Gnu Programs on Win32
Posted 8:27 AM

Because I keep forgetting, I'm posting this as a reminder to myself that you can get nearly all the best GNU tools running on Windows. I use MinGW, G++, and gdb as my compiler suite of choice... but there's also programs like "calc", which I go rooting around looking for on Windows.

But this list is more than comprehensive, continins full binaries and works on every old, wonky and new, fancy version of Windows out there.

Labels: open source, programming

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Logo Maker
Posted 11:19 AM

MkLogo allows you to generate an image of some text in any font chosen (or uploaded). The "effects" are essentially parameterized shell scripts of ImageMagick examples. I used CoolText for a lot of quick site logos, but I got tired of the "glitzy" styles. Fonts aren't all categorized yet. Maybe I should make them editable, see how that plays out. Don't ask me why I seem to need to get a new domain name every time I write a small program. Habit borne of dotcom days.

Labels: open source, programming, web development

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Open source projects crowded out by ads
Posted 9:18 AM

SO, I wanted to print to a PDF file on my Windows XP box. I know that there must be someone who built an GNU PDF driver, but finding it was difficult. Major search engines, like Google, just can't seem to realize that what I really want is something like PDFCreator (3rd page of my search), and not the various paid and/or spyware-installing packages, like CutePDF, DocUDesk, Win2PDF, etc.

This is a common practice on the internet now. Download some open source (in this case, ghostscript), make a trivial installer or front-end for it (even if an open source one is readily available), and then either charge for it or put spyware all over the installer. Since the installer is their source code, they aren't violating the GPL.

Why isn't the open source version more prominently listed at Google? Because commercial vendors can afford to flood the internet with advertising. Using free software to provide paid-for services, is one thing. But repackaging free software with spyware is something else.

Hopefully some people needing PDF software will find this article first, before they install.

Labels: google, open source, software

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