Utilizing Open Source Programs for Non-Profit Organizations

[geozinger]

Hello everyone,

I thought I would get people's opinions on an idea I'm working on.

I do pro-bono work for several non-profit organizations in my area, and I'm able to utilize my work computer for these jobs. However, my time in one or two of these organizations is  term limited, and I will have to pass the responsibilities on to another person who may or may not have the same level of access to resources as I do here.

With that in mind, I was trying to develop a list of software that is cross-platform and open source, so we're not dealing with expired licenses and the fact that each person who comes into this position may have entirely different hardware than I do.

This is what I'm considering:
Scribus for page layout
GIMP for photo editing
Inkscape for vector editing

All of these are free or open source software and are all cross platform.

While I have yet to try these softwares, they would seem to satisfy my (empirical) needs. I know that commercial software was developed to satisfy commercial needs, but in the past I have downloaded free- or share- wares and gotten very good service from them. Although they were usually along the lines of DA's and single purpose software, like a photoshop filter, they got the job done and didn't nick my bottom line.

What do you think?

Does anyone have any better ideas?

Besides, this beats the same old Quark vs. InDesign posts I see everywhere else... :wink:

[30YearsandCounting]

It sounds like those are the obvious choices. But for what it's worth... we have a non-profit customer who uses Scribus for their magazine.  They produce "press-ready" PDFs right out of Scribus and hand them off to us.  The PDFs often tend to crap out at the Rip. Lots of work arounds and it does get done, but it's not easy.  And this is a black only job...

[Joe]

Yeah, I think what 30YearsandCounting said will be the biggest issue. Still has to be able to output somewhere.

[geozinger]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for responding. I get my share of oddball files from Open Source programs, and I understand what a PITA it is to make those files work.

Another poster on another board that I belong to put this all in perspective for me, and that I basically shouldn't shackle my replacement to a set of softwares/hardwares that I like in the misguided effort to make things easier.

I may work with it just to learn how to do things, but I may not recommend it for the organizations...