As mentioned in the previous post, freeware has long had an association with being nothing but a slew of evil programs filled with menacing coding that would unleash pop up ads at the worst times, give your computer some nasty spyware that allowed program villains to peek into your most valuable information, or just kill your machine outright. While no one should drop his or her guard when installing a new program, freeware isn't necessarily accompanied by the claps of thunder anymore. The Internet has yet to become a super safe playground, but getting a free program isn't an automatic acceptance of candy from a stranger. Many sites that allow you to download software (some of which host downloads for many different programs) offer a malware-free certification. You can take a look around CNET's Download.com for an example.
Many savvy computer geeks actually prefer some of the freeware offerings out there over the big paid ones, if expert opinions mean anything to you. Some of the more popular ones that you'll hear recommended many times over are OpenOffice, FireFox, and VLC Player. These are all, incidentally, open source software, too. To reiterate the point I made in the last post, a program is considered "open source" if its coding is freely available to all. Not all Freeware programs offer this, but there's plenty of "closed source" Freeware that are highly recommended, as well. Examples include DVD43 and ImgBurn.
For those wishing to jump on the bandwagon, or at least take a good survey of the landscape, SourceForge is a key download site for open source programs. It's a good place to start. One may also wish to roam around SoftPedia for Freeware downloads in general.
**A Quick Post-Script:
Important note about free downloads, though: free downloads are not always Freeware. They are sometimes Shareware, which are the equivalent of trial versions --usually limited in functionality--, for which a user must pay a fee in order to keep. Open source programs, as a general rule, will not present this confusion.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Introduction: An Open Source Briefing
On stumbling upon this blog, a reader might ask: "What's Open Source?"
Well, Hypothetical Reader, your hypothetical question is a very good one. Because I like you so much, I'm going to answer it!
I will steer as far away from ubertechnical terms as my powers allow me. (Yes, I do have powers. It's best if you don't ask too many hypothetical questions about them. Trust me.)
Basically (and I do mean basically), Open Source software is software whose source is freely available to anybody. By source, I mean in very generic terms the coding of the software or program: the guts, or what makes it tick-- if you prefer.
With me so far? Good. (I was about to drown in poorly-conceived metaphors.) Now, you may be musing about a follow-up hypothetical question: What's the point of putting the code online? Another great question, Hypothetical Reader! The point of the software code availability is actually what attracts many users to these innovations. Anyone with some coding skill can make improvements and add-ons to the software. Instead of a set group of programmers and developers like many paid programs have, avenues of input for Open Source programs are limitless. Online communities exist for the sole purpose of discussion and development of various software.
While this may seem interesting to only the geekiest of the geeks, the benefits to your average computer user are actually rather large in quantity. Chances are, if you've been using computer programs for more than a few months, you've become familiar with the term "Troubleshoot" and the various "Help" menus. A quick Google search for help with an Open Source program will offer you valuable results courtesy of online communities and developers. Yes, this is true for many paid programs, as well. However, these online communities consist of the same groups of people devoting free time to fixing bugs in their favorite software. Fancier software from profit-seeking companies don't have bug fixes as quickly available as Open Source developers do. While some are attempting to constantly churn out updates, Open Source communities still thrive in the area of frequency.
Before closing the post, I should offer some clarification on the difference between Freeware and Open Source. I realize I haven't done this area justice thus far, and some (especially you, Hypothetical Reader) may be confused. While I often contrast Open Source software to paid software, paid software is not the only form of "closed source" programs out there. Plenty of free applications available on the Internet are closed source. They're still free, but development is limited to their distributors. Open Source is Freeware, but Freeware is not necessarily Open Source.
I realize that the term "Freeware" has developed quite the bad connotation over the years and has occasionally been synonymous with the terms "Adware" and "Malware." However, there are some very good free programs out there -- even closed source ones. I'll be digging a little deeper into issues such as safety concerns in Open Source software and Freeware in general in the next post. So stay tuned! (Or stay logged on, or something. Proof Internet creations are still relatively new: the cliche repository is very lacking!)
Well, Hypothetical Reader, your hypothetical question is a very good one. Because I like you so much, I'm going to answer it!
I will steer as far away from ubertechnical terms as my powers allow me. (Yes, I do have powers. It's best if you don't ask too many hypothetical questions about them. Trust me.)
Basically (and I do mean basically), Open Source software is software whose source is freely available to anybody. By source, I mean in very generic terms the coding of the software or program: the guts, or what makes it tick-- if you prefer.
With me so far? Good. (I was about to drown in poorly-conceived metaphors.) Now, you may be musing about a follow-up hypothetical question: What's the point of putting the code online? Another great question, Hypothetical Reader! The point of the software code availability is actually what attracts many users to these innovations. Anyone with some coding skill can make improvements and add-ons to the software. Instead of a set group of programmers and developers like many paid programs have, avenues of input for Open Source programs are limitless. Online communities exist for the sole purpose of discussion and development of various software.
While this may seem interesting to only the geekiest of the geeks, the benefits to your average computer user are actually rather large in quantity. Chances are, if you've been using computer programs for more than a few months, you've become familiar with the term "Troubleshoot" and the various "Help" menus. A quick Google search for help with an Open Source program will offer you valuable results courtesy of online communities and developers. Yes, this is true for many paid programs, as well. However, these online communities consist of the same groups of people devoting free time to fixing bugs in their favorite software. Fancier software from profit-seeking companies don't have bug fixes as quickly available as Open Source developers do. While some are attempting to constantly churn out updates, Open Source communities still thrive in the area of frequency.
Before closing the post, I should offer some clarification on the difference between Freeware and Open Source. I realize I haven't done this area justice thus far, and some (especially you, Hypothetical Reader) may be confused. While I often contrast Open Source software to paid software, paid software is not the only form of "closed source" programs out there. Plenty of free applications available on the Internet are closed source. They're still free, but development is limited to their distributors. Open Source is Freeware, but Freeware is not necessarily Open Source.
I realize that the term "Freeware" has developed quite the bad connotation over the years and has occasionally been synonymous with the terms "Adware" and "Malware." However, there are some very good free programs out there -- even closed source ones. I'll be digging a little deeper into issues such as safety concerns in Open Source software and Freeware in general in the next post. So stay tuned! (Or stay logged on, or something. Proof Internet creations are still relatively new: the cliche repository is very lacking!)
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