Finding Free Software

If you've read this blog for awhile, you probably know "I love free".  There is a ton of software available at no cost, but finding it can be a challenge.  Searching using the word "free" usually ends up with software that is a free download, but costs money to use it after a short trial period.

I've found that if you start your search with the words "open source" you're far more likely to find the real free options.  Open source refers to software where the underlying source code is freely available and its licensing allows free use, both personally and commercially.  The open source software I use on a frequent basis includes:

• OpenOffice (instead of Microsoft Office)
• Firefox (instead of Internet Explorer)
• Audacity (for audio editing)
• Handbrake (for DVD ripping)
• 7-Zip (instead of WinZip)
• PDFCreator (instead of Adobe Acrobat)
• Project Libre (instead of Microsoft Project)

http://www.opensourceohio.net/