Public Software

Benefits from adopting Public Software

1. Since public software is freely shareable, it can be available free of cost. It can be installed on all computers without restriction or needing to pay license fees to vendors
2. The GNU/Linux operating system is virus-free. This means no need to procure anti-virus software and no need to periodically format the computers when it is virus affected. This saves lot of time and effort.
3. Since all the software like Office, web browser, educational software can be bundled with GNU/Linux operating system, so all applications can be installed on the computer at one time. On proprietary operating system, each software has to be separately installed.
4. Ubuntu is customised in Kannada and Indian languages. Ubuntu has IBUS software which can allow us to type in all major Indian languages, including Kannada, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Marathi etc. so it can be used in our schools for other languages also. Ubuntu uses UNICODE standard for fonts, accepted internationally and by Government of India
5. Ubuntu GNU/Linux has more than one crore users. OpenOffice more than 4 crore users across the world. It is easy to use. It works on both Windows and Ubuntu operating systems.
6. There are many public vocational educational tools like in desktop publishing, video editing, animation etc which can provide employment options to students. There are good public software tools that engineering students can use to learn their subjects. These public tools are as good as proprietary software which are far too expensive to install in schools and colleges.
7. Students can install these tools in their laptops and use it whenever they want it

See more reasons for using public software.

Basic Public Software applications

There are excellent public software alternatives to commonly used proprietary software as below.

Commonly used applications

Public software tools available and widely used on personal computers.

Area	Public Software	Proprietary Software
Operating System	Ubuntu GNU-Linux / Bhartiya Open Source System (BOSS from CDAC)	Microsoft Windows
Office Applications	Open Office / LibreOffice	Microsoft Office
Email client	Mozilla Thunderbird / Evolution	Microsoft Outlook
Internet Browser	Mozilla Firefox / Chrome	Internet Explorer
	Vocational Educational tools
Desktop Publishing	GIMP, Inkscape, Scribus	Page Maker, Corel Draw
Video editing	PiTiVi, Kdenlinve, Openshot	Adobe photoshop, Final Cut Pro
Audio Editing	Audacity	Wavepad
Animation	Blender, Scratch	Adobe Macromedia
	Engineering software tools (for engineering colleges and polytechniques)
Engineering drawing	Q CAD, CollabCad (NIC), FreeCad, Librecad	AutoCAD
Numerical computing	SCILAB	MATLAB

Educational Software

Public educational software applications is available in all subjects, which allows us to integrate computer into regular teaching learning. Table below provides public education software tools subject wise.

Subject	Public Software	Description
SCIENCE	Kalzium	Kalzium shows the periodic table and the properties of elements. It is an encyclopedia, explaining states of matter, evolution of elements. Basic equations can be balanced using this tool.
	KStars	Desktop planetarium-Astronomy with over 130000 stars, all planets, etc.
	Stellarium	This is a desktop planetarium software that shows exactly what you see when you look up at the stars.
	PhET	Fun, interactive simulations of physical phenomenon
	KTechLab	Can be used to build your own circuits and explain various components
MATHS	Geogebra	An algebra and geometry package providing for both graphical and algebraic input, very versatile to create lesson plans and resources for maths learning
	Tux Math	A fun game through which children can practise their addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.
	KBruch	This tool can be used to explain fractions as well as for the children to practice arithmetic problems.
LOGIC	Kturtle	K Turtle can be used to create exercises to learn logic.
	Turtle art
SOCIAL STUDIES	KGeography	Quiz on different states and capitals across the globe
	Marble	This acts as a dynamic desktop atlas.
ENGLISH	KHangman	Guess the correct work with a certain number of guesses allowed
	KAnagram	Unscramble the word
	KLettres	Identify the alphabets by recognising the sound
	Tux Typing	Tux Typing" is an educational typing tutor.

Additional public educational applications

1. Blender
2. Gimp
3. Pixlr - web based
4. Scratch
5. MIT App Inventor 2
6. Code.org resources
7. Mozilla Popcorn Maker