Ask DLS: What free apps would you like to share with Karen?

Filed under: Freeware, Open Source, Ask DLS

Ask DLS: What free apps would you like to share with Karen?

by Lee Mathews Dec 11th 2008

A lot of you read yesterday's post about the school teacher who cautioned us that spreading the "misconception of free software" is harmful. Today we're going to put a positive spin on things.

Free software does exist. Every retail customer that I've built a computer for in the past six years has at least three pieces of free or Open Source software on his or her system. It's everywhere, and we're all using it - even Karen, whether she realizes it or not.

So now it's time for "Sharin' with Karen." Which of your favorite free applications would you like her (and others like her) to know about and use? They might be well known - like Firefox or OpenOffice - or they might be relative unknowns - like Network Notepad.

Let's keep things positive - after all, we're talking about software that someone else is sharing with you!

Post your picks, and I'll put together a roundup for the weekend.

Maybe we'll help change some minds!

Tags: favorite, free, oss, readers, software

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)

snupher said 9:10AM on 12-11-2008

firefox
google talk
vlc

Those are three I can't live without.

Shtanky said 9:29AM on 12-11-2008

She's too stupid to use or see the value of most of my free apps, but Firefox, OpenOffice, and GIMP would be the most likely candidates.

Ambimom said 9:42AM on 12-11-2008

The Gimp; OpenOffice Suite, Audacity,FoxitReader,AVG,Skype,IrfanView, Launchy,Opera Browser,PopPeeper, and X-Chat are the ones I use every single day!

Ambimom said 9:44AM on 12-11-2008

One more thing she needs to know about: UBUNTU

Anonymous Coward said 9:42AM on 12-11-2008

Ubuntu seems like an obvious choice. AbiWord and GNUMeric are nice alternatives to heavy office suites like OOo and MS Office. Pidgin or similar is a must for people who use multiple IM protocols.

Trent said 9:59AM on 12-11-2008

Firefox, Digsby, Skype, VLC, Utorrent, iTunes, Foxit Reader, 7zip, IMGBurn, Ccleaner, Handbrake, DVDflick, and Audacity.

And the websites for Vimeo/Youtube, Flickr/photobucket/Webshots, Hulu, Google Maps/Streetview, youconvertit, and last.fm

And the Firefox plugins for ABP, Stylish, Greasemonkey, and Video Download Helper

Trent said 10:10AM on 12-11-2008

Whoops, Forgot The Gimp, Jahshaka, Spybot, Soulseek, Real/Quicktime Alternative, Picasa, and Musikcube/Foobar 2000.

Bill said 10:05AM on 12-11-2008

Firefox (of course)
Everything Google (not really free?? could be argued) Lots of schools using their apps I bet.
Notepad++

snupher said 2:25PM on 12-11-2008

Yeah, but it is open source.

tom said 10:12AM on 12-11-2008

I install this always in any computer that gets in m y hands:
Firefox
Open office
Aimp
My Lockbox
Dropbox
Foxit PDF Reader
VLC
utorrent or bittorrent
emule
Digsby
Silkroad ;)
Combat Arms

Jason said 12:00PM on 12-11-2008

Thank you for My Lockbox. =)

Steve said 10:19AM on 12-11-2008

Any of the portableapps.com applications, but especially the suite, I find them indispensible.

Nicole said 10:24AM on 12-11-2008

Gimp and Picasa
Firefox
Google Chrome
Pidgin or Trillian
Launchy
Foxit Reader
iTunes(free without account!!!)
Firezilla

These programs are all the basis for my day-to-day productivity--to try to tell me that there is no way they are free(with the exception of my iTunes account), is ridiculous.

AlbinoAsianDude said 10:29AM on 12-11-2008

oh man, where to start.

I'm on windows most of the time, yet there are many free apps I definitely couldn't do without ... no way Im paying for something that does the job half as good!

EAC - best audio extracting / encoding program I've ever used
PitchPerfect - a fantastic guitar tuning application ... it works suprisingly well simply using a built in laptop mic
Winamp - it has a PRO version, but that just adds more bloat
for video I use Media Player Classic... there are other great programs too like Foobar and VLC
MP3tag - to keep all my ID3 tags and mp3 filenames in perfect order
Defraggler - a super handy defragging tool
Avast is my free Antivirus of choice
Free Download Manager - its free, it downloads, it rocks
There are some great free games out there these days - my fave being Trackmania Nations

There's so many more great free apps I use such as CCleaner

My-t-man said 10:56AM on 12-11-2008

Give her this link
Freeware World Team - International Freeware Database.
Presents 36324 freeware programs, for Windows OS, from all around the world.
http://www.all4you.dk/FreewareWorld/links.php

James said 11:09AM on 12-11-2008

Audacity
Pidgin
Firefox
PortableApps in general, especially with GeekMenu

timk0013 said 11:14AM on 12-11-2008

With her being an educator, I would recommend the Moodle project, a course management system (a replacement for the BlackBoard system). Hand out assignments to the class, distribute grades, collect assignments.

Ubuntu is a great starting point for someone in her situation. OpenOffice has not let me down, hell, it's even saved my ass when I couldn't open files with Microsoft Office 2003 (they were Microsoft Office 2007 files!!)

Hopefully, she can learn there is ALWAYS an alternative to purchasing software.

David said 11:23AM on 12-11-2008

EDUBUNTU!!!

skapig said 11:29AM on 12-11-2008

Not to rag on OO, but was as downloading the convertor from MS too difficult? I know Office 2003 instructed me to do so upon attempting to open a 2007 file. The process could have been streamlined a little better, but it wasn't exactly difficult. Either way, the conversion is not always the most accurate.

David said 11:14AM on 12-11-2008

GIMP, Ubuntu, Firefox, uTorrent, Pidgin

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