[kman42]

I'm curious about what open source alternatives are available for commercial software. I'm aware of OpenOffice and GIMP as replacements for Office and Photoshop. Are there alternatives to InDesign? Illustrator? How about an easy to use database like Filemaker? I know there are lots of things out there, but are there packages that are as refined as OpenOffice and GIMP? Some may argue how refined these really are, but to my knowledge they are the most viable alternatives to the commercial software they seek to replace.

kman

[kman42]

I guess we could open it up to non-opensource software that is just free or far cheaper than the big commercial packages.

[jmgriff]

You could look at Inkscape and Scribus. I haven't spent much time using them but they're probably alright if you can't justify spending a lot on Adobe apps.

Photoshop elements would probably be worth a look too.

[besson3c]

Check out GimpShop if you are looking to use GIMP, it is GIMP with a Photoshop-like interface.

There are probably some personal DB options that use SQLite or something, but I would personally recommend either a MySQL/Postgresql/ODBC combo, which would enable you to use any ODBC savvy app with these DB backends, or a MySQL GUI such as Navicat. There are a ton of different options and combos here, but I would definitely encourage something SQL based, as the SQL query language is far more open, and useful with a number of DB backends.

You'll have a much harder time replacing graphical apps like InDesign and Illustrator. The OSS seems far more interested in developing smaller tools that work together than they are in replacing big monolithic things that are already well-established (with some obvious notable exceptions).