Web Development Tools

Been doing allot of web development lately and would like to write about the free tools that I have been using. This article is written from a programmers prospective cover tools and methods used for designing. There is one major advantage to this over WSIWYG editors, and that is cleaner code is achievable leading to a faster web application.

Actually have been working with ASP.NET MVC and Silverlight. They are a very powerful tool set, Silverlight is a Microsoft replacement for Adobe's Flash Player. They have there own WYSIWYG editor that also doubles as the GUI designer for Windows 7 Phones. Again is a really great tool set for someone for a programmer, but expensive for indie or freelance developers (although Express Tools are free from Microsoft). I am working on a ASP.NET site for myself and one client, and am utilizing C# and making it a rich interactive experience with Silverlight rather then flash.

For another client there website is hosted by a server run off a wind farm! Not relevant but cool either way. There site is hosted on a Debian GNU/Linux server and runs in PHP with mySQL databases. Am a huge fan of Debian GNU/Linux and it's derivatives like Ubuntu as they provide free alternatives to Microsoft. Apple computers and phones as well as the Androids and other things like the lottery machines at the gas station or the stock exchange all run code built on top of the Open Source GNU/Linux kernel.

The tools used for this project are:

Opera - Web browser with added security and extra features for users and developers.
FileZilla - Open Source FTP file transfer program.
Notepad++ - Open Source Source Code Editor and Notepad replacement.
Bluefish - Powerful Open Source Editor targeted towards programmers and webdesigners.
GIMP - Open Source GNU Image Manipulation Program.

This site was in place already and was made with a web based Content Management System. The site is being made to look more modern and have some other content like surveys and forms. I've been using these tools along a bunch of open source PHP scripts and apps.

Must cut this short and get back to work, please return for part 2 and we'll go into more detail about the Open Source Tools. Visit the site using Open Source, software at Go Evergreen and the app that's still under construction to send E cards at E Card from Evergreen.

Go Evergeen Printing and Direct Mailing

Linux Multimedia Studio

Am a long time fan of the piano and jazz music, but never really took the time to actually get good any particular instrument. With LMMS it's a little different, still gonna take patience and practice, but one person can become the whole band, without mastering an instrument but instead setting beat tracks and tweaking sound setting till it is perfect.

LMMS is a free cross-platform alternative to commercial programs like FL Studio®, which allow you to produce music with your computer. This includes the creation of melodies and beats, the synthesis and mixing of sounds, and arranging of samples. You can have fun even more fun by plugging in a MIDI-keyboard (pretty much any keyboard) and recording from it.

Download for Windows and Linux at http://lmms.sourceforge.net/download.php

Now to see it in action is pretty amazing. Some users share there songs on the official LMMS website hosted by sourceforge.net Below is an overview of a sample for in LMMS.

This is a track put together in Linux using LMMS or Linux Multimedia Studio. All sounds are generated internally and LADSPA plugins are used for all processing.
Song download here:
soundcloud.com/flujo/stranger-linux-multimedia-studio

Software:
LMMS - Linux Multimedia Studio
lmms.sourceforge.net/
Linux OS
ubuntu.com/
LADSPA - effects plugins
ladspa.org/

Magazines and More with Scribus

    Scribus, an open source page layout program for Linux/UNIX, Mac OS X, OS/2 Warp 4, eComStation and Windows desktops. It is perfect for designing flyers, pamphlets, or magazines.

Since its humble beginning in the spring of 2001, Scribus has rapidly evolved into one of the premier Open Source desktop applications. Encouraged by professionals and beginners alike, the Scribus Team, supported by a large and constantly growing number of enthusiastic contributors from all over the world, is dedicated to develop and improve “one of the most powerful and useful open-source projects out there” (TechRepublic). Scribus is now completely cross-platform and runs natively on Linux/Unix, Mac OS X, OS/2 Warp 4, eComStation and Windows.

    Underneath a user-friendly interface, Scribus supports professional publishing features, such as CMYK colors, spot color support, ICC color management and versatile PDF creation.

    Scribus has many unexpected touches, such as powerful vector drawing tools, support for a huge number of file types via import/export filters, emulation of color blindness or the rendering of markup languages like LaTeX or Lilypond inside Scribus. The Scribus file format is XML-based and open. Unlike proprietary binary file formats, even damaged documents can be recovered with a simple text editor – sometimes a challenging problem with other page layout programs. Scribus has been translated into more than 25 languages, and more are coming in the future.

   Scribus has really good and thorough documentation that has a focus on a more structured approach, which provides much more information about the practical use of the program. It is filled with priceless background information from Peter Linnell the original writer of the documentation.

This is a random community overview/tutorial for Scribus, there are many more of various quality.

    If this program is useful, or helped with making money why not donate to Scribus. This can be done for free by reporting bugs, helping with translations, or just sharing it with others. Can also support them by purchasing the guides.

Track Your Cash

With GnuCash

Everyone should keep track of how much money is going where easily. While GnuCash does allot more then just balance books, that is just scratching the surface. Who knows maybe just using the program for that reason will influence my judgement to a point to where saving a few dollars might actually be possible. Guess only time will tell though.

GnuCash is personal and small-business financial-accounting software, freely licensed under the GNU GPL and available for GNU/Linux, BSD, Solaris, Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows.

Designed to be easy to use, yet powerful and flexible, GnuCash allows you to track bank accounts, stocks, income and expenses. As quick and intuitive to use as a checkbook register, it is based on professional accounting principles to ensure balanced books and accurate reports.

Feature Highlights

QIF/OFX/HBCI Import, Transaction Matching
Reports, Graphs
Scheduled Transactions
Financial Calculations

Double-Entry Accounting
Stock/Bond/Mutual Fund Accounts
Small-Business Accounting
Customers, Vendors, Jobs,
Invoices, A/P, A/R

Features

Checkbook-Style Register

The checkbook-style register provides a custom, convenient and familiar interface to entering financial transactions. The register supports common checking and credit-card transactions, as well as income, stock and currency transactions.

Double Entry

Every transaction must debit one account and credit others by an equal amount. This ensures that the "books balance": that the difference between income and outflow exactly equals the sum of all assets and equity.

Reports, Graphs

GnuCash has an integrated reporting and graphing module, and comes complete with a full suite of standard and customizeable reports, such as Balance Sheet, Profit & Loss, Portfolio Valuation, and many others.

Income/Expense Account Types

Income/Expense Account Types (Categories) allow you to categorize your cash flow. When used properly with the double-entry feature and equity accounts, these enable you to generate reports, such as Profit & Loss, that plain-vanilla systems cannot handle.

Multiple Currencies

Different accounts can be denominated in different currencies. Currency movements between accounts are fully balanced when double-entry is enabled.

Stock/Mutual Fund Portfolios

Track stocks individually (one per account) or in portfolio of accounts (a group of accounts that can be displayed together).

Small Business Accounting Features

Simplify managing a small business with Customer and Vendor tracking, Invoicing and Bill Payment, and Tax and Billing Terms.

Open Source Relish