Free Software and Freeware
Nowadays on the internet you could practically search and locate any kind of software just by typing the keywords or related phrases into any of the major search engines such as Google or Yahoo. And it’s not just software I am referring to, but “fr.e.e” software – software that you could download, install and use without having to fork out a single dime! It is possible to believe that if anyone could envision a task, activity, function or use that could be made easier or even be automated, there is a software out there that has been developed for that purpose! And chances are that you could also find one that is free to download, install and use!
However, one may have several doubts and questions about the whole realm of “fr.e.e” software.
Questions like:-
(1)What actually is termed as “fr.e.e” software?
(2)Are there any limitations to it’s usage in the context of business?
(3)Why does programmers and developers develop fr.e.e software?
Firstly, let’s define what is “fr.e.e” software. There are essentially 2 type of “fr.e.e” software:
(1)Freeware
(2)Free Software
Freeware
Freeware is software that is zero-cost or free in price terms and is usually referring to a common group of software programs that can be downloaded, installed and used in most operating systems. However, they are usually copyrighted and as such they may not be free to modify, share or to be reused in your new software developments, unless they are listed under “public domain software”.
Free Software
Free software is software that anyone may freely use, run, share and modify, at any time, for any reason. However, to re-distribute it, the only condition is that the distributed version of the free software must be done without altering the original terms of fr.e.e use, modification and distribution under the GNU General Public License(http://www.gnu.org), as stipulated by the Free Software Foundation (http://www.fsf.org/). The word “free” in the term “free software” is about freedom, not price. People are allowed to sell free software or distribute it for a fee and the person who buys the software may change it or give it away.
In terms of limitations, fr.e.e software tends to have less limitations in it’s scope and flexibility in it’s usage than freeware, as far as the community of users, programmers and developers are concerned.
But why are programmers and developers so willing to develop fr.e.e software? One of the answers, surprisingly, is that it is actually cheaper to develop free software! Any such software is usually put together using a number of smaller software program packages which are also developed and distributed under the GPL (General Public License). The completed software is then distributed to a community of beta testers which includes programmers to try out and give their feedback on existing bugs and often accompanied by patches which are corrected parts of the software program to fix these bugs.
In some cases, the programmers develop these software simply because they want to include some features that does not currently exist in paid software. They may also want to develop it in a different manner such as to make it more simplified or user-friendly. Most programmers also do it for the passion or challenge of solving some existing need or problem with their skills and deriving the personal satisfaction from the free software’s widespread usage and popularity.
In conclusion, most if not all users will always welcome more such fr.e.e and useful software, as a result of whichever objective they may be developed for. However, there’s only one thing all users need to bear in mind – the safest approach to it’s legal usage would be to install it only for your own use and NOT attempt to sell it or distribute it for profit, unless you are completely certain of it’s origin and classification.
By: Bernard Teo
Software – Ultra Edit
Multi Editors. A lot of people wonder why they even need them. Isn’t Microsoft Word or a comparable product good enough? Well, for most people, it probably is. But for those of us who need to have a large number of files open at one time, such as programmers, multi editors are a life saver. So the question becomes, which one do you buy when there are so many? While Multi Edit is probably the most popular and arguably the most powerful, its huge price tag may put some people off. That’s where IDM Comp’s Ultra Edit can be a perfectly acceptable alternative.
IDM really did their homework with this piece of software. Because of the numerous functions that it can perform we can’t get into all of them here. But we will touch on the high points of this very powerful piece of editing software.
For starters, when setting up a project, which is the main function of Ultra Edit, you can designate as many files for the project to open at one time as you have memory to handle. There is no limit. Each file when opened has its own memory space and own window, all visible at once. Just a simple click of your mouse on the top tabs switches from one file to the next.
Ultra edit can be set up to recognize a large number of file types. You can work on text files, HTML files, bcc files and on and on. When working on each file type, the properties of the editor itself adapt to the file itself. For example. When working on an HTML file, the color coding of each line changes to reflect the main parts of an HTML file. This way you can get a good handle on your tags, fonts, etc. Plain text files will appear in black and white.
Ultra Edit also has the ability to edit machine code. You can view any file at all in hex and edit it. So if you are a super programmer and want to tweak a piece of machine code, as long as you know what you’re doing, this software will let you do it. Also, while you’re making your machine code changes, the editor will show you the English changes in an adjoining window. Really cool stuff.
Ultra Edit, of course, also comes with all the standard things that you would expect in any regular text editor, like search, search and replace, spell checking, changing lower to upper case, cut and paste, sorting options for lists and a help function that puts most software to shame.
And, if you’re a real super user, you can customize your Ultra Edit to perform just about any way you like by editing certain ini switches. There is also the customize option in the main menu itself. You can have Ultra Edit close open files immediately upon opening a new project or have it prompt you first.
At about half the price of Multi Edit, Ultra Edit is a real bargain and runs on just about any Windows platform. You can’t go wrong with this piece of software if you need this kind of power and don’t want to shell out a lot of money.
By: Michael Russell
Affordable Business Software
One of the more expensive items, which normally end up being the backbone of a business, is the purchase of and your monthly payments for your software system.
Even if you do not buy the system but pay a monthly rental fee for the system, these fees can be rather expensive and unnecessary, especially the support backup. There are a lot of packages out there for the “Hire” industry and for the normal “Retail” business. What a lot of business owners do not know is that these packages are just a re-write of any basic accounting package that includes a few add-ons. More importantly if one has to look at their design through the eyes of an IT professional they will more than likely find the design and code is unacceptable as most of these “packages” are designed and programmed by so-called programmers that have had no formal programming education.
Background
I have been in the IT industry for the last 20 years and have been around the block. I did not want to accept the package we were advised to use when we started our tool hire business but we had no choice and had to use it to get up and running. To have the use of this package we had to pay a monthly fee for a minimum of two licenses even though we were only using one. For every telephone call for support you would be charged a minimum of a one hour call out. If the support had to come to your premises you would be charged extra for travelling. The more I considered at this and especially in these tough times, the more I started looking around for other options. We then got an email informing us that they were increasing their fees by a 10 percent annual increase even though we only had their system for 6 months. That hit the nail on the head. I started to write my own system.
Quickbooks
I then remembered that my sister in Vancouver once told me that all their clients and their company only use Quickbooks and they are the bookkeepers. So I started to look at Quickbooks and realised they have over 4 million Quickbooks users worldwide. Now that has to say something for Quickbooks in itself, whether that is 4 million users or 4 million businesses, who knows – it is still a lot. Then I realised I had been trying to “re-invent the wheel” which I had always advised against in my previous employment. I started to test Quickbooks. I found that it was very “user friendly” and easy to set up. As you install it, it basically prompts you through everything. Thereafter with a few template changes, how I added the hire equipment and set up a few accounts, Quickbooks now works for our hire business. There is not that much you actually need to do and it is really quite simple.
Costs
Costs are minimal as you only pay once. No more monthly payments. Support?- there are tons of answers for almost any question you might have on the Intuit website. I will go through how I set up Quickbooks for our company in the following articles. I am not a Quickbooks re-seller – I just do not see why businesses should pay exorbitant fees for inferior software when there are solutions for your business out there already. The software you use does not have to be Quickbooks either. See more articles on this subject at our website http://www.ToolsforAfrica.co.za.
By: Gary Pitman