I know some people (Hi, Nelson) think I’m a Microsoft junkie, but I use Open Source products pretty often. I’ve been an Open Office user since version 1.0 so I’m very interested in the new version.

From what I’ve seen so far, and I haven’t had time to really dig into it, the interface seems fairly similar to Office 2.4. The biggest visual difference is that there’s more of a three-dimensional look to the icons. They don’t look as flat as before.

This is still in beta, so I wouldn’t use it in a production environment unless I had to, but it already has a very polished feel.  If you’re used to Open Office there won’t be much of a learning curve, which is always good news.  It also retains support for existing Open Office extensions, so if you’ve already customized your existing installation this will let you keep working in the manner you’re used to.

I’ll try to write a more complete review once I’ve had more time to play with it.  In the meantime it looks like a great product, and best of all, it’s free.

I know some of you are probably thinking something like “Dave, you’re a writer, why did you go to a Microsoft event?” I could say I went because I could, but that would only be a small part of it. Part of it’s because I have worked as a system administrator and it’s always good to keep up with what’s happening; and since Microsoft is the eight million pound gorilla of the software industry I have a vested interest in keeping up with them in particular.

Still that may not be enough of a reason to go to such an event, and while the swag is good– the biggest giveaway was Vista Ultimate and I already have that.

So, what was the point?

Part of it was networking. I made a few contacts and also managed to get both my name out and connect with others. A lot of the writing jobs you can find on oDesk are technical in nature, and if you’re going to write about technology it pays to know what’s going on in the field.

Most of those companies need writers, and by being aware of what they’re doing (because there were a lot of other companies represented there too) I got a better idea of the industry as a whole. It also helps with the background knowledge I need for various technical writing jobs I might be applying for.

Child care issues meant I didn’t get as much done as I wanted to, but there were some very interesting things I learned at the event.

One big thing, from my perspective, is that Microsoft is taking a lesson from Linux and looking to compete directly. That’s not as strange a statement as it sounds. Server 2008 is bringing in ideas like Server Core, which allows you to install a basic server OS with no GUI for simple server tasks. It’s something people have been doing on Linux for years, but Microsoft hasn’t really had a product to compete in the same space.

Another change has to do with what they’re calling the PowerShell which is a new command line environment.  They’re moving back to the idea that the command line should be more powerful than the GUI, and that the GUI should be a layer that sits on top of the actual commandlet.  I’m impressed.

A lot of the other changes have to do with security. Server 2008 is both much more secure and more granular in that security than previous versions. I was very impressed with how tightly they can lock it down,while at the same time the part that I love as an administrator would terrify me as a user.

I found the event worthwhile, and I think many of you would too.

I was busy checking the rear view mirror because Big Mike was in the backseat having a fit of the fear–all twisting his arms and legs while foaming at the mouth. He kept saying something about squirrels.

The question finally registered and I go, “Oh, it’s just a way to streamline your computer needs with superior software at zero cost to you.”

T-Dog stopped firing and got this look of awe, “So, you’re saying I can increase the productivity and viability of my business, work less hours for more money, and it’s completely free and @$!#, holmes? Tell me more!”

So the following is the precise thing I told him:

 What Open Source Is

Open source is not a thing–it’s a concept. In the simplest of terms, it is free software that you can download and use, and it’s often better than the commercial software.

The more in-depth idea is that open source is a concept of freedom. It allows people to create software and upload it for others to edit, download, use, and give back. It’s a community thing. One person makes a game and uploads it to the server under the GPL (GNU Public License), and another hundred people like the game and want to work on it, so they do–for free. Afterwards, about 10 people will stick with the project long-term and keep making updates. Eventually, this game is better than anything else on the market because you have the whole world working on it because they want to.

Now, you as an end user can download this awesome game for free. Now, swap game for office utilities, graphics manipulation software, and even your operating system! GNU and Linux (the OS) are very closely tied together, so when you use Linux instead of Windows, all of your software is free (including Linux). Imagine not having to drop a large sum of money to get the newest version of your favorite photo editing software. Why? Just download GIMP. GNU Image Manipulation Program. You can download enough stuff to make it better than commercial solutions. Check out Open Office–it’s a complete office suite that blows MSOffice out of the water.

The first thing people usually ask me is: Can I have a cookie? I say no. Then, they ask: Well, can open source software save in Windows formats? I say, emphatically, YES!!! Usually, I’m grabbing them by the head and screaming it into their ear–but I have bad days as well. One of the common features of open source software is that it can run on several platforms (Linux, Mac, Windows) and save in file formats for all of them–and then some! You can open anything and save as anything generally.

Open source is more than software–it goes deeper than that. Open source applies to writers in forms like free eBook libraries like the Gutenberg Project. You can do research without having to pay for it. It applies to programmers with source code they can use as frameworks to speed up the coding process. There’s an open source lifestyle for everyone.

The one thing you have to remember, though,  is that if you use source code, public domain graphics (another open source lifestyle element), or research from a free eBook, you have to give credit where it is due. Don’t just copy-paste solutions and claim it’s all you. You have to change it up (more than the wording) so that it is original to you until you can claim credit. That’s not bad though. Eventually, if you get caught up in this you will be releasing solutions to the open source market, so you’ll want credit for your work.

It’s called giving back to the community which has helped you. Offer to do what’s in your abilities. That way, everyone profits.

When you have spare time, Google “open source” and then the kind of software you need. You’ll be surprised to see how much there is!

Even though it’s in beta I was very impressed, and so I contacted the people involved to see if I could get you some invites for the private beta.

Steve Shapiro of Digsby.com was kind enough to reply to my request with 250 beta invites, so if anyone is interested here’s your chance.

Just go to www.digsby.com and sign up with the invite code “odeskinsider” (without the quotes) and the first 250 of you will get into the private beta.

Big thanks to Steve and I hope the rest of you find the program as useful as I do.

Have a great weekend.

For those who don’t want to follow the link, the gist of the thread is that some people don’t like oDesk’s stated preference for Yahoo! Messenger over other instant messaging services. Instant messaging has become as ubiquitous as email: everyone uses it.

As a freelancer I find it’s great to use for quick points of clarification. The problem is that I normally have contacts on MSN, Yahoo! and GoogleTalk, and even with dual monitors three buddy lists take up a fair bit of real estate on my screen. If you’re like me, you’re in the same boat. Some people you talk to in one client, some in another. Some people you may have on multiple buddy lists, others only on one. If I load up all my messengers I have one person who appears seven times!

It’s a mess.

Digsby helps sort that out.

Features:

When it comes to IM, it has two main features that I love. The first is multi-protocol support, I love having only one client open. The second, and I think much cooler one, is support for merged contacts.

In most multi-protocol clients, if you have one person with seven accounts on your various buddy lists, they use up seven slots– which can make the list unwieldy. With Digsby’s merged contacts feature, you can put each person under a single Alias, so those multiple contacts don’t over-fill your list.

It’s my favorite IM innovation since they started releasing multi-protocol messengers.

Digsby also supports email monitoring.

It’s not quite the same as a full email client, but it’s a lot more than most IM clients will give you. I can use it to monitor one Hotmail, one Yahoo!, and two Gmail accounts simultaneously. Not only does it tell you how many emails you have in each account, but it also lets you take a message and delete it, mark it read, or report it as spam. It won’t let you read the email, but it does enough on the side to help manage those accounts, especially if you have multiple webmail accounts.

It also supports monitoring both Facebook and MySpace, but as I’ve managed to stay free of those two sites, I’m not going to go into detail. I also don’t think that these social networks are as important to freelancing as the IM and email functionality.

Okay, now that we’ve had a look at what it offers, let’s see what it’s like to use.

The Experience:

Disclaimer: Digsby is still in beta, so I’m going to give them a bit of a pass on some stability features as they are not necessarily going to be reflected in the final product.

The set up routine is generally straight forward, you’re prompted to log in (Digsby has its own login and password) and then set up the various IM and Webmail accounts you want to use it with. It’s all very simple and you have a dropdown to pick which accounts you want to use with Digsby. It supports MSN, Yahoo!, AIM, Gtalk, ICQ and Jabber.

Contacts can be grouped with a simple drag and drop, and as usual you open a chat window by double-clicking on the name. The chat window’s essentially similar to those of almost any other client, and it saves history from session to session by default. If you’re chatting with several people it defaults to a single tabbed window, and you can move to separate windows simply by dragging the tab.

It’s simple and intuitive.

Being beta software, it does have some issues, though I’m sure they’ll be mostly worked out before the public beta. The biggest one is that MSN messenger support is still quirky. I’m seeing delays on messages and also sometimes the other person never gets the message. Most of these problems seem to occur when you try to initiate a conversation with someone over MSN, I seem to be able to receive messages just fine.

I also had an issue recently where the program refused to start. I just downloaded it again, installed it over the existing install and it was back up in moments. It even kept the visual style I’d selected.

The email functionality works exactly as described, and I’ve never had a problem with it. Even when I have to run MSN messenger along with it I still use Digsby to manage my Hotmail inbox.

Evaluation:

Given that if you’ve read this far, you probably want an evaluation I think I’d better give you one. Digsby’s not quite ready for prime-time yet. They have an excellent support staff and bug-reporting tools built right into the client, but part of being in beta is chasing down all the bugs.

Right now the MSN bugs in particular mean that I can’t stop using other messengers and rely solely on Digsby. That’s a pity, because if I could, I’d do just that.

Once it comes out of beta I recommend looking into it, especially if you have a decade’s worth of contacts on half a dozen messengers to keep up with. Even in beta it’s the best multi-protocol client I’ve tried.