Applications that run from a USB stick/device

PortableApps.com offers a free open solution that enables you to run a selection of open source Windows applications from your USB stick. This concept quite innovative.

At the time of writing, the list of currently enabled applications is short, but never the less impressive. I trust that more will be added in time.

Consider this: without leaving any personal data behind on the computer you happen to be using, you can plug in your USB stick/device and:-

• run Open Office
  • have your presentation AND the required software ready to go for that big meeting, so that it can be run from any PC
• have access to the Firefox web browser with all your bookmarks on any computer
• ability to check your email, address book and calendar (via Mozilla Thunderbird)
• run the GIMP graphics/photo/image manipulation application
• securely delete files using the Eraser application
• access the 7-zip file archive application (which is .zip compatable)
• demo the website you’ve been working on to your client using XAMPP which makes Apache, MySQL, PHP and phpMyAdmin available.
• programmers:
  • edit files using Notepad++
  • edit a website using Nvu
  • run FileZilla, or FireFTP
  • run PuTTY or winSCP
• granny gamers: Sudoku is now always at hand
• listen to your favourite mp3’s without storing them on the actual computer using MPlayer or VLC Media Player.

It works with a range of devices such as USB stick/flash drive, iPod, portable hard drives.

The current ‘Standard Edition’ suite of apps fits comfortably on a 512MB USB device. Note that you can purchase 2gig USB sticks these days.

FLOSS and the Scottish Executive

In March 2007 the Scottish Executive published a Scottish Policy Statement in the form of a report by the Open Source Software Working Group on Free/Libre/Open Source Software (FLOSS). I think this is very worthwhile.

First, the introduction section helps to clarify what open source software is:

“1. Open source software (OSS) is computer software where the underlying source code is made available under a license. This can allow individuals and organisations who use the software to modify it, either to improve the software or adapt it to better meet their needs.

2. Open source does not necessarily mean free of charge. The term “free” commonly refers to the concept of freedom attached to open source – freedom to modify the source code. The Free Software Foundation (FSF) publishes an earlier variation of the definition where it refers to “free software” rather than OSS. The FSF definition stresses that “free” software is a matter of liberty with “free” derived from “freedom” (libre), not from “no price” (gratis). The terms open source, free software and free open source software ( FOSS) are also often used as is free/libre/open source software ( FLOSS) 1.

3. There are different licensing models under which FLOSS is made available. Generally the licensing conditions are intended to facilitate the ongoing re-use and wide availability of the software. In contrast, vendors of closed, proprietary software provide only executable binary code, and not the human readable source from which that code is derived. Proprietary software vendors usually also place very specific limits on redistribution of the software.”

Then, why the public sector is (or should be) interested in free/libre/open source software:

“4. Public service delivery is often supported by sophisticated and proprietary software applications. The perceived benefits of FLOSS make it an attractive option for information and communication technology ( ICT) solutions in the public sector as it strives to deliver an efficient and interoperable ICT infrastructure.”Consider how each county council, primary school, high school, health board, police force, provides for it respective supporting systems.

Consider the duplication of effort and cost. How (leading) private sector companies make profit for their respective share holders by repeatedly selling proprietary solutions at a local levels.

As a realist its important to point out here that there are a multitude of supporting systems used in public sector organisations, often of relatively high complexity. The historical context further adds to complexity in terms of technically bespoke interfaces to systems and softer issues such as how each county council, police force, etc. is used to acting independently, as an island.

But it must be possible to make progress.

…Next Steps:

“41. There is a need to maximise the returns on, and benefits from, investments in publicly funded software. The ability to freely share software which has been developed within the Scottish public sector or bespoke software funded by the Scottish public sector would be enhanced by making this available as FLOSS. Copyright of software, documentation, design materials, manuals, user interface and source code should be released under an OSI-approved open source licence unless there is a compelling argument why this should not be the case and an alternative licensing model proposed.

42. Further consideration will be given to mechanisms for sharing ICT products and architectural components as part of the ICT transformation work which the Scottish Executive is taking forward under its public service reform agenda.”

The References section provides a good range of links.

The Scottish Executive set up the Open Source Software Working Group to examine the role which open source and free software could play across the Scottish public sector. Membership of the working group includes Dr Nick Hine and Dr Andy Judson, of the University of Dundee.

the alternative to MS Office

Have you purchased a new computer recently? Did they give you a micky mouse slimed down version of MS Office because you decided against the additional £250 upgrade option? Open Office is for you.

OpenOffice.org (Linux/Windows) is a fully-featured office productivity suite, compatible with other market leading products such as MS Office. It is developed and improved by a virtual community.

Many people will have heard about it but there are those who haven’t. Use it… it’s good.

I feel that in the years to come many sectors such as government, public administration, and education should have to justify why they are not using it.

It has a similar look and feel to the Microsoft alternative. Some things are implemented differently which means there can be a bit of a learning curve but let’s face it, most of use don’t use 90% of the functionality in Office anyway.

The biggest selling points from my point of view are:

• ability to open and save documents in Microsoft .doc format
• and it’s free!

I generally use the word processor and spreadsheet.

One draw-back is that it takes a little while to start Open Office on my old laptop. I can generally live with that, and if I know I only need to do X, Y, Z I might use KWord or KSpread instead which also has .doc format compatibility.

saving a Word document as a PDF

Open Office (Linux/Windows) has a cool feature which lets you save a document in PDF format with one click.