The Thinklings

"The abnegation of reason is not the evidence of faith, but the confession of despair."

- J.B. Lightfoot

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Posted by Bird @ 6:33 pm CST
Filed under: Technology

Tell me what is, in your opinion, the best free program or resource on the Internet. For example, some might say Open Office or Wikipedia, and those would be great choices!

A couple of days ago a friend of mine chatted me up about Ubuntu. Apparently it's a Linux-based free operating system. I'm not 100 percent sure I have the huevos rancheros to try to boot up a free operating system, though Vista does so often get on my last nerve. Still, I like the idea of geeks (like our very own Billboy and his Bloo software) who use their spare time to wage guerrilla warfare against the Axis of Evil: Microsoft, Google, and Apple.

(On a side note, I've done so many links on this post that I feel like The Anchoress.)

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Comments on "Best Of The Web?":

1. nhe - 01/14/2010 7:00 pm CST

This is EASY - Tim Keller's free mp3 sermons at http://sermons.redeemer.com/store/......give a donation periodically though if you partake in earnest.

2. Ally - 01/14/2010 7:32 pm CST

audacity and Panda Cloud Antivirus

(and eventually I intend to go Linux, but the old old old laptop I wanted to play around with it on before trying it on something better apparently has hardware that doesn't play nice with most of the more popular forms of Linux...)

3. Bill - 01/14/2010 8:23 pm CST

I've installed ubuntu before - it works well if you're wanting to surf the web, do Office type stuff, check emails, etc. But it helps if you have a geeky streak.

There's so much good opensource software out there, I can't pick. Some that are favorites of mine include Mozilla and Opera for browsers, Thunderbird for email, Avira for virus protection, Gimp for image manipulation, OpenOffice for Word processing and spreadsheets, and the holy grail of web developers, LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySql, PHP). To name a few.

Here's a great site chock full of freeware recomendations: Gizmo's Freeware.

4. Bill - 01/14/2010 9:35 pm CST

Ally - do you record at home with Audacity? I have it installed, but haven't had a chance to mess w it yet. Let me know - how does it compare w, say, Garage Band or Pro Tools? (if you know).

One thing about Windows users who switch to Mac or Linux - there's an interesting phenomenon on these machines: They don't slow down over time. My iMac has been running fine for 5 years now. I've run ubuntu and it just RUNS. Windows will only run smoothly (in my experience) over a long time if you're careful to put sturdy protection on it.

5. Bird - 01/14/2010 10:13 pm CST

I've got two computers and they're both Windows machines. My oldest, my laptop, is 3.5 years old. I'm sure it doesn't run as smoothly as when I first bought it, but I really don't notice a difference in performance.

6. Steve - 01/14/2010 10:53 pm CST

The e-Sword Bible program at www.e-sword.net, with free searchable Bibles including ESV and KJV+ with Strong's reference numbers & dictionary, public domain commentaries (Henry's, Barnes', etc.) and devotionals (Spurgeon. . ) by far my favorite all time free program. Available for desktop and PocketPC platforms.

7. Bob Sacamento - 01/15/2010 8:37 am CST

Thomas Library of Congress - sponsored site with a searchable collection of the full text of every single bill before the House and the Senate. It's your patriotic duty to go there right now!!!

FWIW, i loaded Ubuntu onto my laptop. Doing something like that is always a bit frightening, but dealing with Ubuntu is really pretty straightforward.

8. David - 01/15/2010 10:26 am CST

Primopdf-"print" any file as a pdf
FoxIt-lightweight alternative to Adobe Reader
KeePass-password manager program - highly recommended for everyone!
Maxthon-best Windows browser out of the box by far
DropBox-online storage and sync
SyncBack-sync program
Foto Mosiak Edda-takes 1000 of pics and makes a giant photo mosiac
GBPVR-great pvr program
VLC Player-plays any media file
Secunia PSI-checks your programs for updates and security problems

I didn't include links, but all are free and easily found with google.

9. Bill - 01/15/2010 12:15 pm CST

Ubuntu is GREAT for giving new life to a PC that is old and too underpowered to run Wind'ohs.

David - thanks for the links. I'll check them out.

My personal take is that the quality of software available for free today is almost miraculous. For the most part it's just fueled by developer creative pride.

10. Tony - 01/15/2010 12:55 pm CST

Notepad2

http://notepad2.com/

11. Bill - 01/15/2010 1:26 pm CST

Also, Bird - regarding the need for huevos, there's no need; you can install Ubuntu on a flash drive and run it there (I've done this meself) - so your windows stays intact. Provided your lapper can boot from a flash drive (and most can). The instructs are here.

12. Bill - 01/15/2010 1:28 pm CST

Oh, and thanks for the Bloo shout out :-)

13. BiF - 01/15/2010 3:04 pm CST

If I'm not mistaken you can load a live version of Ubuntu on a CD or DVD and run it from there too. I think using a USB flash drive would make it faster though without the work on the hardware.

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