Open Source Software on OS X for Mac

The Open Source Community is a broad church, gaining strength from its diversity. Whilst many of us use Linux on at least one of our machines, there's a (growing) number of educators who favour Macs. The operating system upon which Macs run (OSX) is based on Unix, a system to which Linux is closely allied.

Open Source Software (OSS) for Macs is an oft-neglected topic so hopefully the recommendations below will serve to go some way to redress that imbalance!

Well-known OSS applications also available for OSX

• Audacity (sound recorder & editor)
• Firefox (web browser)
• FreeMind (mind-mapping program)
• The GIMP (image editor)
• Handbrake (DVD ripper and video converter - formerly OSX-specific!)
• KompoZer (web page editor)
• Miro (HD video player & Bittorrent client)
• OpenOffice.org (and NeoOffice - office suites)
• VLC (versatile video player)
• XMind (mind-mapping program - can host mindmaps online)

OSS applications that are OSX-specific

• Adium (instant messaging client)
• Cyberduck (FTP client)
• ffmpegX (video transcoder)
• Q (an emulator allowing Linux, Windows and other operating systems to be run in a virtual machine)
• Quicksilver ('unified, extensible interface for working with applications, contacts, music, and other data')
• Romeo (control Mac via Bluetooth)
• Seashore (image editor)
• SimplyBurns (CD/DVD burning software)
• Transmission (Bittorrent client)

A wonderful, wonderful suite of programs is available for OSX called MacLibre. This features a wealth of OSS, auto-updates, and is a graduate of the Google Summer of Code competition. I would recommend any Mac user to install this - what have you got to lose?

More Open Source software for OSX is listed at Open Source Mac. A more comprehensive list is available, of course, at Sourceforge.

Are YOU using your Mac in the classroom? We'd love to hear what OSS you're running!