Free Software
What it is and where to find it

While any discussion of the meaning of the word "free" might seem a bit like William Jefferson Clinton's legal wrangling over what the meaning of "is" is, there are some useful distinctions to be made in the context of "free software." Some of these issues are outside the scope of this article, but should be touched upon to provide a context; it may also help to show why Microsoft is so concerned.

The two most basic distinctions here are "free as in free beer" (free of cost) and "free as in free speech" (freely distributable with source code available--source code is usually defined as the human-readable and editable text from which a computer program is generated). There is some overlap between the two, of course.

A major driving force behind free software is an organization called the Free Software Foundation (FSF). One of their projects is the GNU Project (GNU's Not Unix), which has created a standardized licensing structure for free software; the main license is the GNU General Public License (GPL), which codifies the "free speech" side of things. Several of the programs I mention here (though not all) are covered by the GPL.

The GPL and organizations like the FSF (which now has ties to the United Nations) are what has allowed major collaborative projects like GNU/Linux to move forward so quickly over the last ten years. While many of you may never have seen a computer that runs Unix, Linux, or BSD (you are likely to see some form of Linux soon--and Apple's current operating system is based on BSD), most Internet servers run these operating systems using Apache as the web server (outnumbering Window's Internet Information Services servers 2-to-1). Apache is GPL'd software.

There are various grades of free software. Let's define some of them:

Freeware -- free to obtain, free to use. May not be freely distributable or may have restrictions on commercial use. Some authors may solicit optional donations.  May or may not be open source.

"Lite" software -- a cut-down version of commercial software. Useful, but may lack features of the retail version.

Trialware -- a fully-functional (or nearly so) version of a commercial package that times out after a period or will only run a certain number of times before becoming disabled.

Demoware -- a fully-functional (or nearly so) version of a commercial package that marks its output in some way; for example, a graphics program that inserts a "watermark" into images that it edits or creates.

Crippleware -- a demo program with features turned off; for example, a hard-drive backup program that can create backup files but not restore those files.

Adware -- software that either contains advertising or downloads it from the Internet, which overlaps with...

Spyware -- software that monitors your system usage and sends information out to another party. This is used to send the user tailored advertising or to create a database of salable information. Gator is an example of this; they have applications available that work well, except they harvest your information for their commercial gain.

The software I will be covering in this article is either freeware or "Lite", with one adware service of special value. My intent is not to show you how to use these programs; they all have tutorials. For the following software, I make no representations as to functionality, fitness for use, or overall quality. Though I have tested and used most of it, I am NOT responsible if your system has problems as a result of its use -- though problems are unlikely.

Let's start with the adware exception:

WeatherBug is a very useful service which puts real-time local weather information in the system tray. When the tray icon is clicked, the window shows details including windspeed, humidity, and more. It is advertising-supported, but so useful that I had to include it. There is a paid "Pro" version available.

Here are a few free utilities to keep your system protected and running smoothly:

Grisoft AVG Anti-Virus -- there is a version available that is free for personal use. It's actually one of the better anti-virus packages; it has low system overhead, is regularly updated, and is highly effective. Registration is required for download access.

SpyBot - Search & Destroy is free for personal use (donations requested, but not mandatory). This utility will find and remove spyware & adware and manage cookies & temporary files. The site hosts useful forums, as well. Be sure to run the updates before using it for the first time. It's more powerful than Ad-Aware, but a bit more difficult to use.

ZoneAlarm free edition -- a "lite" version of the commercial package. Especially useful for broadband users (cable or DSL).

BigFix --  a free utility to help keep your system updated. Even with the availability of Windows Update, there have been times when BigFix notified me of problems before Microsoft did.

Java runtime (Sun) --  Java is a programming language that has been in the news lately--in a trial with Sun over Java distribution, Microsoft lost. Not only that, there have been a number of security alerts connected with the Microsoft implementation of the JVM (Java Virtual Machine). The Windows implementation as supplied by Microsoft was also incomplete and incompatible with the current Java standard. It's an excellent idea to download and install the most-recent version from Sun. Look for the J2SE version. Java is used especially by Internet browsers and OpenOffice.org software.

Here's some useful text-editing software:

EditPad Lite -- Editpad, in its various versions, is a very nice text-editor. EditPad Lite is a cut-down, but still-useful, free version of EditPad Pro. I use it in place of Notepad.

AbiWord is a free word processor, comparable to Microsoft Word 97 or better. I use it alongside the OpenOffice.org software suite; while less powerful, it's somewhat quicker and less system-intensive. On both my Windows and my Linux systems, it's the default editor for rich text format (RTF) files, which are non-proprietary, cross-platform, and immune to macro viruses. With plug-ins, it can read and write MS Word file formats.

These are the heavyweights of free software:

OpenOffice.org (new version 1.1.1) is a free office suite comparable to Microsoft Office 2000 or better (Except that it has no database component -- Microsoft "professional" Office versions have Access). It can read and write Microsoft-compatible file formats, but its native formats are completely open and non-proprietary. It is a 60-megabyte download, so broadband is helpful, but it is also available on CD for a nominal charge, including the downloadable TheOpenCD (version 1.1.0) with tutorials (along with a number of other programs).

WinGimp (new version 2.0) is a Windows port of the GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP).  It is a freely distributed piece of software suitable for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition, and image authoring. It is comparable in power to the full Adobe Photoshop program and much more powerful than Photoshop LE (bundled with some hardware) or the stand-alone package of LE, PhotoShop Elements. Be sure to download and install the required GTK libraries, as well (same page).  CD versions are available at http://www.WinGimp.com including plugins, filters, clip art, tutorials, and documentation.  Version 2.0 has CMYK and other improvements.

Mozilla -- is the new, open-source replacement for the Netscape browser; in fact, the current version of Netscape is based on Mozilla (except that the Netscape versions are bloated with AOL adware, etc.). It features a built-in pop-up stopper, tabbed browsing, a better POPmail reader than Outlook Express (with a useful spam filter built in) and better security than MS Internet Explorer.  There are also "unbundled" versions, the Firefox browser and the Thunderbird mail reader, but these are still in beta.

Linux is a free operating system, available from a variety of sources. When the Linux kernel is bundled with other software in a unified package, it's known as a distribution, or distro for short. Some distros are commercial, such as Red Hat and SUSE (you are primarily paying for support ), while some are basically free, such as Gentoo and Debian. Debian is especially interesting, because several commercial distros are based on it, the best-known of which is Lindows. The easiest way to try out Linux is by means of the free, Debian-based CD-bootable Knoppix disc, which includes Linux versions of all three of the programs mentioned above (Mozilla, OpenOffice.org, and the GIMP) and much more. It can also be used as a Windows backup/restore/rescue disc.

Here are some other useful programs:

WinAmp is a free program that plays MP3s, WAV audio sample files, and CDs with less overhead than Windows Media Player. Version 5 has recently been released. There are a wide variety of plug-ins available -- skins, visualizations, interfaces, and more. If you like radio (especially if you have broadband access), check out SHOUTcast. Rock, classical, jazz, Celtic, more -- it's all there in streaming MP3 format.

IrfanView is a free graphic-file display program with editing features. It can display nearly any graphics format in a variety of ways, including an "instant slideshow" of pictures in a directory. Plug-ins are available that allow playing sound files and animations; download the plug-ins when you download the main program.

AB Commander Lite is a free, slightly cut-down version of a program that acts in a similar fashion to Windows Explorer, but is MUCH easier to use for things like copying, moving, or renaming files. I had been looking for a program like this for years.

7-Zip is a program similar to WinZip, except that it handles more types of archive formats and it's free (LGPL open source - $20 donation suggested).  It works well with AB Commander Lite.

MultiRes allows the user to switch video monitor resolutions and refresh rates on-the-fly. I often encounter users whose monitors are set to a 60 Hz (cycles-per-second) refresh rate. This can lead to eystrain -- most video cards and monitors can now support up to 85 Hz and beyond which is much easier on the eyes.

Here's a few that are just for fun:

XEarth is a Windows port of an X window system program that puts an image of the Earth (complete with city markers) in the background image on your desktop. It shows night and day and updates the view every ten minutes. Data files are available or can be created. The images can also be saved and used for graphics such as a book-report cover.  In my opinion, this is the best of the several Windows ports I've seen.

DX-Ball is a free Arkanoid/Breakout/Brickout-style game that's a lot of fun.

Disasteroids-3D is a free Asteroids clone that simulates a 3D environment within the game. Requires a relatively fast PC and graphics card.

lbreakout2 is a free Breakout clone with a good level editor.  Part of a group of games with both Windows and Linux versions available.

See my software-downloads links page for more.

Last revised: 25-May-2004.  Copyright © 2004 Michael Rudas. All rights reserved. The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those of the other members of the Oak Park Computer Club. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. This article was created using the EditPad Classic text editor and OpenOffice.org 1.1.0 word processor, both free. Permission is hereby granted to publish this article in an unmodified form, except for formatting (contact me for changes or updated versions). Technical questions and help requests can be directed to my tech-support mailbox, the link to which can be found on my site.