Our
May meeting, held at Cuddington Golf
Club was on the subject of ICT for
business.
The presenters were Paul Cawthorne
of P&G
Computers and Kevin Golding of
Wired4Work.
After a delicious sit-down meal including
dessert (those members who don't come
to Cuddington don't know what they
miss!) Kevin and Paul first looked
at some examples of free software
that could save businesses a great
deal of money and avoid the temptation
of using unlicensed copies, with the
potential of getting caught out.
Open Source
Most of this type of software is called
Open Source which means it is freely
available to anyone to use, though
its use must be acknowledged and any
enhancements made available to other
users. Hence the software evolves
and adds functionality through organic
processes.
Ubuntu!
Ubuntu is an open source operating
system that can be used instead of
Windows, avoiding the Windows license
fee. Ubuntu is used by a huge number
of organisations including government
and many ISP's for their web servers.
Kevin distributed copies of Ubuntu
(which is more secure generically
than Windows) to those who wanted
to try it out.
Open Office
Ubuntu comes with another piece of
important free software - Open Office,
which can be downloaded from the web
in its own right. Of course this is
a free-to-use version of Microsoft
Office, with which we are all familiar.
Open Office has most of the features
which you will need, yet can save
you several hundred pounds.
Joomla
For website creation, particularly
where you want to be able to change
content yourself, Joomla is an open
source, and therefore free, solution.
It comes with ranges of templates
although it can also be applied to
original designs.
Homeplug
On a separate subject, the use of
Homeplug was discussed. This is an
alternative to wireless or impractical
cabled networks, which is easy to
set up and very reliable, using the
internal mains wiring of a building.
A series of questions and answers
followed at the end of yet another
valuable, money-saving presentation
from Surrey Business Club. Contact
Kevin or Paul for further information.
Click
here for a photo slideshow from
the evening
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