Free Software for Busy People

✍ Scribed by Mohammad Al-Ubaydli

• Publisher: Idiopathic Publishing
• Year: 2005
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 199
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Using Free Software alternatives to Microsoft Office and Adobe Photoshop can save you thousands of dollars. And commercial alternatives to Free Software content management systems and websites design tools can cost tens of thousands of dollars. Free Software is also high quality. The web browser Firefox and the email software Thunderbird introduced security and powerful features before their commercial competitors did. Quality is why the Apache web server powers over 50% of the world's websites. This book will show you how to use these tools in your company, charity, school or hospital.

✦ Table of Contents

Free Software for Busy People.pdf......Page 0
Preface......Page 9
Introduction......Page 12
Switching from Microsoft Office to OpenOffice.org......Page 18
Mrs Shrub learns about the switch of governments to OpenOffice.org......Page 20
The GNU/Linux User Group helps M. Braille install OpenOffice.org......Page 22
Dr Digitalis uses OpenOffice.org to work with Microsoft Office files......Page 23
Mr Salah Al-Din uses the Arabic version of OpenOffice.org......Page 24
Mr Big chooses OpenOffice.org for its cutting-edge features and buys StarOffice for his managers......Page 25
Learning from the characters......Page 26
Further resources......Page 28
Text documents......Page 29
Shrub's switching success......Page 30
Ms Yates's templates......Page 31
M. Braille teaches typing......Page 32
Mr Salah Al-Din spell checks and keeps track of reviewer corrections......Page 34
Dr Digitalis creates PDF documents......Page 37
Mr Big's staff use macros to automate common tasks......Page 39
Further resources......Page 41
Calculations and graphs......Page 42
M. Braille creates a simple and secure table of pupil attendance......Page 44
Mr Salah Al-Din sums and sorts......Page 46
Dr Digitalis creates graphs of her patient surveys......Page 47
Ms Yates copies and pastes charts from Calc into her Writer text documents......Page 48
Mr Big and conditional forecasting......Page 49
Mrs Shrub imports data and learns from the US Census......Page 50
Further resources......Page 51
Presentations......Page 52
M. Braille uses existing PowerPoint files......Page 53
Ms Yates creates a simple presentation and uses the StarOffice gallery......Page 54
Dr Digitalis creates a lecture handout......Page 55
Mrs Shrub creates animations and organisational charts......Page 56
Mr Big adds corporate logos and colours using the slide master......Page 58
Mr Salah Al-Din shares his presentations with other teachers......Page 60
Further resources......Page 61
Writer has everything you need for writing your own book......Page 62
Drawings with OpenOffice.org......Page 64
OpenOffice.org Base creates databases as Microsoft Access does......Page 65
Further resources......Page 67
Browsing the web with Firefox......Page 70
Ms Yates searches Google, uses tabs and avoids pop-up windows......Page 74
Mr Salah Al-Din searches for meaning......Page 75
Dr Digitalis searches PubMed......Page 76
M. Braille downloads entire websites......Page 78
Mr Big's team improves security, creates bookmarks and designs a theme......Page 79
Further resources......Page 81
Using email with Thunderbird......Page 83
Dr Digitalis switches to Thunderbird and imports her old email messages......Page 85
Mr Salah Al-Din switches from POP to IMAP for accessing his email at home......Page 87
Mrs Shrub reads the news with RSS......Page 88
M. Braille filters out his spam mail......Page 91
Ms Yates uses extensions......Page 93
Mr Big uses Mozilla suite......Page 94
Further resources......Page 95
Creating a basic website......Page 97
Mr Salah Al-Din and his students use OpenOffice.org for simple websites......Page 100
Ms Yates uses NVU to create her company's website......Page 103
M. Braille uses PayPal and Amazon to collect donations through his website......Page 105
Mrs Shrub uses CivicSpace to blog......Page 108
Dr Digitalis uses WordPress to create a blog about acupuncture......Page 109
Mr Big's employees use WordPress blogs to keep colleagues informed......Page 110
Further resources......Page 112
Creating a large website......Page 114
Dr Digitalis creates a discussion board......Page 116
Ms Yates uses the Mambo content management system......Page 119
Mr Salah Al-Din's students use a Wiki to collaborate in writing......Page 121
Mrs Shrub uses CivicSpace for her campaign......Page 123
M. Braille uses Claroline to run courses......Page 124
Mr Big uses dotProject for project management......Page 126
Further resources......Page 128
Searching for software – let Google guide you......Page 131
Downloading the software......Page 133
Mrs Shrub uses FreeMind for mind maps......Page 137
Dr Digitalis uses OpenEMR for her patients' medical records......Page 139
M. Braille uses GIMP for drawings......Page 141
Mr Big uses Gantt Project for project management......Page 142
Ms Yates uses Plucker for her handheld computer......Page 143
Mr Salah Al-Din plays games......Page 145
Further resources......Page 146
GNU/Linux is good......Page 149
GNU/Linux is not for beginners......Page 150
There are many versions of GNU/Linux......Page 151
Mr Salah Al-Din experiments with Knoppix live CD......Page 152
Ms Yates chooses Linspire for ease of use......Page 153
M. Braille chooses Ubuntu for its international features......Page 156
Mrs Shrub chooses a Beowulf cluster for affordable and scalable computing power......Page 157
Dr Digitalis chooses Lycoris for her tablet PC......Page 159
Mr Big switches to Red Hat for support......Page 161
Further resources......Page 162
Free markets and Free Software......Page 164
Free speech and Free Software......Page 166
Freedom isn't free......Page 168
Further resources......Page 172
Ask what you can do......Page 174
Ask what your country can do......Page 177
Further resources......Page 183
GNU Free Documentation License......Page 185
Index......Page 193