25 examples of free software -

Free software comprises the set of computer programs that can be used for any purpose, which includes especially adapting them to the individual needs of the users, as well as the possibility of redistributing and eventually improving them. For example: Ares, Mozilla Firefox, Moodle.

The idea of free software is relatively new and is very interesting, because it brings to light a subject under permanent debate, which is the social value of a product resulting from the intellectual capacity of one or several people, added to other resources.

In a certain way, computer science thus joins a group of disciplines (such as biotechnology or genetics) in which the transfer to the community of what has been generated becomes a delicate social and economic issue.

It is important to point out that software freedom is not related to free software, nor to free access, but to a rather philosophical issue, which conceives the user as a fundamental protagonist of what happens in the network and its evolution, assuming that software always involves knowledge that should not be forbidden to any of its potential users.

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Advantages of free software

The totally opposite position to that of free software is that of proprietary software, that is to say, those developments on which the rights are retained, with the restriction for the user to use it ‘as is’.

In practice, the central issue of free software is that this type of software allows access to the source code, and thanks to this, it offers the freedom and possibility of modifying it, studying it and adapting it to new needs that may arise. It is clear, then, that software that is free but does not offer the source code is not considered free software.

It is to be expected that with the possibility of accessing the source code, a dynamic of correction will be generated and fed back by the user himself, without the need to wait for the official ‘new version‘ from a company, as happens with many other programs. This is the great bet that the idea of free software makes: the technical and economic advantages of a progress that is not only driven by a few heads within a corporation, but by society as a whole.

Many people linked to the programming world have become supporters and sometimes even ‘militants‘ of free software. From this point of view, it is understood that this type of programs are the only ones that fully respect the user’s freedom, and that the usual terms in the copyright structures that support proprietary software mean a certain deprivation of the user’s right, obviously, in protection of the expected return for investments often in the millions.

This is why the free software movement created a legal mechanism known as ‘Copyleft‘ license, in which they provide the way in which free software can be distributed. In this way, before accepting the ‘terms and conditions’, the user is warned about it. Many countries have already begun to legislate on the use and distribution of free software.

Examples of free software

Twenty-five free software applications are listed below as examples, several of which have become very popular:

Ares. P2P (peer to peer) type program to search and download from the Web all kinds of files, even from several sources (which will be possible if the file is shared simultaneously by several users), which can reduce the download time.
Mozilla Firefox. It is a browser with numerous functionalities and the possibility of customization; its ability to protect the user’s private life is usually especially valued.
Apache Open Office. Package that offers various tools, including word processing, spreadsheets, graphic presentations and databases.
Clam Win Free Antivirus. As its name indicates, it is an efficient antivirus program that is permanently updated; it has more than 600,000 users per day worldwide.
Moodle. It is widely used in the field of education, as it allows to ‘upload’ various contents (videos, images, texts), including communication and networking or online exams.
Vuze (formerly Azureus). It is similar to Ares in its basis and mode of use, it is used to download files of different types (audio, video, etc.) in peer to peer mode using the BitTorrent mechanism.
JBoss. It is a runtime platform used to build and implement transactional services and applications based on Java.
net. Specially dedicated to digital photo processing.
Gallery. It is a program used to organize photo albums in a simple and intuitive way.
Qcad. It is an application for computer-aided technical drawing (CAD) in two dimensions. Very useful for engineers, architects, decorators. It is compatible with Windows, Mac OS X and Linux.
Notepad ++ . It is an editing program that allows to make quick notes and that works with C++ language.
Emule. Similar to Vuze or Ares, it allows finding and downloading different audio, video and document files in general. It is a P2P type program.
Spybot – Search & Destroy. It is a program that prevents malicious software from entering the computer, which could act as ‘spy’.
7-Zip. It is a highly efficient file compression program.
Audacity. It is a program for recording and editing audio from different sources, which also serves for post-processing audio files.
FreeBSD. It is a free access operating system of Unix type, it was very popular before the arrival of Linux.
JDownloader. An open platform written in Java, it simplifies the downloading of files from servers such as Rapidshare or Megaupload. It offers multiple parallel downloads and captcha recognition.
Elgg 1.12.2. Platform for creating social networks and blogs based on PHP and MySQL.
WordPress. It is also used for publishing blogs and databases.
Avogadro 1.1.1. Molecule editor oriented to computational chemistry, bioinformatics, molecule modeling and related areas.
K-Sketch. It is an editor of informal animations; with versions available for mobile platforms.
Clip Art Library. Collection of images that can be freely used and modified.
GenealogyJ. Genealogical data editor, allows to create different kinds of reports from individual data. Works with Java language.
Marble. Atlas and virtual globe that offers different maps and projections.
Calibre. E-book management program, allows organizing book collections and converting books to various formats, such as to be read, for example, as ebooks.