Free Software
Contents
• Definitions
• Anti-spyware
• Anti-virus
• Astronomy
• Audio Editing
• BitTorrent
• Bulk File Renaming
• Calendar
• CD Burning
• Desktop Environments
• eBook Readers
• Email Clients
• File Compression
• File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
• File Managers
• Games
• Genealogy
• Geography
• Image Editors
• Image Viewers
• Income Tax
• Integrated Development Environments
• Interior Home Design
• Media Players
• Miscellaneous Utilities
• Networking
• News Readers
• Office Applications
• Operating Systems
• Password Management
• Photo Downloading
• PDF Creators
• PDF Readers
• Scanning
• Social Networking
• Text Editors
• Video Editing
• Virtualization
• VOIP
• Web Browsers
• Website Design
• Website Link Checkers
• Window Managers
• Free & Legal Music Downloads
• Free & Legal eBook Downloads
• Useful Web Resources
• Switching to Linux & BSD
• Fun Linux Ads
• Supporting Free Software
• Computer Hardware & Parts
• Computer Hardware OEMs
The term "free software" means different things to different people. In some cases it refers to software that you can legally get without paying for it - "free-of-charge".
It can also refer to software which protects your freedom and meets the Free Software Foundation definition, in that you can:
- run the program, for any purpose (freedom 0)
- study how the program works, and adapt it to your needs (freedom 1)
- redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor (freedom 2)
- improve the program, and release your improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits (freedom 3)
This page lists software that is either available "free-of-charge" or that meets the FSF definition of free software, or, in many cases, both.
- Open Source Software
- Software that has been developed by the Open Source Community, has its source code freely available and is under a free licence. Because the source code is available open source is distributed free-of-charge, because if the developers charged for it then someone else would take the source code and put out a free version. Open source software preserves your freedom and supports the open source development community, therefore it should be your first choice when looking for an application.
- Freeware
- Software that has been developed by commercial companies but is distributed free-of-charge. Freeware does not have the source code available, is released under a proprietary licence and, while it is "free-of-charge", it does not protect your freedom. It should be your second first choice when looking for an application and generally only when you can't find an open source application to do the job.
- Shareware
- Software that has been developed by commercial companies and is generally available for free for an evaluation period, then they expect you to pay for it. In some cases the evaluation period is unlimited or during the evaluation period the application leaves a mark on the document to show its status. Shareware is really free-of-charge software that is distributed for marketing purposes. Because of the limitations these applications have built in, open source or freeware applications are a better choice, where available.
The software listed below has been tested by and is recommended by members of the National Capital Freenet Free Software Discussion Group (NCF members only). For more information on each application have a look at the discussion group.
Many of these are also reviewed in our own Ubuntu Diaries Part I or Part II for Linux software, or on our Our Windows Open Source/ Freeware Project page for Windows software.
There is also a list of free software that we personally use at the bottom of our home page.
Freeware
Open Source
Freeware
Open Source
Open Source
Open Source
Open Source
Open Source
- Lightning - calendar integrated with the Thunderbird e-mail client
Freeware
Open Source
Open Source
- Gnome - (GNU Network Object Model Environment)
- KDE - (Kool Desktop Environment)
- LXDE - (Lightweight X11 Desktop Environment)
- Xfce - (XForms Common Environment)
Open Source
- Calibre - eBook management, cataloging, format conversion & synching
Freeware
- Stanza - reads HTML, PDF, MS Word and Rich Text Format for iPhone & iPod Touch
→ See also: Free eBook downloads
Open Source
Open Source
Shareware
Open Source
Open Source
Freeware
Open Source
Freeware
Open Source
- Gramps - genealogical research and management program software
Open Source
Freeware
Open Source
Freeware
Freeware
Freeware
- Studio Tax - Canadian income tax preparation software
- Taxman - Canadian income tax preparation software, but No Netfile and No Quebec TP-1-V
Open Source
Freeware
Shareware
Open Source
Open Source
- Aqualung - lightweight music player
- Audacious - lightweight music player
- aTunes - music player
- Subsonic - web-based media streamer
- VLC - full featured sound and video media player
Freeware
→ See also: Free & Legal Music Downloads
Open Source
- Active State - scripting languages
- Cygwin - Unix Utilities for Windows
- Darik's Boot And Nuke (DBAN) - an ISO to burn to a CD that securely wipes hard disks
- Eraser - secure file eraser
- Exiv2 - image metadata command line reader
- Fink - enables Mac OS X users to use all the free software that is available to Linux users. You'll need to install the X11 package from your OS X installation disc before you install Fink.
- F-Secure Rescue CD - For booting malware-infected PCs, rescuing data and repairing systems
- GParted - partition editor and disk reformatting
- HTTrack - website copier
- Memtest86+ - ISO RAM Tester
- Plop - boot manager (allows booting from a USB) tutorial
- Portable Applications - applications that can be carried on a USB stick and used on any PC
- Prey - lost laptop tracker
- Ultra Defragmenter - Windows NT-series defragmenter
- UNetbootin - bootable live USB drive creator
- WinMD5Sum - MD5 checksumming utility for confirming cryptographic hashes
- Xming - X Server for Windows
Freeware
- A43 - file management utility
- CCleaner - removes unused, unnecessary and temporary files
- CPU-Z - hardware system profiler
- FileAnt - file management utility & file transfer protocol (FTP)
- FreeCommander - alternative to the standard windows file manager
- MozBackup - for creating backups of Mozilla Firefox, Mozilla Thunderbird, SeaMonkey, Mozilla Suite and Netscape profiles
- Process Explorer - shows which applications are using a file or directory
- Wizmo - "Windows Gizmo" power manager and screen saver utility
Open Source
Open Source
Open Source
Freeware
- Google Docs - On line word processor, spread sheet, presentation, PDF creation and form maker
Open Source
BSD Systems
Linux Systems
- Debian
- Edubuntu - based on Ubuntu, but with educational packages included and optimized for schools
- Fedora - free project on which Red Hat Linux is based
- GeeXboX - a standalone LiveCD-based Linux distribution which turns your computer into a home theater PC or media centre
- Kubuntu - Ubuntu, but with the KDE desktop instead of Gnome
- Linux Mint - based on Ubuntu but with all the media codecs included
- Lubuntu - Ubuntu, but with the lightweight LXDE desktop instead of Gnome, good Windows XP replacement
- Mandriva
- Puppy Linux - can be run entirely from the CD in RAM, has very good dial-up support
- Qimo For Kids - Ubuntu based distribution for ages 3 and up
- Slackware
- SME Server - a web, file, email and database server operating system
- Ubuntu - comes with the Gnome desktop, good Windows 7 or Vista replacement
- Easypeasy - USB Ubuntu-based installation for the Asus EEE PC and other netbooks
- Xubuntu - Ubuntu, but with the Xfce desktop instead of Gnome
Windows-Like Systems
- ReactOS - a Windows XP compatible operating system, still in alpha development stage, not recommended for everyday use yet
Open Source
Open Source
Open Source
→ NOTE: PDFCreator is no longer recommended due to the inclusion of a malware toolbar in version 0.9.8 and later
Freeware
Shareware
Open Source
Freeware
Open Source
- SANE - Scanner utilities
- Simple Scan - Simplified graphical front end for SANE
- Tesseract - Optical character reader (OCR)
- XSANE - Graphical front end for SANE
Open Source
- Diaspora - social networking website similar to Facebook, but uses free software, is advertising free and community run
Open Source
Open Source
Open Source
- DOSBox - allows running old DOS programs
- EasyVMX - creates virtual machines for VMware Player
- QEMU - freeware/open source combination
- VirtualBox - no cost version is open source
- Xen
Freeware
Open Source
Freeware
Open Source
Freeware
Open Source
Freeware
Open Source
Freeware
Open Source
- Openbox - Optional window manager for Gnome and KDE, standard in LXDE
- Jamendo - Creative Commons licensed free music
- Nugs.net - distributes selected downloads for free
- Severed Fifth - Creative Commons licensed free metal albums by Ubuntu community manager Jono Bacon
Free Books
Free Audio Books
Free Software Books
General Links
Data Recovery
Free Software Artwork
Free Software Magazines
Internet Connection Speed Tests
Market Share Statistics
On-line Virus Scanners
Search Engines
- Blekko - spam free search engine
- Duck Duck Go - search engine that does not record IP addresses or personal data
Security Testing
- Shields Up - free internet security checkup and information service
URL Compression
- Tiny URL - makes short URL redirects from long URLs for posting or e-mailing
- UR1.ca - makes short URL redirects from long URLs for posting or e-mailing
User Agent String
Background Information & Reasons to Switch:
Distributions & Applications:
How to Switch:
- Audacity - shirts and mugs
- ClamAV - T-shirts, coffee mugs, mouse pads
- Debian - T-shirts, hats, stickers
- Diaspora - shirts
- FreeBSD T-shirts, hats, stickers
- Free Software Foundation - T-shirts, keyrings, posters
- Gentoo Linux T-shirts, hats, stickers
- Gnome - T-shirts, hats & stickers
- Google - Free software projects from Chrome, Summer of Code to Tesseract. Wide variety of merchandise
- Mandriva -T-shirts, hats, stickers
- Mozilla - Firefox, Bugzilla, Web Standards & Thunderbird shirts, hats, stickers
- NetBSD T-shirts, hats, stickers, buttons
- OMG! Ubuntu! T-shirts & accessories
- OpenBSD T-shirts, posters
- Open Movie Editor - T-shirts
- OpenSSH - T-shirts
- OpenSUSE T-shirts, hats, stickers
- PC-BSD T-shirts, hats, stickers
- Scientifuc Linux Two shops and no mark-ups!
- Ubuntu T-shirts, hats, stickers
- XKCD T-shirts, buttons, stickers from everyone's favourite geek comic
- System76 US manufacturer of hardware for Linux, ships with Ubuntu
- Linux Pre-Loaded list of manufacturers of hardware for Linux
Return to the National Capital Freenet Free Software Discussion Group
This web-page is licensed under a Creative Commons Licence.
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