Topic: Freely available and legal software.

[Nemesis]

UPDATE:

[/color][/size] Dec 20 2006

There is now a website for the list.

If you find an error or broken link please let me know and I will fix it as soon as practical. Most such fixes and other updates will be made on Saturday or Sunday as that is when my schedule allows the most free time.

If any of the programs linked to by this list are not free and legal to distribute please inform me so it can be removed from the list.

Constructive suggestions will be taken under consideration. Feedback on viewing issues with Microsoft Internet Explorer and Apple Safari will be considered but I cannot test for them. See contact information on the website, PM me or post here if you wish to make suggestions or supply feedback.

Attempts are being made to ensure that this page adheres to the official web standards. I will be testing under current versions of Firefox (Windows and Linux), Opera (Windows and Linux) and Konquerer (Linux only). Attempts will be made to ensure it is viewable at resolutions of 1024x768 and above. If needed I will see what I can do about 800x600 resolution testing as well.

I am not a "web professional" and do not have the resources or desire to make this a "fancy" site with all sorts of bells and whistles. The basic design is intended to be simple and spartan and that is unlikely to change.

My thanks to all who contribute items for the list.

UPDATE ENDED:

[/color][/size]

My purpose for this thread is to provide links to freely and legally available software that may be of use to forum members.  Hopefully some will find the links as useful as I do myself.  With luck others will provide us with things I have not yet found.

Open Software

The OpenCD.

Link to Open CD site

The OpenCD is freely distributable.  All of the programs contained on it are open source windows programs free for use and distributaion.  Souce code can be obtained freely as well. 

I added very brief notes on the purpose of the programs below that I use.

List of programs on the OpenCD

Productivity

    * OpenOffice 1.1.3 - Office suite can open and edit MS-Word documents
    * AbiWord 2.2.1
    * PDFCreator 0.8

Design

    * GIMP 2.0.5
    * Blender 2.35a
    * Dia 0.94
    * TuxPaint 0.9.14

Internet/Networking

    * FireFox 1.0 - Browser, lightweight.   Tabbed view
    * Thunderbird 1.0 - E-Mail program
    * Mozilla suite 1.7.3 - Browser all in one with E-mail etc.  Tabbed view
    * Gaim 1.1.0
    * Filezilla 2.2.9 - FTP transfer program allows you to pause and resume.
    * TightVNC 1.3dev6
    * WinHTTrack 3.32-2

Multimedia

    * Audacity 1.2.3
    * Celestia 1.3.2
    * CDex 1.51

Utilities

    * 7-zip 3.13 - Substitute for Winzip.  Quite powerful
    * Notepad2 1.0.12
    * SciTE 1.62 - Tabbed text editor

Games
    * Sokoban 1.187
    * Battle for Wesnoth 0.8.8
    * Lbreakout 2.4.1

Firefox browser

Link to Firefox site

The Firefox browser is quite small, capable, configurable and secure.   Unlike IE and Mozilla it is ONLY a browser not a suite.

Mozilla browser Suite

Link to Mozilla site

Quote below is from the Mozilla site and mostly applies to Firefox as well.

Tabbed browsing gives you a better way to surf the net. You no longer have to open one page at a time. With tabbed browsing, open several pages at once with one click. And now your homepage can be multiple tabbed pages.

Popup blocker lets you surf the web without intrusion. Advanced popup blocker notifies you when popups are blocked. You can also block pop-ups on a site per site basis.

Image Manager lets you block images to block offensive images or to speed up the rendering of web sites.

Find as you type gives you another way to navigate a page. Just start typing to jump from link to link or to find a word or phrase within a page.

Plus all the features a modern browser should have including: Advanced security settings; Password, Download, and Cookie managers; Themes; multi-language and multi-platform support; and, the latest in Web Standards.

Thunderbird E-Mail program

Link to Thunderbird site

Quote below is from the Thunderbird site.

Why Use Thunderbird?

Thunderbird gives you a faster, safer, and more productive email experience. We designed Thunderbird to prevent viruses and to stop junk mail so you can get back to reading your mail. Read on to find out more about the reasons why you should use Thunderbird as your mail client and RSS reader.

Open Office Suite

Link to Open Office site

Quote below is from the Open Office site.

   1.  What is OpenOffice.org?

      OpenOffice.org is the open source project through which Sun Microsystems has released the technology for the popular StarOffice[tm] Productivity Suite. All of the StarOffice source code is available under the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL) as well as the Sun Industry Standards Source License (SISSL). Sun is participating as a member of the OpenOffice.org community. OpenOffice.org is being hosted by CollabNet.

   4.  What benefits does OpenOffice.org provide?

      The benefits of OpenOffice.org include:
          * A common source base for open source office apps
          * A world-wide community of developers
          * Enhanced compatibility and interoperability resulting from open, language-independent APIs, open XML-based file formats, and a common reference implementation
          * Open access to code and modifications
          * Limitless porting and localization
          * Free binaries
          * Flexible development scenarios including open source or open language-independent APIs
          * Direct developer participation in the evolution of the code base
          * The ability for developers can take the technology in new and innovative directions and into new markets

Quote below is from the  FreeDOS site..

Link to FreeDOS site

Quote below is from the FreeDOS site.

FreeDOS aims to be a complete, free, 100% MS-DOS compatible operating system (mostly achieved except Windows compatibility and some smaller issues, see Bugzilla @ FreeDOS.org for details.) A short list of our features so far:

    * Easy multiboot with Win2000/XP
    * FAT 32 file system and large disk support
    * LFN support (on command line with 4DOS)
    * LBACACHE - disc cache
    * Memory Manager
    * FDCDEX and CD-ROM driver
    * Mouse driver with wheel-support
    * FDAMP - APM control/info, energy saving TSR/control, cache flush, rebooting
    * UDMA driver - UDMA driver for DOS: up to 4 unlimited size hard drives
    * etc.

FreeDOS was previously known as "Free-DOS" and originally as "PD-DOS." For a little trip down memory lane: In 1994, I was a physics student at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. Most of my work for school had been done using DOS - writing programs, dialing up to the university computer, network, analysing lab data, etc. I really loved DOS; I did everything with it. I had a '386 desktop system in my dorm room and an XT laptop that I would carry around with me to do work "on the go".

 

[Sirgod]

Awsome Nemesis, and Thanks again.

Stephen

[Nemesis]

Awsome Nemesis, and Thanks again.

Stephen

Open source software is based on the principle of enlightened self interest.  If the software (which I am using) is popular it will continue to be developed and ported to future operating systems.  Since I want it to be there it is in my interest to spread the word and help to popularize it.   

So if you find it useful - spread the word. 

One fact that might be of interest is that the ISO organization is looking at using the Open Office file format as an official ISO standard for file interoperability.  I hope that the day comes when governments and companies use that format as the standard for exchange and levels the playing field in Office Suites.  I like competition in business.

[Nemesis]

My first stickied topic

A link to an article on reasons to use Open Office.

One small excerpt from the article:

After all: software companies die, but information lasts forever. If a company takes the secrets of unlocking your data to its grave, where will that leave you?

[Sirgod]

Oh C'mon, After all these years this Can't be your first.

Serioulsy If It is, I've not been Doing a good job, as youHave done nothing but help others Here in the Forums.

Stephen

[Redshift the Kook]

Here's some useful software I use:

SiSoft Sandra : http://www.sisoftware.co.uk/

A great utility that can benchmark most of the components in your PC and give you extended information if you ever need to troubleshoot something.

************************

GCPUID : http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4155.html

A small, quick and simple program that will give you extended information about the CPU you are running and the speed of your FSB in real time. Very useful for overclocking and troubleshooting.

************************

AVG Free Anti-Virus : http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_index.php

Does what it says on the tin

If I think of anymore I'll add them by editing this post. Anyone else got any useful programs to share?

[MrCue]

IrfanView
Fast free image viewer and basic manipulator.
http://www.irfanview.com/

FileZilla
I used to use CuteFTP pro, but once i no longer had a company footing the bill i looked for alternatives, this is the best ive found.
http://filezilla.sourceforge.net/

SimpleMachines Forum
By far and away the best forum software out there.
http://www.simplemachines.org/download.php

[Age]

    This is now becoming the trend when it you want a Forum you want do do several things with as it is fully modified.It is a board that most are changing over to slowly except the corporate world as they mostly use infopop.There is one Star Trek gaming site that uses it.This the phpbbFully Modified.

   www.phpbbfm.com

 
     This here make for a great downloading manager even if you are on broadband .

   www.getright.com

[Nemesis]

One more program I will mention though I have not tried it and don't have link for is CloneCD.  Allegedly it can do "bit level" copying.  This allows it to copy even defects in the disk.  It allows (or is claimed to allow) the backing up of original CDs with a variety of copy protection mechanisms.  This allows backups that can be used as play disks instead of the valuable original.  Backups from which reinstalls can be done as the game can't tell the difference between an original and the backup copy.

It's only an 11 mb download so it might be worth trying, I expect to try it soon.

Anyone have any experience with it?  NOTE: in the U.S. it might be considered illegal under the DMCA.

Oh C'mon, After all these years this Can't be your first.

Serioulsy If It is, I've not been Doing a good job, as youHave done nothing but help others Here in the Forums.

Stephen

It is my first.  Most of the help I have given has been in the "one of " category where a sticky would not have been useful to anyone else. 

Don't tell the other Klingons that I have been helpful or they'll send me back to fly with the Hydrans again .  We have a reputation to uphold afterall.

[Bonk]

Some of my favorite free stuff:

QNX ("non-commercial")
FreeBSD
GNU
Samba
Apache
PHP
MySQL
NSIS

[NJAntman]

Haven't used CloneCd myself but I do have the excellent pay program Alcohol 120% and on it's discussion forums CloneCD is recommended for breaking certain encryptions that A120% either can't handle or won't for legal reasons.

[jualdeaux]

I got Clone CD a while ago as I couldn't copy certain discs with what I had. I don't use it very often but it does do a good job. I don't think it can break all the different type of encryptions though.

[Bonk]

Oh forgot to mention Abyss, a tight little free webserver for Windows, Linux, FreeBSD and MacOSX:

http://www.aprelium.com

[Javora]

Here is a program that I found today called DVD Shrink.  I haven't had a chance to use it but from what I have read, Newegg is giving out the program with DVD burners.

Here is a link:  http://www.dvdshrink.org/what.html

[Musashi NCC-BR549]

This is cool.  Whichever one of you geniuses thought of this forum deserves a pat on the head.   I scooped up 7Zip, today.  It is outstanding.  The only thing that I can add to the mix is http://www.ecn.org/crypto/soft/pgp658ckt08s.zip.   It's the Cyber Knights Templar 6.8.5 build of that PGP thingy.    I was planning on using it if the "War on Terror" ever got to the point that the Feds couldn't mind their own damn business.   The PGPDisk option thingy is nice, too.   


Mush the G.I.T.  (Geek-in-Training)

[Nemesis]

Two sites I just found out about.

The Priceless Ware list This seems to be a long time site with a good history.
Cleansoftware This on the other hand is a brand new site.  No history.

[Pestalence_XC]

Here is a program that I found today called DVD Shrink.  I haven't had a chance to use it but from what I have read, Newegg is giving out the program with DVD burners.

Here is a link:  http://www.dvdshrink.org/what.html

I actually bought a DVD ripper program when it was on sale at Comp USA before California made it illegal.. it is listed as the best on some sites or the 2nd best on others.. but it contains a true ripper...

DVD X Copy Platinum v4.0.3.8

that is the last version that has a true ripper in it.. it can rip a DVD to your HDD reguardless of the copy protect.. any DVD.. PS2, Movie DVD, Etc... it makes the copy to your HDD, and it compresses the rip to where the 7 GB DL DVD +R you just ripped will fit on a 4.7 GB DVD -R.. Crystal Clear playback and it copies all the submenus, navagation, games, audio, etc.. it is a mirror image of the DVD.. the only difference between the original and the DVD X Copy version is the splash stating it is a DVD X Copy reporduction for private use only.. and even then if you know where to look on your HDD, you can delete that file (it is a txt file) and make a burn without the DVD X Copy Splash...

When I bought it, it was $57 and on sale.. now you can only get it on Ebay and maybe My Simon and it is going for about $120 to $150...

[wulf111]

Here is a program that I found today called DVD Shrink.  I haven't had a chance to use it but from what I have read, Newegg is giving out the program with DVD burners.

Here is a link:  http://www.dvdshrink.org/what.html

I actually bought a DVD ripper program when it was on sale at Comp USA before California made it illegal.. it is listed as the best on some sites or the 2nd best on others.. but it contains a true ripper...

DVD X Copy Platinum v4.0.3.8

that is the last version that has a true ripper in it.. it can rip a DVD to your HDD reguardless of the copy protect.. any DVD.. PS2, Movie DVD, Etc... it makes the copy to your HDD, and it compresses the rip to where the 7 GB DL DVD +R you just ripped will fit on a 4.7 GB DVD -R.. Crystal Clear playback and it copies all the submenus, navagation, games, audio, etc.. it is a mirror image of the DVD.. the only difference between the original and the DVD X Copy version is the splash stating it is a DVD X Copy reporduction for private use only.. and even then if you know where to look on your HDD, you can delete that file (it is a txt file) and make a burn without the DVD X Copy Splash...

When I bought it, it was $57 and on sale.. now you can only get it on Ebay and maybe My Simon and it is going for about $120 to $150...

 i have used DVD Shrink alot to back up my DVD movies is a great program it lets you cut out all the extras from a DVD such as deleted sceens and stuff and can do compression on the VOB files so you can get it on one 4.7GB disk

[Pestalence_XC]

Here is a program that I found today called DVD Shrink.  I haven't had a chance to use it but from what I have read, Newegg is giving out the program with DVD burners.

Here is a link:  http://www.dvdshrink.org/what.html

I actually bought a DVD ripper program when it was on sale at Comp USA before California made it illegal.. it is listed as the best on some sites or the 2nd best on others.. but it contains a true ripper...

DVD X Copy Platinum v4.0.3.8

that is the last version that has a true ripper in it.. it can rip a DVD to your HDD reguardless of the copy protect.. any DVD.. PS2, Movie DVD, Etc... it makes the copy to your HDD, and it compresses the rip to where the 7 GB DL DVD +R you just ripped will fit on a 4.7 GB DVD -R.. Crystal Clear playback and it copies all the submenus, navagation, games, audio, etc.. it is a mirror image of the DVD.. the only difference between the original and the DVD X Copy version is the splash stating it is a DVD X Copy reporduction for private use only.. and even then if you know where to look on your HDD, you can delete that file (it is a txt file) and make a burn without the DVD X Copy Splash...

When I bought it, it was $57 and on sale.. now you can only get it on Ebay and maybe My Simon and it is going for about $120 to $150...

 i have used DVD Shrink alot to back up my DVD movies is a great program it lets you cut out all the extras from a DVD such as deleted sceens and stuff and can do compression on the VOB files so you can get it on one 4.7GB disk

DVD X Copy Platinum gives you the same options about the menus, sub menus, extras and all that and if you want to copy them as well or just the movie itself... also DVD X Copy Platinum v4.0.3.8 allows you to adjust the compression level for each section.. you can adjust as your needs change... Now once you rip the DVD, you can close DVD X Copy without burning to DVD.. this will keep the compressed files on your HDD.. If you go through the process all the way, DVD X Copy will immediately delete the files from your system once the burned DVD is ejected.

[Mentat Jon]

cool link, free is always good. how about some free spyware killing stuff