Free Software: Tastes Great, Less Filling
In the world of computer applications, there are three kinds of free software, and three weird catch phrases that always go with them. Software can be “free as in beer,” “free as in speech” or “free as in illegal.” Technically I made that last catch phrase up, but does it sound any worse than “free as in beer”?
Software that’s “free as in speech” also goes by the name “open source software.” These programs are written by computing do-gooders who believe that the code used to power their programs (called the “source code”) should be available to the public to encourage collaboration and innovation. It’s actually a pretty noble idea, made even nobler by the fact that most “free as in speech” software also costs nothing to use.
Software that’s “free as in illegal,” on the other hand, is the kind that usually isn’t free but can be not-really-legally downloaded via file sharing programs and used with hacked or stolen registration keys. Downloading this software has the advantage of giving you a free copy of sometimes very pricey programs as long as you don’t mind (a) the off chance of getting hit with a big fine and (b) the horrible, horrible guilt of being a software pirate, matey. Okay, so the guilt isn’t that bad, but there’s usually at least a little twinge of remorse involved.
The final category of free software, the kind that’s strangely been dubbed “free as in beer,” is my favorite. This is the kind that’s available completely legally and completely free. Much of this software is also open source, so people nerdier than myself can marvel at all the source code then can handle. The best part about “free as in beer” software, though, is how far its come since the term “free as in beer” was coined. A lot of these free applications are advanced enough to rival their costlier cousins. Free software has gotten so usable, in fact, that I often prefer it to purchased software.
Since a computer is only as useful as the software you have on it, here are five “free as in beer” programs that will make your computer really, really useful without costing you a single yen.
Firefox
If I had to guess, I’d say at least half of the time I’m at my computer I’m doing something on the web. I might actually die if I didn’t have a good web browser that could do everything I needed it to do.
Firefox, then, is kind of a lifesaver for me. Almost all modern browsers are free and have the same basic functionality (and by “modern browsers” I mean “not Internet Explorer,” which is currently about four years out of date), but I only have eyes for Firefox. The Mozilla Foundation, makers of Firefox (along with the also excellent email client Thunderbird), actively encourage outside developers to contribute to the browser, and that encouragement has led to the creation of hundreds of Firefox enhancements.
These enhancements come in the forms of extensions and themes. Extensions are little programs you can add on to Firefox (with a wonderfully simple “extensions manager”) to make the browser do almost anything you could want (like block ads or run faster). Similarly, themes are little packages you can download to make Firefox look almost any way you like.
Bottom line: Firefox is the most useful and most used piece of software I own, and it cost me nothing.
Making it more useful
Many Firefox extensions and themes let you customize the browser to your liking. The Greasemonkey extension out-customizes them all away. Greasemonkey lets you download “user scripts” that can change the look and behavior of individual websites. Don’t like the way Google looks? Annoyed by how Amazon works? Greasemonkey lets you change all of that and more. And, if you know a little JavaScript, you can write your own Greasemonkey scripts.
Links
- Learn more about Firefox
- Download Firefox
- Download extensions and themes
- Learn more about Greasemonkey
OpenOffice.org
The most popular suite of office applications, Microsoft Office, is a bloated piece of software that gets in your way, tries to do too much and ends up doing nothing well. That description fits OpenOffice.org, too, but at least it doesn’t charge $300 to annoy you.
OpenOffice.org is free office suite that comes with all the basic components: word processor, spreadsheet program, database manager and presentation creator. In fact, it works a lot like any other office suite you’ve used, so its learning curve is pretty shallow. OpenOffice.org is also capable of opening almost any file created in any other office suite you’ve ever used, which makes switching pretty painless.
Bottom line: If you need an office suite but don’t want to pay for it, give OpenOffice.org a try.
Making it more useful
OpenOffice.org does do a pretty good job of opening up files created by other applications, including template files. Microsoft has lots and lots of Office template files online for you to download for free, some of which can help you whip up worksheets or resumes in a snap. See where I’m going with this?
Links
GIMP
Professional quality image editing programs are some of the most expensive applications on the market; a copy of Adobe Photoshop CS2 will set you back about $650. Granted, for that money you get the power to completely erase your annoying little brother from the family photo and complete any other “professional” image manipulation you can think of, but $650 is still a lot of money.
If you’re just looking to erase annoying little brothers and not worried about getting every professional image editing bell and whistle, try the GIMP. The GIMP, short for “GNU Image Manipulation Program,” is a free image editor that does most everything amateur photographers and graphic designers need (and a lot of what pros need, too). And costing zero dollars, its much more affordable than the competition.
Bottom line: It’s not ready for the pros yet, but GIMP will do 90 percent of the things 90 percent of Photoshop users need.
Making it more useful
I’ve used Photoshop since high school and have gotten pretty accustomed to its user interface in that time. I can flatten images in my sleep. GIMP, however, uses a very different interface, making it hard for Photoshop users to switch over. Longtime Photoshop user Scott Moschella fixed that problem by using GIMP’s source code to create GIMPshop, a program that works like GIMP but looks like Photoshop. GIMPshop makes switching from Photoshop easier if that’s what you’re used to. GIMPshop is free, too.
Links
Picasa
If I had been smart enough to write a piece of software to manage my digital photo collection, I would have created an exact replica of Picasa. Now released by Google, Picasa lets you import, sort, edit and share your photos. It’s the little things that make me like Picasa so much, like how it remembers which photos I’ve already imported from my camera (so I don’t waste time re-importing them) and tells me which ones I still need to back up to CD or DVD.
Bottom line: I know I sound like an advertisement, but Picasa really does make managing your photo library a breeze.
Making it more useful
Picasa’s usefulness is pretty much all built-in; check out the support page to find out everything you can use the program for.
Links
Scribus
ALTs make a lot of worksheets, and some of them I’ve seen have been, well, less than beautiful. I’m not saying that a worksheet needs to be pretty to be effective, but it doesn’t hurt. And to make a good worksheet, you need the right tools.
Microsoft’s Word or OpenOffice.org’s Writer are not those tools. To make a really good worksheet, you need the freedom you find in a desktop publishing program. My wife, the worksheet queen, uses Adobe InDesign, but that’s only because she already had a copy of it on her computer; most JETs aren’t going to shell out $699 just to spiffy up their worksheets.
Scribus is a free alternative to software like InDesign. As in the case of Photoshop vs. GIMP, Scribus won’t do everything the professional desktop publishing applications will, but it should get the job done for any non-pro. (Full disclosure: I’ve never actually used Scribus before, but I’ve read good things about it).
Bottom line: Break the Word worksheet habit and give Scribus a try.
Making it more useful
The makers of Scribus have a nice collection of online documentation, including a page of tips and tricks to make better documents faster in Scribus.