Go To Content
codylindley.com

codylindley.com

To Purchase Software Or To Use The Free Alternatives?

3 February 05 | Permanent Link | Add Comments

I am often faced with situations and tasks that require the use of software that is not provide with the operating system. Yup, I know, who isn’t! So I am going to identify those particular situations or tasks and then provide a cost (in some instances very costly) solution as well as the free alternative.

I need an email client.

I need a suite of office applications.

I need a web server.

I need a datatbase.

I need a tool to manage MySQL.

I need a WYSIWYG editor.

I need a code editor.

I need an FTP client.

I need to create PDF’s.

I need a photo editor.

I need a personal firewall.

I need a Anti-Virus program.

I need a sypware removal tool.

I need a music player.

I need a screen ruler.

I need a file compression tool.


Did I miss any?

 
  1.   #1 Comment Posted by Tim Varcak on Feb 3, 01:12 PM
    Pretty kickin’ list there. Makes me look at some programs I didn’t know existed. =]

    Although the photo editor alternative doesn’t fit. IrFanView is an awesome program to view files and perform some simple image manipulations (I love the batch processing), but to say it’s an alternative to photoshop doesn’t jive. A free proudct that truly is a replacement for photoshop is The Gimp (http://www.gimp.org). I’d defintely recomend it for anyone who needs a powerful photo editor on the cheap.
  2.   #2 Author Comment on Feb 3, 02:24 PM
    Dang! How could I have forgotten the GIMP! Good call my friend, good call.

    I’ve added the GIMP.
  3.   #3 Comment Posted by Nathan Logan on Feb 4, 10:57 AM
    Um, you left out Microsoft FrontPage… Big oversight my friend. It’s the king of WYSIWYG!

    ;)

    Thanks for the list, though. I’ll check out a coupla’ those.
  4.   #4 Comment Posted by Fernando Dunn II on Feb 4, 12:54 PM
    I stopped bootlegging, so here are some of the things I’ve used. I only purchased few pieces of software.

    Email – Thunderbird
    Office applications – OpenOffice.org
    Database – MySQL
    Manage MySQL – PhpMyAdmin
    Code editor – Crimson Editor
    FTP client – SmartFTP, Filezilla, or the FireFTP Firefox Extension
    Photo editor – Adobe Photoshop
    Personal firewall – Trend Micro Internet Security 2005
    Anti-virus – Trend Micro Internet Security 2005
    Spyware – Ad-aware
    Music player – WinAmp

    One question though: is there a Zip file compression alternative for Windows?
  5.   #5 Author Comment on Feb 4, 01:06 PM
    Fernando – Check out http://www.7-zip.org/
  6.   #6 Comment Posted by eddie wilson on Feb 4, 01:58 PM
    As far as compression tools go I use Winrar. Its compression is better than Winzip, the tools for working with compressed files is better (the right click menu is cleaner, and quicker than with Winzip), and it still does .zip files.
  7.   #7 Author Comment on Feb 4, 02:08 PM
    @Eddie – Did you pay for Winrar?
  8.   #8 Comment Posted by Fernando Dunn II on Feb 5, 03:25 AM
    Thanks for the link, Cody. That will help a bunch. I love open source software. Now if only I could find a Linux distribution that is as user-friendly as XP and seamlessly supports all applications. :(
  9.   #9 Author Comment on Feb 6, 09:12 PM
    Some day, I hope…
  10.   #10 Comment Posted by Otm Shank on Feb 15, 02:05 PM
    You could Photofiltre (www.photofiltre.com) to the list along with GIMP and Irfanview.
  11.   #11 Author Comment on Feb 15, 02:13 PM
    @Otm Shank – Added. Thanks!
  12.   #12 Comment Posted by Eric Baenen on Apr 5, 02:49 PM
    For free anti-virus
    http://www.clamav.net/
    http://www.clamwin.com/

    GIMP is awesome but another free image manipulation app
    http://www.imagemagick.org/

    If you’re running Apache/PHP/MySQL – free groupware/content management
    http://www.tikiwiki.org/

    Try searching http://www.sourceforge.net/ and http://www.freshmeat.net/—- TONS of apps and resources
  13.   #13 Comment Posted by Hubert Carson on Apr 9, 07:28 PM
    I can recommend a few freeware text editors from among many that I have tested over the past few years.

    1) Light-duty text editors.
    Notepad2: clean, light, and everything you
    always wanted Notepad to be. A favorite.

    2) Text/Programming editors.
    ConTEXT, Crimson, and synEdit: good overall programming editors.
    PSPad: good HTML and programming editor.
    Cream: a gui combined with the gvim editor. Not as “pretty” as some, but does almost everything, and has syntax highlighting for several hundred programming languages. I use to edit AML, an old ArcInfo GIS scripting language, and also because I used VI for many years and am somewhat senitmental.

    3) HTML/web editors.
    1st Page: a heavy-duty but somewhat dated replacement for Frontpage and Dreamweaver.
    HTML-Kit: a good, versatile HTML and web scripting editor with lots of plugins available. A favorite.
    HTMLGate: some good HTML and web editing features.
    AlleyCode: good HTML and PHP editor.
  14.   #14 Comment Posted by Jim Moses on Feb 17, 10:14 AM

    I need a free version of ADOBE CS that will actually work with CS.