We all heard that saying “There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch“, but I beg to differ! While this may have been true during time like “The Great Depression”, it no longer true in a country like American.
That said, many people still believe the old saying and take it to heart. In fact, I was helping a friend implement a free backup solution that would saved him thousands of dollars for his small business, but he changed his mind almost right after I got the first phase of it installed.
Here is what happened!
I went down to his business office, setup a workstation that he had as a server that would be the backup server, installed the software needed (all free), and then scripted out the process for the automated backup to work for his first business workstation to be backed up (as a test).
I took most of the human element out of it by having it backup to an external hard drive that someone would switch out with another hard drive in the morning. This process would then be alternated daily, with one of the hard drives always in my friend’s car. It was a good free solution.
My friend decided to hire a part-time office clerk and have system backups fall underneath the office clerk/warehouse guy’s responsibilities. Well the new hire didn’t know anything about how to backup a computer and turned off the machine I setup off.
They recently had a problem with their workstation, but no backup system was in place so all of their invoicing files were lost…
The of course we have the following list of software that is free and incredible:
- WordPress - What is WordPress? The the software that support this blog and others. Great stuff!
- Open Office – Microsoft compatible free office software. More Great stuff!
- Linux (in particular Ubuntu), – Linux is an operating system. I use Ubuntu desktop for many of my needs!
- Apache - Web Server technology, I’m using this as the web server software for wordpress.
- Google – Practically anything google is great and mostly free!
- GIMP – Great Graphic Manipulation software.
- MySQL – SQL Server software (this is now owned by Oracle, so I don’t know how much longer it will be free… sad huh).
- Download.com – I like to query for free software, and the top editor’s picks. This is more of a windows and mac site by CNN.com
- Sourceforge.net – free software including Linux.
If I owned a business with employees that needed workstations, I would try to go entire with free software, perhaps a mix of 80% free and 20% proprietary.
Readers, what do you think free software, and what is your best suggestion?
-MR
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I love free software! I love free anything now that I think about it.
I think you can get free software for just about anything you want to do, you just may not get ‘premium’ service. That is ok for me though because I usually just need basic service.
Yeah, I usually go with the basic service too. After all, usually the basic service will get you about 99% of what you need.
I love free software and I agree that WordPress is one of the greatest free things to date. Although you can also purchase inexpensive software online that sometimes fulfills a need that would usually cost a fortune.
That a great point. The online version of software can be very cheap compared to the packaged versions.
Even buying online is typically a lot cheap too.
It depends on the purpose.
I was an OpenOffice user for years, but recently I upgraded to Microsoft Office 2011. It is AWESOME.
Everything just looks “newer” than openoffice–and not just the program itself. The charts are refreshed, and excel works like a dream. It was definitely worth the $80 .edu price.
That said, I use most everything else on your list.
Good point, the education version of Microsoft Office is at a pretty good price!
For server side software I prefer free, for client side, for most part I like proprietary.
I could use Ubuntu as my OS as it is free, but it is still rough in the edges when compared to my Mac!
But then I wouldn’t use IIS even if Microsoft paid me money! Apache all the way!
Ironically even though I would use linux for server and desktop purposes in a business. The laptop that I’m typing on is windows (lol).
Interesting point about using the basic free versions of software. In many cases, that’s all that is really necessary, as you pointed out to Everyday Tips. Sometimes though, I am happy that you can get premium services for a free period though: every now and then, I’ll be blown away by something that I would not even try otherwise.
That a good point too! Why not try the full blown version for free if they are offering it for a trial run!
I like Google because of the search capabilities. I am still learning about all their other products.
Google has some pretty nice free stuff! I like gmail, and their office suite… and those are just the tip of the iceberg…
I love my free office spaces! All the free software you listed (I have tried all but three of them) are superb, and completely contradict the sage advice, “You get what you pay for,” too.
Ah, that’s another great saying that can be debunked by some of the great free software that’s out there!
Whenever I get a new computer (or set up someone else’s) I always remove all the bloat and trial ware and put in open office and a bunch of free antivirus/malware.
Your computers sounds like my computers!
As long as I don’t go to any questionable site, and close the browser windows via task manager when an unwanted pop up pops, freeware antivirus software works great!
Don’t forget about WinUtilities & Avast. Great clean-up & protection software.
My cousin has been writing a program for sourceforge for school – something biology related I don’t understand.
I have Avast on the laptop that I’m responding to your post right now
Great antivirus software!
Congrats to your cousin, sounds amazing!