Open source Microsoft Project competitor announced

Filed under: Business, Internet, Office, Open Source, Beta

Open source Microsoft Project competitor announced

by Peter White Aug 7th 2007

Microsoft Project, on the whole, is a pretty annoying entity. It doesn't come with Microsoft Office, so you have to buy it separately, which is expensive and annoying, like a high-end mime. And it's not like it's the most advanced program in the world, even though it is pretty good at telling you how far behind you are. Thankfully those beautiful open-source nerds have saved us once again. They're like pale, lonely super heroes. Projity will release a public beta of OpenProj, a free open-source competitor. Reportedly, OpenProj works with Windows, Linux, Unix, and Mac OsX. Word has it that OpenProj can also open native Microsoft Project files.

The Beta will be released on August 7th, the first day of the LinuxWorld San Francisco show. If it works anywhere near as well as Microsoft Project, it'll be a wonderful little tool to download. Free software is better than not free software, financially speaking. And open-source is a wonderful alternative to pirating Project. Not just because pirating Microsoft Project is so much sadder than pirating something fun, but also because stealing software is wrong. Never do it. Ahem. Projity already has more than 50 customers testing the software, and likely won't take too long to get all the kinks worked out. This sounds like good news.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

scheckley said 12:01PM on 8-07-2007

Open Gantt has been around for ages. Might give this a try.

iamhoff said 1:07PM on 8-07-2007

"They're like pale, lonely super heroes." Bwa ha ha ha ha!!!

Seriously, I will check it out. When I got Office 2007 for my new Vista machine, I just couldn't bring myself to drop another several hundy to get Project. But if OpenProj can work wtih native MS Project files (like Open Office), I'm in.

Mark W said 1:02AM on 8-09-2007

http://ganttproject.biz/

Gantt Project has been around a while and while it's still a bit immature, I was able to get it to do what I needed it to do.

Shane said 5:46AM on 8-22-2007

I've had a quick look at their site and am interested in the group product. Project on Demand. Lots of buttons to get you to sign up for a Free trial but I cannot find how much the subscription is after the free trial ends. Does anyone know?

Pritesh said 5:25PM on 9-25-2007

I'm searching for a system similar to Project Server, rather than a desktop project management tool. Any suggestions?

Featured Time Waster

Civiballs is a beautiful, soothing physics puzzle Time Waster

I have an absolute weakness for physics games, and while Civiballs isn't the strongest physics-based game, what it lacks in the physics department it makes up for a few times over in style and fun.

In Civiballs, you are presented with a few colored balls, and your goal is to get those balls into the same-colored urn on the level. The "civi" part of Civiballs is that there are 3 sets of levels to play, each representing a different civilization. While the civilization doesn't affect gameplay, the artwork for each level is beautifully themed to it's appropriate era.

To play the game, you are given only one tool - a sword with which to cut the chains that are holding the balls. The puzzle part of the game is in figuring out what order, and with what timing to cut each chain. Do it right, and all the right balls end up in the right urns, with no stray balls entering an urn (a no-no). Do it wrong, and you get to start over again.

Civiballs is not terribly deep on gameplay; the entire game can be completed in about 15 minutes. But if you enjoy this type of game, it will be a very enjoyable 15 minutes.

View more Time Wasters