In my last post, I talked about some alternatives to pirated movies, music and software. One of the most prolific and best alternatives is open source.
Open source software is distributed under the GNU licence. This license entitles you to use the software any way you see fit, deconstruct the software to suit your means, even sell it as your own. The GNU license is most often associated with the Linux operating system, although it is attached to many different types of software.
Ubuntu is one of the most popular and user friendly versions of Linux. There is a massive user following, which means that problems have probably been addressed, if not fixed, and support is abundant. One of the benefits of having a large tech savvy following, is the porting of expensive applications to the Linux platform. Often times these open source alternatives are as good, if not better than the Windows or Mac versions.
Commercially, Linux makes sense. When you have thousands of workstations, and hundreds of servers, the savings could reach millions of dollars. As an added resource saver, most malware only targets Microsoft machines!
If you are stuck on a Windows machine (it is the most widely used operating system in the world) you aren't limited to paying for expensive apps. The most common open source Windows app is Open Office, a Microsoft Office alternative. As a long time user, I can confirm that it handles MSOffice files, quite well, and is fairly easy to use. While the default file formats are superior, it is easy to switch the defaults to MSOffice extensions.
As far as open source music and video go, most of it is protected by copyright. But there are options available!
There are free music services online, like Pandora or Spotify. There are limits to what you can listen to, for example: you can't request a specific song or album, by a specific artist with Pandora, but you can listen to a specific artist and artists like it. Part of the way these services work is by introducing you to artists that you might like that you haven't heard before. I've personally bought many albums, after hearing them through Pandora.
Most people are familiar with Hulu. It's an online television service that allows you to watch current and past shows, and some older movies, for free. There are commercial interruptions, but they are fewer than during the actual broadcasts. Another emerging option is Youtube. While it is sometimes possible to view unauthorized material on Youtube, it is often taken down, and quality is often not good. Youtube is, however starting to produce original content, like the Nerdist channel.
So there, a ton of options that are all perfectly legal. So when you get busted downloading warez, or torrent rips, or hell just get a mean virus that turns your computer into a $800 paperweight, don't say I didn't tell you so.
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