Computersight -

Grrrrrrrrrrrrr… it’s high time we stop being nerds and start asking why the hell should we spend money on stuff we can get for free. As a computer geek I say: “Enough is enough! I’m using open source software whenever I can!”.

Two things happened recently that made me turn to the side of open source tools. One, a big software tool company just sent me a renewal price quote and got me all p***ed off, and two, I found one of the most useful open source utilities for an application developer like myself.

Though I use some tech lingo in this entry its main point is clear to all – we must keep the freedom to choose.

I won’t elaborate on the vendor issue, you all know the feeling you get when a vendor takes advantage of you. Also, I don’t want them to sue my nice little tush.

I’ll have much more fun telling you about the new Eclipse Update Manager I found, called TUM .

Eclipse, as you know, is the number one open source development platform around. One of the main hassles of using Eclipse, like many other open source tools, is that you have to choose your desired configuration from a large amount of possible plug-in’s and extensions, and you sometimes don’t really have the time to select, test and configure them all. That’s the main reason commercial vendors still reign in many software arenas rather than open source ones.

TUM appears to save me this time by presenting a list of possible components and updates and then installing what I choose. I don’t have to worry about integration, dependencies or any other hassle.

This new goodie opened my eyes to something I should have noticed long ago – open source tools can get you anywhere you want.

I wish everything was as simple as getting free open source software from the Internet instead of paying lots and lots of money on “closed source” software. It’s like getting your groceries for free and fixing you own dinner at home, as you please.

I can see some of your coming comments (beside “dude, get a life..”) – “open source is not good enough when your job is at stake or for professional purposes”, “it’s not supported”, etc.

My answer is simple – Alright, if you earn your bread by making software, use open source tools and get backing from open source companies that earn their bread out of giving good support and advice on top of free open source software. Companies like Red Hat , MySQL and apparently also these Tikal guys.

Had to get it out of my system….