Open Source Applications and Games

The other day I ran across a couple of interesting posts on whdb.com which together make a great resource for any evangelist of open-source software:

• The Top 50 Proprietary Programs That Drive You Crazy - And Their Open Source Alternatives: a comprehensive list of applications that have open source counterparts. Some well-known applications appear on the list, such as OpenOffice as a replacement for Microsoft Office, and Mozilla Firefox as a replacement for Internet Explorer. But there were a couple I had not heard of before, such as TurboCash as an open source replacement for MS Money, and Compiere as an open source replacement for QuickBooks. I will be sure to give those a try, and I will provide a report of my experiences.
• Top 25 Linux Games For 2008: all work and no play makes Paul a dull boy, so we can't forget games! Of the 25 games on the list, the only one I have actually tried is the FlightGear flight simulator (available for both Linux and Windows), but you bet I'll try FreeCiv (similar to Sid Meier's "Civilization" game) and Frets On Fire, which appears to be a "Guitar Hero" lookalike.

I'm excited by the amount of open source activity out there. Linux and open source are no longer for hobbyists: it's for everyone. Why pay a ransom to some big corporation for mediocre software? Try an open source alternative instead.