Useful Freewares...

digit.sh

Journeyman
Please do not post FOSS apps here :) FOSS(free and open source software) is different from freeware.

I have seen mention of Wireshark (and many others) which are FOSS.


For a list of very useful FOSS apps see this LINK
 
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sakumar79

Technomancer
@digit.sh, I dont see any issue posting open source software here as long as it is free - Can you please explain why FOSS tools should not be included in freeware section? IMHO, FOSS is subset of freeware - freeware just indicates a tool is free or not, does not restrict it is closed source or open source. FOSS indicates the software is both free as well as open source.

Arun
 

digit.sh

Journeyman
Sakumar79,

FOSS is subset of freeware

Foss is NOT a subset of freeware.

What is FOSS? Here is the definition from wikipedia

The first formal definition of free software was published by FSF in February 1986. That definition, written by Richard Stallman, is still maintained today and states that software is free software if people who receive a copy of the software have the following four freedoms. (The numbering begins with zero since many computer systems use zero-based numbering.)

Freedom 0: The freedom to run the program for any purpose.
Freedom 1: The freedom to study how the program works, and change it to make it do what you wish.
Freedom 2: The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor.
Freedom 3: The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements (and modified versions in general) to the public, so that the whole community benefits.

Freedoms 1 and 3 require source code to be available because studying and modifying software without its source code is highly impractical.

Thus, free software means that computer users have the freedom to cooperate with whom they choose, and to control the software they use. To summarize this into a remark distinguishing libre (freedom) software from gratis (zero price) software, the Free Software Foundation says: "Free software is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of 'free' as in 'free speech', not as in 'free beer'".[17] See Gratis versus libre.


^^it says: "Free software(FOSS) is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of 'free' as in 'free speech', not as in 'free beer'"

And GPL license makes it clear that, you can sell a FOSS app as long as the above four right of the buyer are intact. In fact there there a many FOSS apps that are not free(in sense of "price"), you have to buy them. Its true that most of the FOSS apps are free(you do not have to buy).

In contrast, FREEWARE means: (from wikipedia)
"Freeware (from "free" and "software") is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee,[1] but usually with one or more restricted usage rights"

So, its clear that FOSS and FREEWARE are totally different terms. Main goals of FOSS licensed apps are to ensure the users' FREEDOM to copy,distribute and modify the software. Price doesn't play any role here. Whereas the freeware is only about money.
Its totally wrong to call or classify FOSS apps as 'freeware", only because you don't have to buy them.


FOSS indicates the software is both free as well as open source.

I feel that, to say "free" you meant, "no need to spend money", which is wrong. "Free" in "Free and open source software", doesn't mean "price", rather, it means "freedom". (freedom to copy,modify and redistribute). This is why, if I say "xyz software is FOSS", doesn't mean you don't have to buy it. It means, you may have to buy it if the author demands a price, you don't have to buy it if the author publish it freely(without price). But, in both cases you have the FREEDOM to modify and redistribute.


Hope the above discussion clears the confusion about "feeware" and "foss"
 
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sakumar79

Technomancer
Okay, I get your point... FOSS is not a subset of freeware... But if a FOSS software is provided free of cost - it is freeware also right? Hence, IMHO FOSS tools which are free of cost can be posted here as long as it is indicated that the software comes under FOSS system...

Arun
 

digit.sh

Journeyman
But if a FOSS software is provided free of cost - it is freeware also right?

^No. Foss can't be freeware. Freeware are those which are available free of cost but do not give the users the freedom to modify and redistribute. On the other hand, its mandatory for a foss app to give users this freedom. Then how can a foss app be freeware?

If we want to post free of cost apps here(irrespective of "foss" and "freeware"), we should better rename the thread as "useful apps that are available free of cost"(or create a thread solely for foss apps). Posting foss under a thread "useful freeware", creates an impression that "foss" apps are "freeware", while they are not!

Just tried to clear up the misconception around foss. :)
 

sakumar79

Technomancer
You have already noted freeware as ""Freeware (from "free" and "software") is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee,[1] but usually with one or more restricted usage rights"...

Hence, freeware refers to free (as in cost) software. The license terms of the software do not enter the equation - whatever the terms are, if the software is provided free of cost, it is considered freeware.

Hence, all FOSS software that are provided free of cost are essentially freeware.

Freeware does not mean FOSS, FOSS does not mean Freeware...
But FOSS software (if provided free of cost) can be freeware, and freeware (if provided with terms as per FOSS) can be FOSS...

The objective of this thread, as far as I can tell, is to provide readers with legal free (in cost) alternatives to commercial (paid) software... In that sense, I am of the opinion that FOSS software provided free of cost can and should be included

Arun
 

topgear

Super Moderator
Staff member
End the war between Freeware and Foss guys - at-least in here ;-)

As long as FOSS apps are available for free of cost they can be posted in this section as the main purpose of this thread is to let people know about the useful softwares those available for free of cost but not to discriminate free apps by their license terms ;-)

For eg. Avira Antvirus free Edition can be counted as nagware instead of freeware as it asks users to upgrade to paid version from time to time with nag screens but we will call it a freeware app as this is safe to use, useful and available at free of cost.

There's lots of Licensing terms available in the world of softwares :
List of software licenses - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

But if we have to make separate threads for each one it would be really a mess and maintaining them would be a tedious job.

So to make things more simple it's best to list all apps which are freely available and can be used without paying a penny provided they have the feature set which can be freely used without any time limitation mentioned on the licensing terms ;-)
 

Vyom

The Power of x480
Staff member
Admin
Bump. Since I was amazed to find out, that Space Sniffer was not in the list in First Post!

It "Demands" to be appended! :D
 

Neuron

Electronic.
Gizmo.Another awesome tool for mounting drive images.It can even mount vhd files.

PS:Wouldn't it be great if we update the first post to bring all the apps. together.Some work for the mod but still worth it.
 

pratik385

In the zone
VideoCacheView :
Very nice software to quickly copy the videos from lets say Youtube.
Just have to watch the video on Browser and you can simply copy it from cache :)
Sorry if its already been posted, i use it every time thought i should share!

And Thank you TopGear and thetecfreak for useful freewares recommendation :)
 

pratik385

In the zone
Guys,

Ive two drives on my laptop, c and d drive.
c drive has 330gb and d has 400gb i guess.
c drive has around 300 gb free and d drive has around 30 gb free, I want to add this 300 gb from c drive to d drive. Any windows trick or freeware for this purpose? If this is not possible then a seperate drive for 300gb will be okay. Let me know how to do this one too :D

Thanks in advance :)
 

Vyom

The Power of x480
Staff member
Admin
^^ You can try to shrink the C: drive using Disk Management tool which is inbuilt into windows. Try to find Computer Management under control panel.

After you shrink the drive, you can then create another partition with the space you get. But adding it to the existing D drive is not possible unless you format the D.

If you are looking for a freeware to do this, you can use Gparted (Gnome partition editor). But that is a tool which you should only use if you know what you are doing!
So, I don't take responsibility if you mess up your partition during the use of GParted!! :D
 

Sarvesh

Journeyman
I suggest - you visit LiberKey - Portable applications catalog . I prefer using freewares and FOSS in portable format - since I can use the same application on my Laptop as well as my desktops (3 nos.) without reinstalling on every system. Further it has built in auto updater also. You can add or remove applications of your choice. ;-)
 
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