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Ask HN: Which project does not have any good open-source alternatives?

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Re: Ask HN: Which project does not have any good open-source alternatives?

#231

Post by jart »

safwan wrote: post #93
DoofusOfDeath wrote: post #86

I think the definition of "good" matters a lot here. Consider Adobe's Photoshop and Lightroom. Many people (including me) would love to see those supported on Linux, or even better, be out-classed by open-source software, e.g. Gimp and Darktable. Gimp and Darktable truly are wonderful pieces of software. But they aren't yet compelling enough to cause a mass-migration by professional photographs. Another example would…

> So you may need to refine your goals a little: Do you want to (a) fill a gap where no viable OSS exists, or (b) help OSS dethrone proprietary software in some category, e.g. Photoshop? Filling a gap where not OSS exists. I was trying to understand the gap. Like, many people are saying there are huge gap in CAD technologies, but this can be only solved by the persons who have domain knowledge, like Civil Engineers.…

People do volunteer and take initiative. Then they get hired by Adobe.

Re: Ask HN: Which project does not have any good open-source alternatives?

#232

Post by pnako »

iforgotpassword wrote: post #10
brudgers wrote: post #7

Excel alternatives might be uncountable. Implementing spreadsheet basics is an advanced beginner exercise. But even Google’s billions only get it a distant second best because Microsoft is still working hard despite the lead. Sure Google and Apple can meet most needs most of the time. They’re good enough mainly because they are free beer. Not because they are open source. Obviously. Don’t get me wrong. I’m a GNU fanb…

I'm not an Excel user. Genuinely curious: Is it really that the alternatives are worse, lacking features, unstable, or does it come down to "they're not Excel", in that they're not a drop in replacement that can perfectly load and run every Excel sheet ever created. Because that would be my gut feeling: Not interoperable enough, since some things just work differently, but not necessarily much worse. If you can't sen…

It's a very effective form of distributed / peer to peer lock in.

Even if you individually (yourself or your company) would be willing to move to some decent alternative (they do exist), you will still be exchanging files with people who are more locked in than you (e.g. banks/finance), because of custom plug-ins, custom macros, etc.

If I wanted to compete with Excel I would start with a plugin / add-in or complement tool and work my way from there. Some companies are probably doing it. They're not really replacing Excel itself but capturing some of the value away from Microsoft.

Re: Ask HN: Which project does not have any good open-source alternatives?

#233

Post by gen3 »

arvinsim wrote: post #221
pinouchon wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'am about to try DaVinci Resolve as an alternative to Premiere (I used Premiere in the past). But I don't want to fork $20 per month because I don't use it that often. A good opensource video editing software (or NLE non-linear editing as they call it) would be great.

Wait, isn't DaVinci Resolve a one time purchase of $299? Or am I missing something?

They have a free version thats good enough for a lot of people. I'm assuming they use that.

Re: Ask HN: Which project does not have any good open-source alternatives?

#234

Post by pnako »

yellowapple wrote: post #219
joshuamorton wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but you probably don't make a habit of storing music or video (or weird proprietary binary animation formats) that people are modifying in git.

Indeed I do not. If game developers (and/or game engine developers; looking at you, Unity3D...) showed similar restraint, then they likely wouldn't feel the need to tie themselves to 90's-esque version control schemes.

The game industry has a completely different way of working compared to other tech fields. Most of their practices seem old fashioned, or anti-patterns, etc. if you look at them from an outside point of view.

But they're trying to do something very hard: control both quality and deadline. It's not like an open source or enterprise IT project. The game has to be finished, good, by a given date. To do that they do many things, including slaughtering sacred cows about how things are supposed to be done. If hard locking saves them time by avoiding wasted efforts, by artists who are probably over-worked already, then what's the problem?

Re: Ask HN: Which project does not have any good open-source alternatives?

#236

Post by pnako »

krilly wrote: post #149

Here are two projects which are doable, I think: - Paint.net: freeware windows mspaint replacement. Lightweight and simple UI, but powerful features and extensions system. I hate having to boot up GIMP just for editing a screenshot or something, but no other decent libre paint alternative exists - SketchUp: this is to blender what paint.net is to GIMP. Super easy and intuitive to create simple models. A joy to use.

There is an open source clone of Paint.net called Pinta, based on the original source code of Paint.net.

It's not actively developed anymore, though.

Re: Ask HN: Which project does not have any good open-source alternatives?

#237

Post by pmjordan »

cweagans wrote: post #223
yellowapple wrote: post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed I do not. If game developers (and/or game engine developers; looking at you, Unity3D...) showed similar restraint, then they likely wouldn't feel the need to tie themselves to 90's-esque version control schemes.

You're not really going to get away from large binary files in game development. They need to be version controlled somehow. Adding more layers of indirection for how that actually happens is just kicking merge vs file locking can down the road.

Additionally, you have artists and level designers working on these files. These people tend to be semi-technical, and confronting them with the full details of git is usually met with a lot of resistance.

I know some smaller studios that use git to some extent, and they tend to struggle with it on occasion - again, primarily in the art & design departments, mainly with binary files. All the larger studios and some of the smaller ones seem to use perforce. Publisher-owned multinationals might have their own proprietary systems, I don’t have any insider information there.

In any case, people who aren’t familiar with the requirements of gamedev like to argue about this. It’s like proponents of forks arguing with someone trying to eat soup with a spoon.

Re: Ask HN: Which project does not have any good open-source alternatives?

#239

Post by ta999999171 »

grandinj wrote: post #81
mwattsun wrote: post #78

This article about how Microsoft Access won't die got me thinking about creating an open source alternative. I just retired and am looking for a project. I also have a history with msft that might be helpful. https://medium.com/young-coder/microsoft-access-the-zombie-d...

Or you could help fix up Libreoffice Base which badly needs some love

Can someone explain what's going on with that project?

Re: Ask HN: Which project does not have any good open-source alternatives?

#240

Post by svet_0 »

kwk1 wrote: post #101
gitgud wrote: post #14

3D CAD software is light years behind in the open source ecosystem, but competing with Solid Works or Auto Desk is a enormous task... Although Blender seems to be catching up in 3D animation!

FreeCAD ( https://www.freecadweb.org ) is also on an accelerating pace in terms of quality, although it still has a ways to go depending on your workflow.

Tried using FreeCAD for a simple project for parametric design, it became really slow to the point of being unusable. after only about 10-20 operations, Other than that it's pretty fun to use.

Fusion is orders of magnitudes better though.

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