Author Topic: Free Software (Read 12027 times)

JimB · « **on:** October 21, 2005, 11:37:00 AM »

Those who don't have the money to buy Microsoft's "Office 2003" but still wish to have an office suite might want to try OpenOffice 2.0 It is totally free but keep in mind it is a huge download. Only those with a highspeed connection will wish to tackle this downloda. However, it is possible that they will offer a CD for a small fee. They have done this in the past. You can find this office suite at... http://www.openoffice.org/

Richard Myers · « **Reply #1 on:** October 31, 2005, 04:17:00 AM »

What an encouragement for those who want to use Linux!! It evens sounds good for the rest of us! Thanks for the info, Brother Jim!

JimB · « **Reply #2 on:** October 31, 2005, 06:25:00 AM »

Yes, OpenOffice 2.0 is for Linux but it is also available for WindowsXX computers. Both versions are available for free. If someone takes the time to download this package. It would be my recommendation that you burn it to CD or DVD. That way if something happens you won't have to re-download it all over again.

Won Bae · « **Reply #3 on:** January 24, 2006, 03:43:00 PM »

There are some free softwares such as AVG,antivirus, antispywares by Lavasoft, and etc. These websites give you an option to buy or download a free version. Does any one know why these companies give out free wares? Do they get some thing from the users' computer?

Won

JimB · « **Reply #4 on:** January 24, 2006, 05:39:00 PM »

I believe we covered this somewhere else also but now we have a separate topic to deal with it.

Sometimes the websites themselves will tell you. They will have a mission statement or something similar.

However, those companies who also offer non-free products get their best advertising by word of mouth if people like their product. For instance... Lavasoft. They have a free version of their product that is available to people on an individual basis. Let's pretend you like it and it has saved you many times from spyware. The chances are that you're going to tell the IT department where you work how wonderful this software is and if they agree Lavasoft just profited from your company purchasing the commercial product for businesses.

Now on the other hand there is the belief that Free and open software makes for a better product. That is the reason why organizations like FSF (Free Software Foundation) exist. They believe that if someone codes a piece of software and make not only the program itself free to use but the original source code free to look at and modify; this will not only keep the programmers honest but it will also employ the talents of untold thousands of people who believe the same way. Maybe someone in Singapore is able to make the program work faster and reduce it's size. Well, everyone has just benefitted from this.

However, there are downsides to this also. Not everyone is willing to work for free or give out their ideas for free. But that is the very basic idea behind free software.

Here are a couple of websites that will give more detail concerning this.

http://www.fsf.org/

http://www.gnu.org/

http://www.opensource.org/

The next websites actually provide a place to look for and download free sortware. Chances are that if you're trying to do something. Someone else has thought about it also and made a piece of software to do it already. Not all these programs will be available for all operating systems but it is worth the look.

http://sourceforge.net/index.php (windows, linux, and pda)

http://freshmeat.net/ (linux only)

Richard Myers · « **Reply #5 on:** January 24, 2006, 08:08:00 PM »

Dr. Won, let me expound a little on what Brother Jim has said. First, a lot of the free software is free only for personal use. That is if you are a business or government, you must buy it. This is where they make their money.

Also, there is a lot of free software that is a very limited product. So, you begin using it and get used to it, then you find out that there are other useful features that you would like to have. Guess what? They exist for those who are willing to pay a price. So, you upgrade to get the features you need.

I am ready to do this with the free software that comes with most DVD burners. I have the idea that the upgrade will work better than the free edition. It also will have some features that will be useful. Since I use the software in business and need good quality and am tired of some of my DVD projects not buring correctly, I am hopeful it will be worth the price.

If anyone has experience in this area, please share. I am very disappoited that my CD burner does not work with my Sony DVD burning software. I did not know this until after I purchased the Sony burner. The software is Nero, but it is special for the Sony burner.

JimB · « **Reply #6 on:** March 20, 2006, 12:02:00 PM »

Brother Richard, I'm sorry I didn't respond to your question earlier. I don't completely understand the situation but let me guess...

You already had Nero. Later you purchased a Sony dvd burner but it came without burning software and Nero is not working well with your new drive. Is this correct or have I missed something?

JimB · « **Reply #7 on:** March 20, 2006, 12:05:00 PM »

I'm all about free software. Especially when it is good software. So I thought I'd share this with everyone else. I believe the software titles on this website is all open source. Meaning you are able to copy and use it as you please.

http://www.opensourcewindows.org/

Liane H · « **Reply #8 on:** March 21, 2006, 10:11:00 AM »

Hi Jim:

Is there any free stuff for such way behind people like me that still is using Windows ME?

I did download Mozilla Firefox and it works real good. The only thing is that sometimes when people send me attachments it will only accept Internet Explorer and I lose out in viewing it.

Liane, the Zoo Mama

Liane H · « **Reply #9 on:** March 21, 2006, 10:12:00 AM »

From what I have been told where I live right now I can only get Dial Up. So does that limit me with more advanced Windows?

I am so afraid of anything newer than Me.

Liane, the Zoo Mama

Richard Myers · « **Reply #10 on:** March 21, 2006, 10:56:00 AM »

The Sony DVD burner came with special Nero software that will not work with my second CD burner. They state it is just for the Sony.

JimB · « **Reply #11 on:** March 21, 2006, 11:26:00 AM »

Ah yes, this is very true. It is packaged special for the burner it came with. The only way around this is to purchase a full version of Nero. If you don't mind getting an older version you can find Nero on the net relatively cheap. The newest version/s will cost about $70.00. However, Nero is my favorite of all the burning software out there. It is a little more technical but it seems to always get the job done.

Now, if you wish I can provide links to some free burning software that will use any burner. However, it is not as reliable as Nero or Easy CD-Creator.

JimB · « **Reply #12 on:** March 24, 2006, 07:01:00 AM »

Sister Liane, dial-up only limits how fast you can download. Most of the newer software packages these days are in the mb's... so this means that if a person has dial-up it will take several hours to download software. Which is fine if you have patience and don't mind your phone line being busy for hours at a time or have a second phone line.

There are times when I suggest people move to XP however, if your computer currently has ME or 98 it probably would not be a good idea to put XP on it.

JimB · « **Reply #13 on:** August 22, 2006, 02:17:00 PM »

I just thought I'd post some links to some of my favorite FREE software. To my knowledge these programs don't have any spyware attached to them.

A really handy utility for editing sound files
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

For un-compressing zip and similar files
http://www.izarc.org/index.html

Print anything into a PDF fiel
http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator/

The best free photo editor
http://www.gimp.org/windows/

Alternative to Microsoft Office
http://download.openoffice.org/2.0.3/index.html

If you're a star gazer, you'll love this free astronomy program
http://www.stellarium.org/

Probably the best free picture viewer
http://www.irfanview.com/

Richard Myers · « **Reply #14 on:** August 22, 2006, 06:47:00 PM »

Will sourceforge convert PDF to HTML or txt?

Is there something out there that will. And... also on my wish list is a program to capture internet video and audio. I go to save most audio and video that has been streamed and can't.

JimB · « **Reply #15 on:** August 22, 2006, 07:04:00 PM »

Brother Richard, sourceforge.net is simply a website that sponsors free software. At sourceforge.net you can find such programs as Audacity and PDFconverter. There are thousands of free programs there.

I just love PDFconverter. It will convert anything that you can print into a PDF file. All you have to do once it is installed is print to "pdfconverter" instead of your printer and it will save what you're printing to a PDF file.

This how I archive most of the "websites" that I give links to here on TRO. Once I have a big collection of news stories in pdf format I burn them to cd.

Just about a month ago I was messing around with a program will capture both audio and video from any source so long as you can see it on your screen. However, I was having problems selecting the correct codec. The video would play at double speed while the audio was playing at normal speed. I'll see if I can find that program again and let you know where you can find it. I'm sure that with the correct codec it would work just fine.

JimB · « **Reply #16 on:** October 08, 2007, 07:45:00 AM »

VLC media player is a player that plays just about any video format. Anywhere from Divx to Mp4. The exception is that it won't play "real" video files. You can find it here...

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

Richard Myers · « **Reply #17 on:** October 09, 2007, 04:04:00 PM »

Did you work out the bugs with your video capture program? I really would like to capture streaming video off the internet!!

JimB · « **Reply #18 on:** October 15, 2007, 01:59:00 PM »

Sorry. No I didn't. My knowledge of codecs was just confused.

JimB · « **Reply #19 on:** January 25, 2008, 05:33:18 AM »

I just wanted to pass along a couple of links that have lots of useful free software. Some might find this handy...

http://www.thefreecountry.com/

http://techsupportalert.com/