Free software alternatives to popular Wingdows software

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axgb
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Joined: 09/22/2013

Does anyone know of a good alternative to Microsoft Publisher, literally the only thing I use windows for is to print labels out with publisher to stick on jam jars that contain my homemade jam.

Also, is there a good alternative to inspiration? I have tried a few but I have found them hard to use/trash.

akirashinigami

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Joined: 02/25/2010

For labels, I have used glabels in the past. (I haven't needed to print a label in quite a while.) I don't know how it compares to Microsoft Publisher though, since I've never used that.

Xlash
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Joined: 10/02/2012

Scribus i think is an "alternative" for that software. Give it a try, maybe you find what you need.

alucardx
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Joined: 02/29/2012

Scribus is great for print layout. It will do labels very nicely.

muhammed
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Joined: 04/13/2013

You make your own jam? Is it as sweet as the jam for sale in the grocery stores? I find the jam for sale where I live a little too sweet.

axgb
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Joined: 09/22/2013

Yes I do, I recently made Quince jam. It is the right sweetness for me. Obviously the sweetness depends on the amount of sugar added

CentaurX
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Joined: 12/03/2013

Does anyone know a video editing alternative? At least something like Camtasia... I've used After Effects, I don't think there is something that huge done here... But I sometimes need it...

onpon4
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Joined: 05/30/2012

No free video editing software is as good as the good proprietary video editing software. But some choices are PiTiVi, OpenShot, Lombard, and LiVES. I've used all of those except Lombard; OpenShot is more or less as good as Windows Movie Maker; PiTiVi has advanced features, but often has problems exporting to video files; and LiVES is incredibly confusing, so I never figured out what its capabilities are.

CentaurX
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Joined: 12/03/2013

Could any of them export in Ogg Theora? (Or WebM which I suppouse is for internet use only)

Magic Banana

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Joined: 07/24/2010

Because it uses GStreamer, PiTiVi (in Trisquel's default install) can import/export any video format.

onpon4
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Joined: 05/30/2012

WebM is perfectly good for non-web use. But yes, they can all export Theora, and same goes for WebM and Matroska. PiTiVi has a tendency to fail to export many of the formats it's supposed to support, though, and I've gotten mixed results with it (and sometimes it crashes or locks up, so make sure you save before exporting in PiTiVi).

CentaurX
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Joined: 12/03/2013

Why don't we make a topic specific about it? And in the Spanish forums they're planning to make videos to promote free software as well as Trisquel. Why don't we begin as well? I mean, we can begin by discussing what software can we use to edit our videos! :D

icarolongo
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Joined: 03/26/2011

The best is Blender, Kdenlive and OpenShot.

Platypus333
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Joined: 12/10/2010

When I print sticker-labels I use LibreOffice Writer and find a template for the size of labels used, such as these: http://www.worldlabel.com/Pages/openoffice-template.htm

If you need pictures on your labels, take a look at: http://openclipart.org/

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For the visual-thinking and mind-map proprietary software called Inspiration, an alternative would be:

http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page (Trisquel package: freemind)

(If this is one you have already tried and didn't fit your needs, try to describe the specific features that you require.)

Or check the top of this page for some free alternatives:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_concept-_and_mind-mapping_software

and the top of this page:

http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Alternatives_to_FreeMind

SteveGeemaggio
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Joined: 01/06/2013

Hi Axgb,

I've read that Libreoffice Draw can be used as an alternative to Microsoft Publisher. It definitely has the capabilities to open and edit Publisher files anyway. Also Scribus is supposed to be good.

Hope this helps!

Steve

axgb
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Joined: 09/22/2013

Glabel is really really good. I will use that from now on. I just printed a label to identify a usb hdd. The thing to make your own design is great, better than publisher. If I had known about this when I was printing labels for a optical disk with publisher... What happened is a used the wrong template, with publisher, and it was somewhat missaligned.

bmw2qs
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Joined: 12/20/2013

As far as I know there is NO equivalent to Microsoft Publisher.

Some people have mentioned Scribus, but Scribus is the equivalent of a complete Desktop Publishing, say InDesign or Quark. Maybe LibreOffice Writer has some of the functions, but none of the templates.

Also, you should think twice before chosing a subject line. «Microsoft Publisher alternative» would be far better than the generic subject in 7 words.

icarolongo
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Joined: 03/26/2011

Wikipedia says Microsoft Publisher is desktop publishing like Scribus.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Publisher

icarolongo
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Joined: 03/26/2011

LibreOffice 4.0 and Scribus 1.5.0 have support for Microsoft Publisher files.

G4JC
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Joined: 03/11/2012

Nifty site to find alternatives -
http://www.osalt.com/publisher

And as icarolongo mentioned those are your best bet; LibreOffice Writer or Drawing, and Scribus.

onpon4
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Joined: 05/30/2012

That site is horribly out-of-date.