If you are in the IT field, you would have undoubtedly heard about open source software. Many people are waxing lyrical over the ability to have fully-functional software for free. Not just that, the source code is also available for anyone to view and edit. It's a pretty amazing idea, but I never really appreciated the whole concept because even popular open source software like OpenOffice.org cannot match Microsoft Office.
Today, I changed my mind.
For my final year project, I need to have some kind of diagramming framework. This is a piece of ready-made software that I can use to create my own software. I accidentally stumbled upon Netron, an open source diagramming framework. It looked very complete, but it lacked solid documentation so using it could potentially be a pain in the you-know-where.
So I went online to find some commercial diagramming frameworks. I found several good ones, but I was shocked at their price. It ranged from US$499 to US$2000! How could I ever afford any of them? So I have decided that no matter how much my you-know-where hurts, I will have to use Netron. I am also beginning to realize how important the open source movement is. When one is stuck between a rock and a hard place, I always go with Free.
P.S. In support of the Open Source movement, I have decided to make GreenP, my Final Year Project software, open source as well. There is nothing there at the moment, but those interested can keep yourself updated over the next five months at http://sourceforge.net/projects/greenp. When it is eventually released, I will announce it here. I hope you can then go over and download it! Thanks!
10 comments:
Dear Zemien,
I wish you all the best for your project. Being a zero IT background, what this GreenP do? P/s: english please, I don't understand IT people language.. ;p
Daren,
Thanks for your well wishes. Anyway, it's hard to explain GreenP in layman terms. Just think of it as a drawing program, but used only by IT people. I can't really get more specific without ruining the whole tech-free definition.
eeewww....green pee? man its gross...haha
all the best. I know u will do well, and someday, it will be incorporated into some OS. I know it will.
not-so-innocent^^guy....
It's supposed to be "green pea" la, as in the kacang hijau u eat? of coz, 'pee' works as well... darn I din think of that earlier.
And it's a UML drawing program. Who would want to incorporate a UML drawing program in an OS? What have you been learning over there ya?? :O
huh? y not? Imagine the future of OS, it might not be Windows, it might not be Linux. It might be Calvinsanity writen with Calvinsanity.NET...and is made for the IT industry people. Has everything ready to start working. Programming languages, hacking programs, UML drawing, Project Management, Databases, Multimedia, Scripting Tools, etc etc....thats when we'll buy ur stuff!!!
About what I have been learning here, is that they teach me to think out of the box. Make use of uncommon common sense more as to not get bound by common sense that kills creativity. He he
In that case you're in luck coz GreenP is open source. So that is one software you don't have to pay for :P
A UML drawing program. Very ambitious. What language will you be using?
I remember my software requirements professor showed my class an OSS design tool (entah apa nama) that could draw nearly everything under the sun -- UML, Data-Flow, E-R, etc.. semua dah lupa.
William...
I'll be using C# with lots of help from the Netron Graph Library (http://netron.sourceforge.net)
Yes, it is both ambitious and non-ambitious. Ambitious because it is something no one in college has ever done before. Non-ambitious because it is not going to be full-featured, nor does it look at new technologies.
A project need not be full-fledged. Your supervisor can always offer up your source code to juniors for them to complete.
For me, the sad thing is that I have not used UML since I did my thesis. Worst still, never once have I used it in my work. E-R diagram and relational database normalization pun macam dah lupa. Sigh...
OH god... I dont know what you people talking about.. I'm not even sure we're talking the same language... lol
Oh my god! Am I that old? or just plan dumb..
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