I'd like to pose a question to the biological community here about data analysis tools for flow cytometry. Initially, I was thinking of posting something like this:

Alternatives to commercially available flow cytometric analysis software?

 

I know that many labs use either FlowJo or FCS Express to plot and analyze their flow data. These seem like the two standards for most labs (and I have used FlowJo before). However, my current funding does not cover software licenses and I'm not keen to pay $500-2000 out-of-pocket for a license. Are there alternatives that approach the quality of FlowJo/FCS Express but are open-source/free with an academic license? Tools including cell cycle analysis would be particularly helpful.

Looking at the on-topic page, my question doesn't seem to fall into either of these categories:

Which questions are off-topic?

 

• personal medical questions and health advice
• philosophical or ethical questions related to biology

However, the don't-ask page warns against some subjective questions and says that only "constructive" subjective questions are allowed.

Is my question appropriate? If not, how can I improve it so that it is?

Edit: Thanks for the feedback! I improved and posted the question.

I'd like to pose a question to the biological community here about data analysis tools for flow cytometry. Initially, I was thinking of posting something like this:

Alternatives to commercially available flow cytometric analysis software?

I know that many labs use either FlowJo or FCS Express to plot and analyze their flow data. These seem like the two standards for most labs (and I have used FlowJo before). However, my current funding does not cover software licenses and I'm not keen to pay $500-2000 out-of-pocket for a license. Are there alternatives that approach the quality of FlowJo/FCS Express but are open-source/free with an academic license? Tools including cell cycle analysis would be particularly helpful.

Looking at the on-topic page, my question doesn't seem to fall into either of these categories:

Which questions are off-topic?

• personal medical questions and health advice
• philosophical or ethical questions related to biology

However, the don't-ask page warns against some subjective questions and says that only "constructive" subjective questions are allowed.

Is my question appropriate? If not, how can I improve it so that it is?

Edit: Thanks for the feedback! I improved and posted the question.

I'd like to pose a question to the biological community here about data analysis tools for flow cytometry. Initially, I was thinking of posting something like this:

Alternatives to commercially available flow cytometric analysis software?

I know that many labs use either FlowJo or FCS Express to plot and analyze their flow data. These seem like the two standards for most labs (and I have used FlowJo before). However, my current funding does not cover software licenses and I'm not keen to pay $500-2000 out-of-pocket for a license. Are there alternatives that approach the quality of FlowJo/FCS Express but are open-source/free with an academic license? Tools including cell cycle analysis would be particularly helpful.

Looking at the on-topic page, my question doesn't seem to fall into either of these categories:

Which questions are off-topic?

• personal medical questions and health advice
• philosophical or ethical questions related to biology

However, the don't-ask page warns against some subjective questions and says that only "constructive" subjective questions are allowed.

Is my question appropriate? If not, how can I improve it so that it is?

Edit: Thanks for the feedback! I improved and posted the question.

I'd like to pose a question to the biological community here about data analysis tools for flow cytometry. Initially, I was thinking of posting something like this:

Alternatives to commercially available flow cytometric analysis software?

I know that many labs use either FlowJo or FCS Express to plot and analyze their flow data. These seem like the two standards for most labs (and I have used FlowJo before). However, my current funding does not cover software licenses and I'm not keen to pay $500-2000 out-of-pocket for a license. Are there alternatives that approach the quality of FlowJo/FCS Express but are open-source/free with an academic license? Tools including cell cycle analysis would be particularly helpful.

Looking at the on-topic page, my question doesn't seem to fall into either of these categories:

Which questions are off-topic?

• personal medical questions and health advice
• philosophical or ethical questions related to biology

However, the don't-ask page warns against some subjective questions and says that only "constructive" subjective questions are allowed.

Is my question appropriate? If not, how can I improve it so that it is?

Edit: Thanks for the feedback! I improved and posted the question.

I'd like to pose a question to the biological community here about data analysis tools for flow cytometry. Initially, I was thinking of posting something like this:

Alternatives to commercially available flow cytometric analysis software?

I know that many labs use either FlowJo or FCS Express to plot and analyze their flow data. These seem like the two standards for most labs (and I have used FlowJo before). However, my current funding does not cover software licenses and I'm not keen to pay $500-2000 out-of-pocket for a license. Are there alternatives that approach the quality of FlowJo/FCS Express but are open-source/free with an academic license? Tools including cell cycle analysis would be particularly helpful.

Looking at the on-topic page, my question doesn't seem to fall into either of these categories:

Which questions are off-topic?

• personal medical questions and health advice
• philosophical or ethical questions related to biology

However, the don't-ask page warns against some subjective questions and says that only "constructive" subjective questions are allowed.

Is my question appropriate? If not, how can I improve it so that it is?

I'd like to pose a question to the biological community here about data analysis tools for flow cytometry. Initially, I was thinking of posting something like this:

Alternatives to commercially available flow cytometric analysis software?

I know that many labs use either FlowJo or FCS Express to plot and analyze their flow data. These seem like the two standards for most labs (and I have used FlowJo before). However, my current funding does not cover software licenses and I'm not keen to pay $500-2000 out-of-pocket for a license. Are there alternatives that approach the quality of FlowJo/FCS Express but are open-source/free with an academic license? Tools including cell cycle analysis would be particularly helpful.

Looking at the on-topic page, my question doesn't seem to fall into either of these categories:

Which questions are off-topic?

• personal medical questions and health advice
• philosophical or ethical questions related to biology

However, the don't-ask page warns against some subjective questions and says that only "constructive" subjective questions are allowed.

Is my question appropriate? If not, how can I improve it so that it is?

Edit: Thanks for the feedback! I improved and posted the question.