[News] FOSS Applications Roundup

[Matt]

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Open Source You Can Use, August '08 Edition
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| It's high time for another roundup of open source software you can use, the
| close-of-August-2008 version. This time around: chatting, publishing, and
| content management.
|
| Just out this week is a new version (2.5) of the multimessenger chat client
| Pidgin -- not a major release, but it fixes some stability issues on Windows.
| I've been using the PortableApps edition for the sake of convenience, since I
| can synchronize it effortlessly between my home machine and my notebook.
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http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2008/08/open_source_you.html

He mentions three apps: Pidgin, Scribus, and Movable Type. All three
are cross-platform.

Cross-platform development is starting to be recognized as best practice
for FLOSS. We will see Linux-only desktop and mobile apps either die,
stagnate, or move to include Mac and Windows.

[Linonut]

Post by Matt

http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2008/08/open_source_you.html

He mentions three apps: Pidgin, Scribus, and Movable Type. All three
are cross-platform.
Cross-platform development is starting to be recognized as best practice
for FLOSS. We will see Linux-only desktop and mobile apps either die,
stagnate, or move to include Mac and Windows.

Probably true in the consumer arena. However, even there, too few
understand the virtues of open-source, and choose to pay for commercial
apps that have suitable OSS equivalents.

I like cross-platform coding for one reason only, though -- making the
code more robust, and unearthing any inconsistencies in protocols or
data formats.
--
Several years ago, an international chess tournament was being held in a
swank hotel in New York. Most of the major stars of the chess world were
there, and after a grueling day of chess, the players and their entourages
retired to the lobby of the hotel for a little refreshment. In the lobby,
some players got into a heated argument about who was the brightest, the
fastest, and the best chess player in the world. The argument got quite
loud, as various players claimed that honor. At that point, a security
guard in the lobby turned to another guard and commented, "If there's
anything I just can't stand, it's chess nuts boasting in an open foyer."