About the author

Tim Moss

Tim Moss has supported over 100 expeditions across all seven continents. He has climbed new mountains, crossed a desert on foot and recently cycled 13,000 miles around the world. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society London and a Guinness World Record Holder. He aims to encourage more people to live adventurously. Read more...

4 Comments

  1. 1

    Julian

    Gimp is a very powerful tool, however it is big and very messy to play with. You could try gthumb or maybe picasa.

    Reply
  2. 2

    admin

    Thanks for the tip Julian. I’ve got a lot of new things to try out (just signed up on Flikr today) but am keen to find something more user friendly than the GIMP!

    Reply
  3. 3

    Michael Halls-Moore

    FOSS (Free Open Source Software) is an absolute miracle, a marval in fact. Who would have thought 30 years ago that software in nearly all aspects of computation would be as good or better than the proprietry variety?

    If you ever fancy getting into something a bit more flexible for website programming, I can recommend Django (http://www.djangoproject.com) based on the fantastic, incredibly easy to learn, open source programming language called Python.

    My vote for the best FOSS package? MySQL. An absolutely top notch relational database system.

    In regards to graphics packages, I find that “Inkscape” (Google it!) rivals Adobe Illustrator. If you don’t believe me, check out the screenshots gallery. On the other hand, GIMP I find to be severely lacking in comparison to Photoshop (one of the few proprietry software packages that I do feel is value for money). The clumsy interface (which window is open and WHERE is it?) and lack of more advanced retouching options are a problem for professionals. However, there is GimpShop (again, Google comes to the aid!), but it doesn’t sort everything out.

    The bottom line though is that GIMP is still free in both senses, whereas Photoshop is not (far from it!).

    I’m glad your server and web page are all FOSS-based. Mine too! :-)

    Reply
  4. 4

    admin

    Cheers for all the info buddy!

    I’m glad to I’m using “FOSS” too (see? I’m in with the lingo and everything!) and I agree, it’s amazing to think that this free software rivals the big brands.

    There are plenty of other products for which it would be inconceivable to have decent freebies – clothes, your MOT, public transport – yet others still for which it’s growing – TV through YouTube and online players, music through Spotify and Last FM, knowledge and information through Wikipedia and the like.

    Progressive and exciting times.

    Tim.

    PS I’ll report back once I’ve had a go at your suggestions.

    Reply

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