is easy to use, and you can’t beat the price (FREE!). http://www.gimp.org/
Inkscape (Windows, Mac, Linux) - This is a free open source drawing program. If the artistic urge comes over you, run this program to bring your vision into digital reality. It is similar to Adobe Illustrator. http://inkscape.org/
Paint.Net (Windows) - This is an open source photo editing software package originally designed by students. It has grown into a largescale open source software project. http://www.getpaint.net/
Seashore (Mac OS X) - This is a version of GIMP for a specific version of the Mac OS X operating system. http://seashore.sourceforge.net/
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