Free Software Alternatives

  • S05E23
  • February 28, 2012

Robbie and Christa demonstrate the GNU Image Manipulation Program and LibreOffice as viable alternatives to their expensive counterparts, available for Windows, Linux or Mac computers.

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This episode is sponsored in part by: Liquid Image, Garden Gate Farms and Cordery Electric.

Topics Covered:

  • Robbie Ferguson and Christa Wells present live from the Category5 studios in Barrie, Ontario.
  • Christa just returned from vacation in Mexico.
  • Send in your viewer postcards.
  • {play 6:20}Viewer Questions
  • Viewer Question: What kind of router would you recommend for home use? It must be good for a few computers and wireless.
  • Looking at the Netgear WNR3500L router, and why you want one (or a similar model).
  • Viewer Comment: Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions on Episode 231. I'm going to install the 64-bit version of Debian.
  • How Debian got its name (true story!).
  • Viewer Question: I find VNC to be very slow. Is there a different or faster way to connect to a Linux VirtualBox guest than VNC?
  • Viewer Comment: Your episodes on building an unRAID server were great; I'm using unRAID now instead of a Windows file server and it's much faster.
  • Viewer Comment: Remote Desktop will let you use sound, where VNC won't.
  • Viewer Question: With PHP, you had includes. However, with HTML5, this doesn't work. Is there a way to do includes in HTML5?
  • Viewer Question: I want to buy a new laptop, but most are with the nVidia Optimus graphics card, but I've heard it's not supported in Linux. Would you buy one, or is there a better alternative? Perhaps ATI?
  • What the nVidia Optimus chip is, and how it saves power on laptops.
  • Viewer Comment: I have a GTX480 running with Unity and have no problems.
  • Robbie's sweater vests.
  • Christa's schooling, and what she's learning.
  • {play 29:29}Top Stories from the Category5.TV Newsroom.
  • {play 36:48}Feature: The GIMP's alternative to Photoshop's "Liquify" plugin: IWarp.
  • Loading a web-based image directly into the GIMP without having to first download it.
  • A quick demonstration of tweaking an image in the GIMP.
  • Using the Distorts -> IWarp filter in GNU Image Manipulation Program to liquify an image, stretching parts of the photograph.
  • Animating image warping with the GIMP makes it better than Photoshop's Liquify plugin.
  • The Category5 photo gallery.
  • {play 45:16}LibreOffice makes a great alternative to the commercial Microsoft Office suite.
  • An introduction to LibreOffice.
  • LibreOffice will open Microsoft Office files such as Excel's XLS format, Word's DOC or DOCX formats or PowerPoint's PPT format.
  • Obtaining LibreOffice.
  • The difference between OpenOffice and LibreOffice.
  • {play 52:01}A warning about phone phishing scams that are on the rise.
  • Fake Microsoft phone calls are tricking people into providing personal information or access to their computers.
  • Christa will be back at school for the next 2 months.

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