FOSS for Students [ A Gold Mine of Great Software]
Free/Open Source Software (FOSS) offer an incredible wealth of great software for high school and college students.
Whether you're a high school student or just starting out with your college coursework, the free software community has provided a wide range of solutions to make life easier. Browsing the package repository of my Linux distribution led me to applications for everything from gene sequencing to particle physics, but there are a few real gems I think any student could benefit from, including math and chemistry tools such as TiLP, wxMaxima, Kalzium, Gnome Chemistry Utils, and OpenOffice.org Math.
TiLP
Just about everyone has a Texas Instruments calculator -- I have many myself. One of the great things about TI calculators is the number of programs you can download to them via a PC connection -- applications from calculus to statistics to games. Unfortunately, the company has yet to release a Linux version of its TI Connect software; the product supports only Windows and Mac OS.
However, a free software solution is available. TiLP is a GTK+-based program that supports all models of TI calculators and link cables and can be found in the Mathematics (Universe) repository for users of Ubuntu, LinuxMint and similar distributions.
TiLP's dependencies include a set of modules that enable access to
supported devices, as well as instructions for setting the proper
permissions for such access. How you invoke the program will depend on
your calculator and link cable hardware arrangement. I use primarily a
TI-89 and a SilverLink USB cable. TiLP requires you to pass the
command-line options to specifying this -- for example, tilp --calc=ti89 --cable=SilverLink.
Once you've done that, the application pops up and allows you to manage the contents of your calculator, install and remove programs and variables, and update the OS. You can also use TiLP to perform a ROM dump in order to use TiEmu, a TI emulator application for the desktop.
I would like to see TiLP include a program editor at some point, but it performs its current functions admirably.
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