Open+Source+Software

Here is a list of Open Source Software that can be used in a school environment to replace proprietary software. All these programs run on Windows, as most schools would be unlikely to drop it altogether. Besides the cost benefits to the school, I think it’s good for students to be able to experience things other than Microsoft Word, etc, especially when other programs do much the same thing in much the same way.

The interface of these programs is almost identical to their ([|pre-Office 2007 stupid ribbon]) MS Office counterparts, and students should have minimal trouble adapting to the new software. OpenOffice.org also supports a wide array of file formats, and most importantly, is capable of opening and saving documents to the MS Office files types, such as .doc, .ppt, .xls, etc. OpenOffice can be found at [|http://www.openoffice.org] and information specific to using it in the education environment can be found here []. ||
 * ~ Open Source Program ||~ Replacement For ||~ Description ||
 * OpenOffice.org || Microsoft Office || OpenOffice.org is a free software suite with similar functionality to Microsoft Office. It includes a word processor (Word), spreadsheet (Excel), presentation creator (PowerPoint), database (Access), a flow chart creator, as well as a mathematical formula editor.
 * GIMP || Photoshop / Image Editing Software || GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is an image editing program with features similar to that of Photoshop. GIMP covers all the basic functionality that would be required in a school setting, including image editing such as resizing, etc, photo editing, and drawing. ||
 * Firefox || Internet Explorer || Most people these days are aware of what Fierfox is, and a number of school are already using it as their primary web browser. If you are unaware of Firefox, it is a web browser (something that lets you view web pages), similar to Internet Explorer. Also, although Internet Explorer has come a long way over the past few years, [|Firefox is still arguably better]. ||

Here’s a PDF with a brief overview of using OSS in schools -[| http://duffy.fedorapeople.org/edu/Open%20Source%20K12%20Educators%20Sheet/k12educatorsguidetoopensource.pdf] Here are two sites which have various information including program lists, case studies, etc: []

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