DEV Community: ImtiazKun

Great Open Source Alternatives for paid products.

ImtiazKun — Fri, 19 Mar 2021 16:21:24 +0000

Why pay for software?

Before I start suggesting some great open source products, you might raise a very important question - "Why should I care?"

Here's why you should care:

You don't receive support if your cracked software fails while you work on something very important.
The Good Lord above might not be quite happy about stealing.
If you are not paying with money, you're giving away something else.

Here's a List of Open Source Alternatives to proprietary software

Operating System:

If you did not install the anniversary edition of Windows 10 then hey there's a whole universe of free Linux Distributions.
Why use Linux?

Free
Secure
Used by a big community
You have a lot of control
Not one is spying on you.
And it has a lot of Distros. Each distro is geared towards a specific community. Every distro is more or less the same OS with different components and advantages/disadvantages.
Some popular distros are Linux Mint, Ubuntu Mint, Kali, Debian, Arch, etc ...

Game Engine:

A very good alternative to Unity and Unreal engine is Godot. I wouldn't say that Godot is catching up fast or anything. But here's why you should try out Godot:

It's free and open source. You won't see the splash screen containing the Unity or Unreal Engine logo.
It's thriving. It's growing fast and getting new updates.
Uses OpenGL but soon it will start the use of Vulkan.
You can edit the code to your liking.
Very light weight and runs on almost all devices.
It has a C# and C++ variant. But using the default GDScript is pretty fun. Get it. It's free. Godot Official Website

Image Manipulator:

Photoshop is a great tool but the subscription method is killing our wallets. Not everyone earns a fortune. So, if you want to get started with Photo editing then I recommend start with a free software. The terms might be different but if you learn the process then you can easily switch between software. Gimp is a great software and here's why you should try out Gimp:

It's free!!
It's light weight.
You don't have to install any other software to download it unlike Photoshop you can download it directly from their website.
Light weight and small installer size. Gimp website

Vector Graphics Software:

A good alternative to Adobe Illustrator is InkScape. It's available on Windows, Linux and MacOS.
You can great great vector art for your game, website or application.
Benefits of using this software:

You don't have to pay.
You don't have to steal if you don't want to pay.
Professional Grade tool.
Has good tutorials.

3D Modelling Application:

Blender is no joke. If you tried it you know it. Industry standard application for free :D.
Benefits you ask?

Free
Powerful
Light weight
Open Source Download Blender Today!

Video Editing Software:

With new updates Blender is now pretty good in editing videos. So, you can count on Blender to do the editing stuff.
Other than that you can use Flowblade or Kdenlive if you find Blender hard.

Office Suite:

LibreOffice is really great. From creating presentations to databases you have in all that Microsoft Office can do for free. Libre Office Website.

Screen Recorder:

OBS or Open Broadcaster Software is a open source screen recorder that you can use for capturing game play, tutorials, streaming etc. I've used it and it was great. Even though it's free it will compete well against most paid counterparts.
OBS Website

Honorable Mentions:

Audacity for editing Audio.
Apache OpenOffice - Office Suite
Cam Studio for recording your screen.

With that the article comes to an completion. Hope everyone lives a healthy and piracy free life but Adobe does not deserve our love.

Can't decide what to use for your application?

ImtiazKun — Sun, 23 Aug 2020 07:09:09 +0000

This article was written for a lot of the folks out there who face problems while deciding what language to use, what framework to use, and a bunch more.

Here are some points listed that you should consider before choosing what to use.

Does it have the features you need

Ask yourself does it have the utilities you need or does it not. If it does then congratulations but if doesn't then look ahead.

Community

Is it dead or do people still use it, is important. For debugging purposes a large and welcoming community is really helpful. If it is dead/fewer people use it then it will be hard for you to find help when the bugs invade.

Learning Curve

You don't just want one weapon in your arsenal. Nicely documented tools are the best.

Client's Opinion

Make sure it has few marketing lines that impress the clients. It would be waste if the clients aren't happy.

Have a nice day <3!

Mistakes you'll do when you start and how to avoid them

ImtiazKun — Sat, 22 Aug 2020 15:35:59 +0000

Things to Avoid

Learning everything

Believe me or not. Take advice from someone who had done this mistake once. Coding turns into an obsession once you start to take a liking to it but passion isn't the only thing that matters. You should spend time with your family and friends too. Remember this:

Learning every programming language would be a waste of your precious memory.

Memorizing functions

Docs exist for a reason. Real pros don't memorize everything, they read the docs.

Imposter Syndrome

I know, I've been through this too. There are tons of pros showing off their skills online and among so many pros it's normal to feel depressed. Don't feel low though. You're new and the pros struggled the same way you are.

Getting distracted

So, you were learning game development but now got interested in Machine Learning/ Web Development? Fear not my friend it happens but don't let it persist. Set goals and finish them. Starting new things is not bad but leaving works unfinished is evil. Don't do that.

Remember:

Documentations are love.
Stick to your goals.
Stay motivated
Don't compare yourself to others

Learn new things and Innovate <3.