Open Source & Free software

Being the head geek with eDOT means that I have to try and figure out ways of doing things that are on the cheap side. We still want to do things that look and work very professionally but we just have very tight budgets being in the missions world. Therefore, I just wanted to share with you some of the different open source and/or free software we/I use:

• Moodle – a LMS (Learning Management System) that we use to develop and run courses in. We also use it for several internal discussion boards.
• Wordpress – originally developed as a blogging system, it also is able to be used as a CMS (Content Management System). We use it for many of our websites that we develop for other groups.
• WordPressMU – a multi-user, multi-blog version of Wordpress that we use for our eDOT Teams website where we create a location for each team that comes on a short term trip to train them and help with intra-team communication.
• VMWare Server – a Virtual Machine server that allows us to quickly put up testing and production areas without interferring with our other areas and not requiring us to go out and purchase more equipment.
• Deki Wiki – yes, they have a free version. You just have to really look through their site to find it. This is perhaps one of the easiest to use Wikis out there. It has a great user interface and some great ways of interacting with our other systems. We use this to maintain documentation about, well, everything from server configurations to how to load a piece of software to documenting the projects we are working on.
• OSTicket – This is a streamlined web-based helpdesk application where users can fill out an online form or send an email to a specific address and it automatically creates a ticket for us geeks to work on. This is helping to reduce those requests from coming into our email box and just sitting there as a reminder until its done.
• LimeSurvey – This is a web-based survey tool that allows us to create and process surveys online. We use it for acquiring the skill sets of our volunteers and for other situations where we need to do a broadcast survey.
• Web2Project – a web-based Project Management tool we use to manage our various projects. It has some great mods including a Project Importer that allows me to develop a project using my Concept Draw Project software (or Microsoft Project) to develop the project plan and then import it into the web system.
• CentOS, Ubuntu, etc. – We use several different versions of Linux for various reasons but Linux is a very stable, streamlined server level operating system so it is perfect when using older equipment or just need something that does precisely what it says without all the flashy stuff (like an easy to use interface – our setups are usually command line).
• Apache, MySQL, PHP, Perl, FireFox, etc – Most of our more recent web development has been using these technologies. Before my arrival, most of the volunteers were Microsoft guys and so they were using systems that required ASP, .NET, etc but we are moving away from those (to some extent) so that we are not relying on Microsoft server technology as it costs more than a Linux box.
• OpenOffice – This cross-platform Office replacement application is great for those who just use the basics within the MS Office suites. We use this in our stuff where people just need the basics but can’t afford to purchase the full MS Office suite. This is our way of making sure they don’t just go out and get a bootlegged copy of MS Office since we’re showing them a legal way of getting software that still does everything they need it to. It’s powerful enough that several members of our team use it instead of buying MS Office.
• TrueCrypt – this open source encrypting software is great for encrypting local drives but we especially use it to encrypt USB memory sticks.

We’re also evaluating:

• FrontlineSMS – a free (to non-profits only) SMS system that allows you to do broadcast SMS or to be able to have auto-replys when someone SMS a keyword to your phone number. Works with the Clickatell online system or you can connect it to certain cell phones or a GSM modem with a SIM card. We’re looking at this for several different projects.
• Kannel – an open source WAP Gateway/SMS software. Cell phones are becoming more and more the way people are communicating and access the Internet. We’re looking at different ways to use the technology and I suspect Kanal is going to play a part in this.
• PortableApps – this suite of different applications is great for our work on USB memory sticks. Using this suite, we can run little, local webservers so a person can just pop in a USB stick and work on “web” based applications. Now they’re not really working on the web but they can share the USB sticks easily with other people.

Well, that just a short list of the different open source/free software we use at eDOT. Maybe one day I’ll go through some of the free software I use on my Mac or that we use on our Windows based computer centers. Maybe I should make a list of the free services we use online like Skype, DimDim.com, etc. What lists would you like to have?