Currently, I am at home recovering from a recent surgery and so have been putting some extra time into my computing experience, aside from work responsibilities, to get my mind away from the physical experience of recovery. I am amazed at all of the Open Source programs that are available to users, it is really sometime quite remarkable.

Before my current employment with Qpay, I used a program called Open Office to do all of my word processing. Open Office is an open-source venture basically sponsored by Sun Corporation and the suite includes all the basic programs you will find in Microsoft Office: word processing, spreadsheets, simple databases, simple presentations, and a few other features. In fact, I used Open Office to write my book “365 Great Affirmations”. It was a superb experience. Today, I have a licensed copy of Microsoft Office on both my work and personal computers, but this is because I was able to afford the $150 cost of Microsoft Office for Small Business. However, not everybody is so fortunate.

Open Source is a real solution to the dilemma of expensive, mainstream software programs like Microsoft Office. The only problem you will find with Open Source programs is that of “help” or “assistance”. You might find yourself quite alone if you find an issue that you cannot resolve. You might have to consult a bulletin board or go online to join an Open Source community of some kind that has a focus on the program or suite you are using.

I recently tried to upgrade my Adobe Robohelp to the Adobe Technical Communications Suite, but experienced some corrupted files in the installation process. I was unable to resolve the matter, so finally decided to return the product and now I will only get my money back after about two weeks after the original shipping office tells their accounting office that I in fact shipped back the flawed DVDs. Adobe technical support was unable to help me get the Suite installed. Considering this experience along with the cost of the suite, I lost respect for Adobe and also the facade of the big software vendor name. I essentially tried to upgrade so I could also learn more with Captivate and Photoshop. But, it was not worth it. So, I let Adobe go, literally.

Now, I am going to try to find an open-source alternative to Adobe products. I will try to find a replacement for Robohelp, Captivate, and Photoshop. I am sure I am not the first person to cross a bridge like this where installation left your machine with some files installed and some other corrupted files that needed to be removed, but of course the uninstall feature of Windows still didn’t work. It is situations like this that has motivated the open-source movement from the beginning.

Where do I stand, at the end? Overall, I favor open-source, but will grant at least Microsoft a concession because both MS-Windows and MS-Office have performed exceptionally well in my experience. However, for other vendors, sorry, I am going open-source. Adobe is officially on my black list. Their software is not only over-priced, but also over-rated. Adobe treated me as a third class citizen and really did not fulfill its role to support the expensive cost of its product. So, it is time for me to move on and have faith that open-source is waiting for me, albeit with exceptional alternatives.

Do not let the issue of support deter you from going open-source. Don’t think for a moment that because you paid money to a company like Adobe that you will get support and respect for your business. Most of the help personnel are outsourced and located in India and outside the continental USA. It is most unfortunate. What is the solution: trust the open-source movement. Go online, find communities that support the programs you are using. You will make new friends and also discover that you can solve installation, end-user, and other issues that you thought you could not face, previously, on your own.

All The Best,

Keith