Software Standards¶
Legend¶
Mandatory software is in boldface. Mandatory software must be installed and configured on your machine, and you should be prepared to use it as needed. You may use alternatives, as long as your work is fully compatible with the mandatory software. Documentation assumes you’re using the mandatory software, unless otherwise noted. In-house support may be limited for workflows with non-mandatory software.
Recommended alternative software is in regular face. If an alternative to mandatory software is needed or desired, we recommend these be considered first. In-house support is still generally available.
Optional alternative software is in italics. In-house support for these is limited.
† Transitional only, not for final file output.
‡ Limited support, no in-house tech support.
$ Proprietary, permitted but not officially supported by the company. Should be used transitionally.
Software Recommendations¶
Office Software¶
Office Suites¶
LibreOffice 6
Calligra
OpenOffice.org ‡
Documents¶
LibreOffice Writer 6
AbiWord
Calligra Words
OpenOffice.org Writer ‡
Spreadsheets¶
LibreOffice Calc 6
Calligra Sheets
OpenOffice.org Calc ‡
Presentations¶
LibreOffice Impress 6
Calligra Stage
OpenOffice.org Impress ‡
Flowcharts¶
Dia
LibreOffice Draw 6
Calligra Flow
OpenOffice.org Draw ‡
Office Database¶
LibreOffice Base 6
Calligra Kexi
OpenOffice.org Base ‡
PDF Annotation¶
Xournal
Math and Formulas¶
LibreOffice Math 6
GeoGebra
ZeGrapher
OpenOffice.org Math ‡
Collaborative Editing¶
Visual Studio Code: Live Share (text/code only)
Etherpad [DevNet] (text/code only)
AbiWord ‡
Desktop Publishing¶
Scribus
LibreOffice Writer 6
Calligra Words
OpenOffice.org Writer ‡
Mindmapping¶
Calligra Braindump
Freemind
Desktop Email Client¶
Evolution
Thunderbird
Geary
Web Browser¶
Brave
Firefox
Chromium
Opera
Vivaldi
Emulator¶
VirtualBox
Graphics Design¶
Image Manipulation¶
GIMP
Screenshots¶
FlameshotJS
Shutter
Raster Graphics¶
GIMP
Krita (Calligra)
Vector Drawing¶
Inkscape
Calligra Karbon
Photography¶
Darktable
RawTherapee
Image Conversion¶
Converseen
3D Design¶
Blender
Video Editing¶
Kdenlive
Shotcut
Pitvi
OpenShot
Roxio NXT Creator 2 $
Audio/Music¶
Recording and Editing¶
Audacity
Ardour DAW
Apple GarageBand $†
Music Creation¶
LMMS
Hydrogen
Garritan $†
Apple GarageBand $†
Music Score¶
MuseScore
Programming¶
Text Editor¶
Visual Studio Code
Atom
Geany
KATE
Nano
Vim
Brackets ‡
Emacs ‡
Sublime $‡
Build Tools¶
CMake
C/C++ IDE¶
Visual Studio Code
Atom
Code::Blocks
Geany
Vim
Anjuta ‡
Brackets ‡
CodeLite ‡
Eclipse CDT ‡
Emacs ‡
Kdevelop ‡
Netbeans ‡
Sublime $‡
C/C++ Debuggers and Dynamic Analysers¶
Visual Studio Code (debugging frontend)
gdb or lldb
KCacheGrind
Valgrind
Bless Hex Editor
Nemiver
Sysprof
C/C++ Static Analysers and Formatters¶
clang-format
cppcheck
AStyle
cccc
C/C++ Testing¶
Goldilocks
Containers¶
Docker
RestructuredText IDE¶
Visual Studio Code
Atom
Geany
Vim
Brackets ‡
Collaboration/Pair Programming¶
Visual Studio Code: Live Share
Python IDE¶
Visual Studio Code
Atom
Geany
NINJA-IDE
PyCharm Community Edition
Vim
Aptana ‡
Brackets ‡
Emacs ‡
Eric ‡
Pydev ‡
Kdevelop ‡
Spyder ‡
Sublime $‡
Python Debuggers and Dynamic Analysers¶
pdb
pudb
Python Static Analysers and Formatters¶
black
flake8 (includes PyFlakes, pycodestyle, mccabe)
bandit
flake8-bandit
flake8-datetimez
flake8-docstrings
flake8-pytest
flake8-mypy
flake8-regex
flake8-requirements
mypy
pydocstyle
pylint
Python Testing¶
pytest
ward
Version Control Software¶
Git
Arcanist
Meld
Git Cola
Operating Systems¶
Ubuntu
Debian
Kubuntu
Linux Mint
Lubuntu
Ubuntu Studio
Xubuntu
Arch Linux ‡
Fedora ‡
Windows 10 with WSL ‡
Disallowed Software¶
Note
This list doesn’t apply to open source contributors, although we strongly discourage use of the software below.
Why Disallow Software?¶
The idea of “Officially Disallowing” software for company use might initially seem to be overkill, but there is a logic to it. The decision is, again, not made lightly. In most cases, the software title in question contains security and privacy issues, bugs, or compatibility issues that make its use a significant business and development risk. In other cases, the software is disallowed on grounds of licensing issues. Paying several thousand dollars extra for commercial licensing is impractical when there is equivalent open-source software available.
It is worth noting that, while not the sole factor, drastic conflicts in business ethics were also taken into consideration. MousePaw Media is built around the conviction that educational and creative technologies should be accessible to everyone, not just those with a lot of money. Relying on corporations whose business practices are at stark odds with this ethic is, frankly, counter-intuitive.
Disallowed Software List¶
The following may NOT be used for company purposes, under any circumstances, unless otherwise noted or unless special permission is given by a supervisor. If you need more details, talk to Jason C. McDonald directly. (You are welcome to use these for personal reasons all you want.
Adobe¶
No Adobe products may be used for development, due to licensing costs, file-type compatibility, and ethical concerns. (All useful Adobe products have an open-source equivalent in our present standards.) This includes Adobe Flash.
Autodesk¶
No Autodesk products may be used for development, due to licensing costs, file-type compatibility, and ethical concerns. (All useful Autodesk products have an open-source equivalent in our present standards.) This includes AutoCAD, 3ds Max, Maya, and Sketchbook.
Existing files may be opened with personal copies of Autodesk software for review and export purposes only.
MP3 File Format¶
Due to licensing and patent concerns, the MP3 format may NOT be used for any audio.
EXCEPTION: A copy (NOT the master) of the audio may be saved as an MP3 for compatibility with third-party services and software. Distribution in MP3 is only allowed if the distribution platform strictly requires that format.
Microsoft Internet Explorer¶
Due to serious security and performance issues, Microsoft Internet Explorer is NOT to be used under any circumstances for company purposes, including (but not limited to) accessing the staff network, company-commissioned web design, or accessing any website for work-related reasons.
Microsoft Office¶
Due to some ODT compatibility issues, and a lack of in-company training and support, Microsoft Office is NOT to be used on any company documents.
Trimble SketchUp (formerly Google SketchUp)¶
Due to licensing costs, SketchUp may only be used for internal idea drafting, and is strongly discouraged even for this.
Microsoft Windows¶
As of 2019, due to revisions in the Terms of Service and Privacy Policies for Microsoft, we have lifted the ban on Microsoft Windows. However, we still require Linux for development work. In circumstances where Linux is directly uninstallable on a work machine, Windows 10 with Windows Subsystem for Linux may be used.