Free Software

As we all look to tighten our belts and find new ways to save money and cut back on spending what if I were to tell you that most, if not all, new software that you may be thinking of purchasing, or existing software which you are about to pay to upgrade, has an alternative application which you can acquire for absolutely nothing..... that's right, totally free of charge! Would you be interested?

Most people will pay hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars for the computer software they use daily at home and in their small businesses. Think of the money you would save if you could get all that software without having to pay a single cent for it.

Let me introduce you to the world of open source software.

Let me start by assuring you that open source software is perfectly legal and free to download, use, copy and share. Open source software is not a limited or trial version of software that you will subsequently need to buy if you wish to continue using it and neither does it contain adware or spyware.

Open source software differs from the software which is developed in house by large and wealthy corporations for commercial resale to us at inflated prices in so much that it is effectively software which has been developed and evolved within the public domain and made available for free distribution. There is a strong and growing belief amongst many people that the open source method of development and distribution not only results in huge savings to the end user but also produces freely available software that is more flexible, reliable and of an overall better quality than its commercial equivalent.

If you are interested in learning more about the concept of open source software further information is available at the website of the Open Source Initiative (OSI) which can be found at http://www.opensource.org. The OSI is a California based public benefit corporation with tax exempt status which was formed in 1998 primarily to promote and educate users about the benefits of open source software.

If you can part with your hard earned cash to buy an "off the shelf" software package the chances are you can help yourself to an equivalent open source software package absolutely free of charge. Almost all of us for example will have a commercially available office suite on our computer comprising of at least word processing and spreadsheet applications. Why not compare it with OpenOffice which is a very popular open source office suite which not only comprises of word processing and spreadsheet programs but also includes a multimedia presentation program and database together with separate tools for drawing and creating mathematical formulae. Learn more about OpenOffice and download your own free office suite at http://openoffice.org-suite.com.

There are also readily available open source solutions for most, if not all, of the other commercially purchased software including web browsers, security tools, photo editing tools, accounting software etc. etc. etc. Here are just a few examples of the many freely available open source applications which you can download and use absolutely free of charge:

Web browsers which incorporate the latest features to enhance your surfing experience.
Firefox
K-Meleon

E-mail software complete with spam filters for your protection.
Thunderbird

Security tools including virus and spyware protection.
ClamWin
AVG

Photo editing software for editing, enhancing and retouching your digital photos.
GIMP
paint.NET

Video players for playing all video types.
Miro
VideoLAN

CD and DVD rippers which in addition to ripping CDs and DVDs can also be used for converting between different video formats.
MediaCoder
HandBrake

Developer tools for creating web pages with easy to use WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) html editors.
KompoZer
XEmacs

FTP software you can use to upload your web pages to the internet.
FTP Surfer
FileZilla

Podcasting software for creating, receiving and managing podcasts.
Juice
Podcast Generator

Accounting software with full functionality to manage either your business accounting or personal finances.
TurboCASH
GnuCash

Archiving utility software enabling you to compress, extract and generally manage files.
PeaZip

As the economic downturn takes hold, and many of us look for new ways to save our hard earned cash, what better reason could there be for giving free open source software a try?

Governments around the world, including Canada, already make use of open source software solutions as indeed do many educational and similar establishments. The popularity of open source software within both the home and business environments is growing fast as people take advantage of the significant cost savings which can be achieved. Open source software really is more popular and widely used than you probably think.

(photos courtesy of FreePhotosBank)