As most of you know, I am an Open Source supporter. Although I don’t know how to write code for software and application, I know how to get involve with the community - by using their software. It’s free, I don’t have to go to Center Point 3rd floor where I used to go, looking for pirated software, and I also contribute back to their community by sending them bugs. I think you should do the same too.

If you have been following this blog long enough, you might have came across some of the blog post that I wrote in “Open Source Software” category. I am an Open Source Software fan and supporter, and have been trying to migrate all my computer softwares to Open Source.

As this blog has become an authority blog for Mount Kinabalu, writing a blog post about “geeky stuff” in between Majestic Kinabalu seems a little bit odd to me (not to say my reader). I have been thinking for quite sometime on having a separate blog about Open Source, but the timing was never quite right.

I would like to share with you 5 free and open source personal financial software / personal money management software which I find it suitable for us who don’t really have a solid financial knowledge and background (like me). I used Quicken Money before, but I feel it a bit bloated and I don’t like using it illegally (yes, I use pirated copy. But that’s few years back).

If you are:

I was surprised when I read a news today about this new centre in town. And, I am happy to know that Sabah state government is keen to migrate their department to open source. The opening of the centre was officiated by Resource and IT Development Minister Datuk Dr Yee Moh Chai. You can read the full story about the opening of the centre from New Sabah Times.

This article by Michael J. Hammel originally appeared in Issue 1 of TUX Magazine

The GNU Image Manipulation Program (the GIMP) has been called “Photoshop for Linux”. While the GIMP is not just for Linux and is not an Adobe Photoshop clone, it is a very powerful image manipulation program. It is clearly on the other end of the spectrum from TuxPaint as far as capabilities.

I have been using Open Office 2.0.2 for the past one year, and today, when I visited back OpenOffice.org, I found out that they have a new stable version, Open Office 2.1.

So, if you have been using an illegal copy/pirated version of MS Office (that you purchased for RM5 in Petaling Street), it’s time to change. You will be amazed on how Open Office can do MS Office job, considering that its FREE!

The basic idea behind open source is very simple: When programmers can read, redistribute, and modify the source code for a piece of software, the software evolves. People improve it, people adapt it, people fix bugs. And this can happen at a speed that, if one is used to the slow pace of conventional software development, seems astonishing.

I am not a programmer. I don’t know how to read/write code, but I think that Open Source is the way of future software life.

I have been using a cracked copy of Winzip for the past 2 years, but I don’t think that is a good way. As I was also not be able to upgrade the software, I opted for Open Source Software. So far, the best open source file archiver that I have been using (since December 2006) is 7-zip.

7-zip is a file archiver with high compression ratio. It gives you the same function as Winzip and Winrar, but for you to use for free.

You can easily get a pirated copy of Adobe Photoshop CS2 here in Malaysia. I got mine for RM5 (less than USD2) from Petaling Street, few copies, few years back. However, most of the time, the installation DVD was corrupted, and the registration process was invalid. As I don’t have that much money to buy the original copy of CS2 (or even Elements), I decided to turn to open source for alternative. I found GIMP.

My experience with GIMP was also not a very good one. When I got the first installation copy from a bundle cd-rom of a computer magazine, it can’t even installed properly. I still remember, it was version 1.x, and it was about 2 years back. It was really buggy back then.
Over the years, it was really good for GIMP as it has evolved to become one of the most reliable application on photo editing. When the latest stable release of GIMP out (mine currently is 2.2.13), I have found that there are not much bug that could give me problem while using it. Million thanks to all the developers.

If you have been using N|vu to create your HTML based website, try to upgrade to KompoZer. KompoZer is actually N|vu, but the developers has fixed some bugs that comes with N|vu. So basically, you will get a “re badged” N|vu on your desktop!