Free Software article discussion

erwino

I am using application from portable apps, http://portableapps.com/ where there is a whole list of applications to choose from. I like the idea that I can run these from a usb key or pendrive, without installing them on the machine. Ideal to take over to a friends house and have all your applications there to use. You can get the already mentioned open office, thunderbird and firefox as well as mozilla sunbird (calendar).
There are many applications that are helpfull, great or just fun. You can install the suite and add others, this will give you a nice interface to access your applications.

davektoo

sablade wrote: »

i need a free/cheap 2d floorplan program pls for floorplans on houses with doors and windows

Google's SketchUp could certainly do this.

superscaper

davektoo wrote: »

Google's SketchUp could certainly do this.

Not really ideal for purely 2D work but considering the many objects already created that may be suitable to simply copy and paste it may indeed be much easier to use.

davektoo

hubris wrote: »

GNU/Linux does not need antivirus software. Users of GNU/Linux, e.g. ubuntu need only to keep their systems up-to-date.

You make some good points but to say this is just plain arrogance. To quote from the article you link to: "Linux users, like users on every operating system, must always be aware of security issues. They must act intelligently to keep their systems safe and secure." Spot on. And if you do the same on Windows you'll have just as safe a machine as any Linux box. Windows has permissions, it's just that everyone runs as Administrator. Constantly run as root on linux and you're in for headaches just like a windows box.

Captain_Picard

Hi Everyone
Don't forget that you are often allowed to install some software such as Photoshop on two computers such as one at work and one at home or a laptop, the only condition is that both cannot be running at the same time, although how would they know?

This is something that is often overlooked and makes reading the license agreement worth checking
I would recommend that you ask first but I am sure most bosses would not have a problem with.

If you have this at work it is worth having a go as this way I have a nice legal version of Photoshop CS3 and it did not cost me a bean.:j

alanrbnsn

Auslogics disk defrag is a good alternative to Vista Home supplied defrag.

Glary Utilities, like CCleaner with more options.

Spyware Terminator, works well.

Spyware Blaster, another useful tool.

Spybot Search & Destroy.

A Squared Free.

Ad-Aware.

HijackThis.

Apart from Aus Logics, the rest should be installed before you link up to the nternet, or after a clean re-install of Windows.

I don't have time to provide the hyperlinks, nightshift calls, just Google.

Marty_J

trigster2k, I would edit that post and remove the bit about illegal cracks before a mod does it for you.

slidebite20

Hi, thought I’d let you know I’m a big fan of Free/Open Source software and can say that most is better than commercially produced stuff! I’ve added a list of the software that doesn’t appear in the main article, all are either Free or Open Source...

Avira Anti-Virus – This for me is the best rated and what’s more is Free – can’t get any better than that!
KeePass Password Safe – Best password manager and I’ve tried 99% of them!!!
Portable Apps Suite – Run from a USB Flash Drive has has many applications to add to the Suite.
TrueCrypt – Again I’ve used commercial trials and this is just quicker and easier to use!
Money Manager Ex – Recently stumbled upon this and is an excellent accounts program
ImgBurn – A very simple CD/DVD burning tool, so easy to use and nice interface hasn’t failed once on me! Ditch Nero if you have it!!!
7-Zip – Good, effective and easy to use compression.
AxCrypt – Encryption at it’s simpist, right click a file and select encrypt/decrypt as easy as it gets!
Toucan – Encryption on the move, part of the PortableApps Suite so can be used anytime, anywhere.
Ashampoo Clipfinder – Free application that enables you to search the likes of youtube and google video etc. in one go and displays all the results quite nicely with the option to view and download the files there and then.
Dexpot – Again recently stumbled upon this after using VirtuaWin for some time. Has more options for virtual desktops including password protection and more configurable.
Quicktime alternative – Much quicker than having the original and works fine both viewing offline and on the web.


I think that’s about it! If you’ve not tried them before check out their websites and give them a go! Hopefully a couple will appear in the main article.


Enjoy!

AllCooker

I suggest FastStone Image Viewer from FastStone.org as a brilliant photo manipulation prog. I even made a donation.

RobAndDeb

Have a look at www.giveawayoftheday.com

Downside is that you have to install it that day, but otherwise some nice stuff if you are in to audio/video processing and the occasional system utility.