Understanding Free Software

Software technology is an integral part of information technology. If you own a Personal Computer or if you are a regular computer user, then you will most likely need software now and again. This may be for personal use or for business. More often than not, you need to upgrade your software or buy new software.

The good news is that there are lots of free software online that you can use. However, the term 'free software' can be rather confusing and you may end up getting the wrong software or wasting your money buying software that you can freely download over the Internet.

We need to look at major definitions of 'free software' so that we can later make useful classification and identify which 'free software' is most beneficial to you as a 'software user.

In order to choose 'free software', you have to be sure what you want do with the software. Is the software for personal use or do you want to resell it? Is it for free distribution over the Internet? The following is my opinion based on need:

I just need very good software for personal use

If all you need is very good software, search the web for good quality freeware - yes I am sure there are some very good quality freeware online. I also know there are loads of half -baked freeware out there. However, many software companies have free edition software that may not include certain functions; they called this 'limited edition' or 'free edition'. This does not mean the software is sub-standard. All it means is that, if you want to add more functionality to the free edition, then you will need to upgrade to the so called 'Professional edition' or 'full edition' for a fee.

More often than not, you don't need more than the free edition software. For instance if you are just an every-day user and all you want to do is to send flashy html emails to your friends and family, I can assure you, there are free html bulk mailers online that can do the job perfectly well for you; and this won't cost you a penny! Another example is AVG free antivirus software with a lot of kudos. You may also use open source software for games and entertainment, programming, education and whatever. In fact you can use most of the software categories listed in this article.

I am a web master or a programmer

If you are a webmaster with some programming experience, a programmer or a regular user with some technical expertise, you can go for open source software or free software as described above. A lot of times, you may need to tweak the software to suit your personal needs. You may also need to install one script or the other. This type of software is much easier for webmasters and programmers (sometimes for end users) to use, and distributed with documentation and the source code. You can also repackage the software for sale if you so wish.
You may redistribute freeware, but your can not sell it or change it. You can not use or sell software created for non commercial purposes on your website. You may however use public domain software.

In conclusion, there are tons of free software online. Utilising free software for personal or business needs may help you save money and time. It is therefore useful to understand the term 'free software' and how and when to use them.

Do you know you can make your own software without knowing a single line of source code? Browse the links below to find out how.