Open source replacement for MS Project

I have just learned about a new open source application called OpenProj. This application has similar features to Microsoft Project, and it can even import native Project files. One major advantage it has over MS Project is that it will run on Linux, Unix, Mac and Windows.

Open Proj is scheduled for release on August 7th, but you can download a beta from here. The download is a JNLP file, which is handled by the Java Web Start application. Once you run that file, it will install OpenProj. It is surprisingly easy to install, considering that I had it running in less than 30 seconds on Ubuntu 7.04.

It looks like the OpenProj team will be coordinating with the OpenOffice team, which I think is a great idea. They should combine marketing and distribution efforts so that these great open source applications can reach a wider audience.

Mark Shuttleworth has spoken in support of OpenProj:
"OpenProj is an exciting addition to the range of professional desktop applications that are available on the free software desktop today. It's increasingly possible to run your business on an entirely open Linux platform, with full compatibility across free software applications and your legacy documents. Congratulations to the Projity team for this milestone release!"
A pre-mature press release can be found here. There have also been a few recent articles about OpenProj.

Comments

  1. Anonymous8/03/2007 7:54 PM

    I'm not too much into this kind of project management software, but there has been planner around for quite some time. Maybe it can't compete with MS Project in every regard, but it might be more than sufficient for many users. And it's a native GTK app – I just don't like Java apps that don't integrate into my desktop...

    ReplyDelete
  2. morphado8/03/2007 9:41 PM

    in the contrary it's really a great milestone in open source software, as till now planner, kplato, taskjuggler are unfortunately not ready for serious works, openworkbench is a joke, it's supposed to be open source but guess what !! the scheduling algorithm is not yet open.

    so thanks really guy, all i hope is that they'll pick gpl license.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous8/04/2007 6:06 PM

    The application would integrate better to desktop if they automatically detected the environment (jre+gnome) and switched to the gtk theme. It is pretty simple to implement actually.

    ReplyDelete
  4. airTODO8/05/2007 5:24 AM

    I moved all my projects(including Project Management Tool) from java/swing to java/eclipse. I think, java + eclipse is perfect desktop integration solution. But even swing (from JRE 1.6 version have enhansed desktop support (open default E-mail client, open default browser, open file with default tool)

    ReplyDelete

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