Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with OpenSource

Help me chart a course...

Zinger — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 08:46:23 -0800

What's a good, open source alternative to Visio? I'm looking to do some flowcharts, absolutely hate working with the draw tools in Word, and need something fairly simple, easy to use. Prefer not to use web based, don't like trusting data to third parties.

Where to get started with Python GUI programming?

cowbellemoo — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 15:46:59 -0800

Which Python GUI framework is right for someone new to GUI programming? But who may also aspire to open source community (linux) development/involvement? Cross platform, wonderful documentation/tutorials, and cruft-free new technology are also welcome. My current need is just for a simple GUI front end for scripts I write in work for Windows, but one day I'd like to have GUI skills robust enough to help out with open source development. I've given this list a look, but I really don't know where to start. I know GTK/Qt are the most commonly utilized, but are there any exciting new next-generation graphical toolkits? What's fun to learn? What are your favorite tutorials, books, or resources for it?

Any and all suggestions welcome! Thanks!

How to merge data fields into a plain text file?

geekgirl397 — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 08:04:23 -0800

Is there some way to do a "mail merge" type operation on plain text, xml or html files without using a word processor? I've been working on our company wiki and I want to bulk create a bunch of pages by merging certain field data from spreadsheets, csv files or other datasources into the template text files that I've created. The output should be XML or plain text.

I have a separate task where I have a simple html template that I'd like to populate with data pulled from a csv. The output needs to be standard, simple HTML (no funny MS Word markup)

I have access to MS Office, Open Office and Abiword but everything I've tried so far seems to "pollute" my files with word processor type formatting. (I am running KDE on Ubuntu 9.10, but I also have Win XP running as a virtual machine under Virtualbox - I have access to any version of the MS Office software, and obviously anything open source).

I'm sure there's some open source tool designed to merge text files. I'm not opposed to using a command line interface although I probably would prefer a GUI. My Google-fu is failing me on this one.

Any tips on how I should achieve this, or pointers to the tools I should be looking at?

thanks!

Network monitor linux

Petrot — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:41:01 -0800

I would like to be able to monitor my own bandwidth usage/data transfer rates on my laptop, whilst using an o2 mobile broadband dongle. Difficulty: Linux. I'm using O2 USB Modem E160 to get online, but it gives a limit of 3GB a month. Usually, with Windows or a Mac the modem comes with a connection manager to show what usage you're at. I got this modem to just about work with Ubuntu 9.04, but without the connection manager. So it just comes down to educated guesswork on my part to see if I'm coming close to this quota limit.

I read this previous AskMe, which suggested using BitMeter II. This looks precisely what I want:
"Using the Alerts feature, BitMeter can notify you when you have uploaded/downloaded a certain amount, or if your speed goes above or below any limit that you specify.

Does your ISP restrict how much you can download each month? Maybe the ISP Restrictions screen would be useful, just enter details of your monthly quota, and BitMeter will warn you when you approach your limit"

This would be really, really useful. But it's only for Windows. There is an open source version in the works, but it doesn't seem to have the above.

So, is there an open source network monitor that will allow me to see if I'm hitting a quota or not. Or, would it be possible to run BitMeter under WINE?

Spinning Software

downing street memo — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 06:56:59 -0800

I'd like to work on an open-source project, but I have zero (seriously, zero) coding or other technical skills. I do, however, do public relations for a living and I'd like to think I'm pretty good at it. Do these kinds of projects need PR/communications strategy help, and, if so, how can I get started? Size or type of the project is not particularly important - I'd just like to support an open-source effort, and have some additional tech PR experience to put on my resume. If you have any ideas, or better yet, you're working on such a thing - let me know!

Where to find business advice for open source software

Anonymous — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 07:52:38 -0800

Where can I find professional advice on the business possibilities for an open source software project? Is there a good location to ask a very specific question and get an experts advice. Its for a large project, of which 75% is already completed. I've already asked for advice on it from a couple of forums I frequent with no response besides the usual "make it and find out". I need to get a better idea before I dedicate too much more time to it. I just recently discovered a site had developed a hosted version, which might negate my efforts so far.

I need to find somebody who knows the business aspect of these things as i only know software.

Seeking the wordpress of calendars

wo — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 18:56:51 -0800

Looking for an open source, web-based calendar app. Does there exist any decent open source software for calendaring with a web interface? Basically I am looking for the WordPress of calendar software. That is, I want software I can run on my own server. Functionally, Google Calendar would be perfect; I just don't want to give Google (or anyone else) personal information if I can avoid doing so. Thanks :)

Web App to manage client uploads???

spock — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 10:20:46 -0800

I'm looking for a web application (preferrably Open Source) that will help me accomplish the following: I have a service business that works on digital files for clients. I'd like to broaden my reach through web, so want to give clients/public the ability to upload files to me and for me to keep track of who those files are from, and to be able to invoice them and track when they have paid, etc. so I can return the finished file to them. I'd like it to work with Paypal. It is possible that this cannot all be done by a single application, but I'd prefer an all-in-one solution. But feel free to suggest partial solutions.

I'm an experienced server and web application admin with multiple platforms. I'd prefer a PHP/MySQL solution, but will certainly consider others. My Google-Fu is not strong today, apparently, as I'm having trouble locating this, but I'm sure that somebody has already invented this "wheel".

TIA for any words of wisdom you may have to share.

Looking for a simple rating/ranking web app

lord_yo — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 01:20:57 -0800

Help me find a simple web app: Users are able to enter items, other users are able to rate those items, and the aggregated rating score is used to display the items as a ranked list. Like digg/pligg, but without the bells and whistles. The app should be open source and installable on any major server.

Becoming a better open source translator

Foci for Analysis — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 07:13:28 -0800

How do I become a better translator for the open source project that I'm volunteering for? For the past year or so, I've been a translator for an open source project that develops an web based e-commerce application. Basically I translate strings in English to another language. I do this for free and the tools provided to me by the project are mostly web based tools to admin, upload and publish translation files.

I want to become a better translator and I'm looking for suggestions in these areas:
* processes: how do professional translators work on highly technical projects? How do you research and translate technical terms when you find out there are no equivalent terms in the target langauge? How do you handle the translation of software when each major version has its own set of translations?

* tools: which tools/communities do the pros use to translate, research, get help and feedback, etc?

How do I create an online poll which users can permanently add to?

kmccormi — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 13:41:10 -0800

How can I create an online HTML form poll, preferably for free, wherein the list of multiple choices can grow when users decide to add to the list of choices? Many poll creators allow for the creation of multiple choice polls that give the viewer the option of selecting "other" with a text field for comments. However, usually this entry does not then become visible to viewers who visit thereafter.

I want my list of choices to be able to grow. If a user sees an existing choice that he likes, he can add his vote to that one, but if he doesn't see an existing choice I would like him to be able to add that choice permanently to the list. Any user who visits afterward will see his choice in the list and be able to vote for it.

I also would love for this poll to be clean, ad-free, and preferably embeddable into a blog or personal site. Does anything like this exist? Thanks.

Splitting a PDF by bookmark

Ritchie — Thu, 28 May 2009 21:17:08 -0800

I'm looking for some inexpensive/free solution to splitting a PDF by bookmark (first level bookmark), and using the bookmark names for the filenames of the split PDF. I've done some research already and discovered 2 products that are almost good enough: PDF Split-Merge and PDF Split and Merge.

The only drawback to PDF Split-Merge is that it costs USD$20-30 per user, and I have about 12 users to roll it out to. (That may sound like nothing, but my IT department runs on a literal shoestring. The other day we each got given a roll of duct-tape so each of us can repair the disintegrating carpet in our respective cubicles.)

The only drawback to PDF Split and Merge (which is free and open-source), is that when it splits the PDF, it doesn't use the bookmark names as filenames. Instead you get generic filenames with an appended counter based on page number.

I've done some scripting, so I'm open to hearing about, for example, Perl modules that help with this. My searches on CPAN have led me to PDF::Core and PDF::Parse, which don't really seem to be built for this.

Opensource CMS?

wanderlust_babe — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 17:34:40 -0800

Are there any good opensource CMS systems? Need to develop new CMS for a fairly big media site. Are there any open source CMS aplications that are any good? Thanks.

How to control printing expenses in an open computer lab?

beelzbubba — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 09:31:45 -0800

How can I limit printing quantities on a quasi-public networked printer? I run a small nonprofit computer center with 10 networked computers (8 XP, 2 OSX). I need to control ink & paper costs, but want people to be able to print free or low, low cost. When I was at Uni, we had a system where all users had to buy tokens at 5 cents a page. Is there an open source or low cost program that can help me do this? Even if my selling cost is zero, I want to track users and usage. My implementation skills are medium, but I have access to some great technical folks, so don't be afraid to suggest something complex if it will help us keep our center running. Most patrons are mindful, but we get the occasional conspiracy nutjob who feels the need to print a 200 page pdf on our system so that Alphaville can't track her. The computer area of the center is often unsupervised for adult users and I don't want to have to make judgment calls on what people can or can't print. I can afford to allow maybe up to 30-50 free pages per month per user. Right now everyone signs in using a generic account, but I can change the system to have unique registration--which of course will send my conspiricists to the public library where they charge $0.10/pg but retain anonymity.

It's free, now pay me.

rbs — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 05:50:18 -0800

How can I make money through open source development? I will soon be open sourcing a web app that I've developed. It's currently in use by two different clients. They love it and think I should spread the word. It's important to me to release it as open source. I'd also like to make money.

I'm aware of several models for doing so:
1) Offering for-hire customization/development to support specific implementations.
2) Offering support.
3) Selling "premium" versions with extra features.
4) Hosted services.

Can you suggest any good resources for thinking about these and other models and other details that might be helpful to me?

Looking for a Historical Timeline App for a Website.

GJSchaller — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 17:20:09 -0800

I'm looking for an open-source or inexpensive application that will allow me to write and publish a historical timeline for a fictional world online. I am NOT looking for Project Management! Would be ideal if it worked with Joomla, but is not 100% necessary. I am the webmaster for a Live RPG that is in the process of fleshing out the world setting on the website, to make the game world easy to read up on. Right now, the website is running Joomla, and we're slowly beginning to fill in articles.

The director of the game has asked me to find a piece of software that will let him map out the historical timeline of the fictional world the game is set in, so we can publish it to the website. If it's not a Joomla-based app, I can always embed it in a wrapper instead.

Given that this is not exactly a Big-Budget operation, an Open Source or inexpensive solution would be appreciated.

She got her data in my pbwiki; help us get it out!

dirtypants — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 16:02:38 -0800

How can I migrate away from pbwiki before they do their "upgrade" in March? I tried to come up with a cute title. I hope people get it.

A colleague of mine has a very large (hundreds of pages) wiki using pbwiki. It is niche-academic-related and really the only source for this information on the web. It is so comprehensive it is bewildering. She just got so sick of those of us in the field who should have been disseminating this information *not* doing it that she did it herself, and it has become a tremendous resource. Unfortunately I have no familiarity with the platform.

I can't figure out pbwiki is flat file or db driven, but it seems that it has a proprietary db backend that they won't let us access (they do offer an API that would let you pull from your own MySQL db, but I digress).

Ideally, we'd suck down all of her information and dump it into something like MediaWiki or one of the MySQL based GNU/GPL options that we would "own" so that we wouldn't be subject to the whims of a company that decides to "upgrade" or price her out of a very expansive Wiki.

Anyone have any ideas? I know a bit about this stuff, but I'm in way over my head. And I've Googled the heck out of pbwiki, and I can't seem to figure out much of anything, other than the fact that there are a lot of questions asking how to migrate away that have been left open on forums (no answers).

MediaWiki would be my choice because I could do a scripted install that would take me about five minutes. I'd be willing to entertain other Apache / MySQL GNU/GPL options.

Thanks!

Help me set up an Open Source Design Agency.

gonzo_ID — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 10:24:41 -0800

Setting up an Open Source Design Studio. What would I need to look out for? I am thinking of setting up a design agency / studio of 3-5 people that runs entirely on OS software: ubuntu, scribus, inkscape, gimp, etc...

We'll be doing graphic / web / product / CAD design and ideally want the entire office running off a server and be entirely paperless (other than client proofs and whatnot).

What do i need to know? What software am i missing? best way of receiving faxes, recording phone calls as MP3's, backing up data, etc... pros and cons, is there any bleeding obvious thing that I've missed?

Any ideas, thoughts and inspirations would be greatly appreciated.

Fanx.

Open-Source Steam

philosophistry — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 09:09:19 -0800

I'm looking to create a software distribution platform similar to Steam. Are there any open-source versions that I could work with? Or are there any directions you can point me to?

open source Mars Lander

Floydd — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 18:39:25 -0800

Why isn't there an open source Mars Lander? The Phoenix Lander cost a Bunch'O'Money. How cheaply could it be done without NASA involved?

Can I get high availability with a modest budget?

flabdablet — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 21:34:11 -0800

How can I set up the virtual server environment I want, using as much open source and as little proprietary software as possible? I'm the technician / sysadmin at a primary school, which will be updating its on-campus server boxes early next year.

Both our existing boxes run Windows Server 2003. Admin1.admin.local runs SQL Server Express and the school administrative database and serves files to four admin workstations; curricserver.curric.local is pretty much a pure file server for 70 classroom workstations, making extensive use of NTFS permissions to manage access control. All workstations run Windows XP.

Admin1 is the PDC for admin.local (10.145.172.0/23), and curricserver is the PDC for curric.local (10.129.172.0/23). An upstream-managed router connects both subnets to the Internet, and also allows admin.local hosts to send UDP datagrams and establish TCP connections to curric.local, though not the other way around. No broadcast traffic transits the router. The router's link to the admin.local subnet is ten mbits/s, which is fine for internet but sucks for cross-subnet file serving.

Admin1 and curricserver each have a UPS. I use external USB drives for backup. I am pretty happy with the way each of the servers is currently set up.

Next year, we'll also be replacing our existing MS Access-based student reports package with a new web-based one from the same company. I have no reason to believe that this will go well. The company recommends hosting this thing on a dedicated box, which will basically be running SQL Server Express and IIS and not much else. I have no wish to install IIS on either admin1 or curricserver, so I'm happy to agree with them.

Now, rather than buy three new boxes and a new UPS and another set of backup drives next year, I'd rather buy two new boxes with i7's and loads of RAM, run a Linux on them with something like Heartbeat in it, and create the three W2k3 servers I need virtually.

It seems to me that doing this would allow me to (a) keep using the same virtual servers year after year after year, while updating the underlying Heartbeat cluster as often as necessary to suit the school's hardware management policy (b) avoid single points of failure for all servers (c) centralize my backup task (d) use solid Unix system administration tools for disk snapshot and backup management instead of whatever some random commercial vendor claims to have invented this year (e) save the school some money (f) easily bypass the upstream-managed router's connection between our two subnets, allowing me to set up the same safe one-way routing policy at gigabit speeds.

Questions:

1. Is this idea Wrong in any important respect? I haven't had much hands-on VM experience, but I have enough Windows expertise to migrate our existing server setups to other hardware (even virtual hardware), probably without needing to do a Windows reinstall, a long enough beard and enough open source happy drink to see the project through, and the intention to document it thoroughly enough to stop it turning all white-elephant for the next guy.

2. Will Heartbeat in fact let me set up three VM's that will normally run on Tweedledum but reboot themselves automagically on Tweedledee if Tweedledum dies?

3. Which VM environments will let me put a Windows VM in charge of a physical network adapter, so I can serve files from a Windows VM over gigabit Ethernet without undue performance penalty?

4. Am I correct in assuming that I want N+2 physical network adapters in each physical box (one for each of N virtual machines to connect to an appropriate network switch, plus one to do a point-to-point link for DRBD, plus one to talk to the host OS via an appropriate network switch? Or, since the virtual replacement for admin1 is only going to be talking to four workstations, do I actually need a dedicated physical network adapter for that VM?

5. Is there any good technical reason for my visceral unwillingness to install IIS on anything except its own dedicated (physical or virtual) box?

6. What's the obvious question I've completely forgotten to ask?

Best practices for an Open Source project?

planetthoughtful — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 15:40:56 -0800

I'm looking for advice on how best to begin an Open Source web application project. To keep the memory of my Father alive, I'd like to build an Open Source web application that would, I think, exemplify the way he lived his life. I would like this project to be free to use, but I would also like to be able to charge for support, with all money from this going to a foundation set up in his name, to support charities and projects in which he strongly believed. I'm at the very beginning stages of thinking this out, and I'm looking for any advice on the most practical ways to go about achieving my goal. The web application itself will be a one person effort until it's ready for Alpha / Beta implementation (written in C# / SQL Server in case anyone is interested), with the idea that once it is ready to be seen by the world, other volunteer developers would be welcome. Currently I'm wondering which of the many licenses would best fit providing 'for profit' support (in the sense of charging for it), would help me maintain the core project as being owned by a foundation (for example, protecting the name, branding and reputation of the project), but which would let profit and non-profit enterprises to freely implement and improve. Also, any recommendations for hosting the project would be very welcome. Please share with me your advice and experiences from any work you've done in this arena. Unfortunately, my coding experience to date has been primarily in closed applications, so I'm a little in the wilderness when it comes to making good choices about an Open Source project. Another concern: is a C# / SQL Server web application any less portable to implement on someone else's servers than, for example, a PHP / MySQL project? Thanks for your time, it's much appreciated.

FOR THE HORDE! ... or some other Groupware package...

aristan — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 12:14:00 -0800

I've taxed myself with saving the company money with clever use of smoke, mirrors, and computers! One of the things I'd like to replace is our proprietary intranet site that is costing us at least $5000 a year. I'd to go with something Open Source that we can manage ourselves. What do You think will meet our needs? And how can we use our Intranet better? We currently use WebEx's WebOffice with about 35 members out of the few hundred that work for the company. I'd like a way to bring everyone into the company.

Here's what we currently actually use from WebOffice:

- Group Documents: All of our HR documents, memos, and product information are stored on our Intranet.
- Calendar: Though, frankly I've only seen birthdays on it.
- Databases: We have databases of Customer Contact information on the intranet, but I have never actually seen this information used for anything. We don't even pull stuff off of it for mailings.

I've looked at Horde Groupware, but am not sure if it'll meet our needs. Do you have any experience with open source Intranet/groupware software?

Also, how can we use our Intranet better? It's not used as much as it should be. How can we get users more involved?

How do I track my DVD-Rs?

tommorris — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 19:18:20 -0800

Is there any good, free UNIX/Linux software you can suggest for keeping a searchable index of removable media? I have a large collection of backed up files on DVD-R (about five or six hundred volumes). I have been using a proprietary and rather crufty application called CDFinder. My Mac laptop has become rather less stable recently (and I haven't got enough money for one of them nice new MacBooks), so I've made the leap to a netbook running Linux. This is the one application I can't find a decent equivalent for.

Ideally, I want an application that will maintain a database of all the metadata about the files on burned CD/DVD volumes. That metadata will obviously include the file names, creation/modification dates, but also ID3 data for audio files and the equivalent metadata for videos, photos, PDFs and all the other stuff I haven't really thought about. Search speed isn't tremendously important - it doesn't bother me if it takes fifteen seconds to do a search.

One of the things I would like would be for the data to be in an open format, and for the search tool to be usable from the command line (so I can use it over SSH).

I have done some Googling, but all I can find are the sort of things record collectors would use to keep track of their albums. Not what I want: I basically want UNIX's metadata-aware 'find' or 'locate' commands for unmounted volumes.

I've been thinking about building something like this myself as a fun little open-source project over the Christmas holidays. If someone has a suggestion of an existing project that would do what I want that is free, open source and preferably not tied to any windowing environments (command line ftw!), I'd be greatly appreciative.

Seeking Web-based system for managing course registrations

tomwheeler — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 08:26:02 -0800

I'm looking for recommendations on a Web-based system for managing class registrations, preferably one that's open source. A friend works in the training department of a large company which offers internal classes to its employees. They contracted with a commercial vendor to supply a Web-based system that lets administrators add course descriptions, class schedules and allows employees to sign up for these classes. The administrators can also print rosters of those who've signed up for the class.

While the commercial software has all the features they need, it's not able to handle the load. With as few as 20 simultaneous users, administrators report that it takes up to 10 minutes to get a confirmation page after submitting a form. IT staff at my friend's company verified that the problem is in the application, but the vendor is unresponsive about fixing it so my friend asked if I knew of any alternatives (which I don't).

They'll undoubtedly want to make at least some minor customizations, so open source is preferable. I don't think the platform or database system it uses matters much; it's a big enough company that they have at least one of everything anyway and an IT staff with skills diverse enough to install and customize it.

I looked through sourceforge.net, but did not find any obvious winner. Does the hivemind know of a good system for this, or better yet, have a recommendation based on first-hand experience?