Free, Open Source Software page.
This page is dedicated to the promotion and advancement of Open Source
Software (OSS) and is for PCUG and AUUG members only. We try to better serve our members.
What is OSS? An extract from the GNU GPL (GNU General Public Licence) explains:
The licenses for most software are designed to take away your
freedom to share and change it. By contrast, the GNU General Public
License is intended to guarantee your freedom to share and change free
software -- (snip...)
When we speak of free software, we are referring to freedom, not
price. Our General Public Licenses are designed to make sure that you
have the freedom to distribute copies of free software (and charge for
this service if you wish)...(snip...)
Further details are in the text of GNU GPL, which can be accessed here:
GNU GP Licence
The software referred to here is licensed as GNU GPL or similarly. When we offer a local
download, generally we show a link to the original site. Please refer to
it for explanation of the conditions of use and the latest version of software.
Most of local downloads are for Windows Operating System.
Windows OS (Operating System)
Sample downloads from TIP server:
WinPenguins features cute little penguins that wander around your
Windows desktop. You can download them here. For me they
worked fine with Win98SE (on my laptop), but on PC under Win2000 the
penguins were mostly invisible... I hope they will cheer you up as much
as they cheered me up!
WinPenguins
(Installer, 832kB)
Tired of frequent news of security problems?
Why not try Firefox? It is a small and fast browser, similar to Mozilla,
but without Mozilla's email client, news client and Mozilla's web page composer.
Firefox
(V. 1.5 Installer, 5.0 MB) Check the information on the
link of
Firefox home.
Tired of stolen address book? Looking for a free, safer mail client software?
Why not try Thunderbird? It is a an option rich mail client, similar to Mozilla,
but without Mozilla's browser and Mozilla's web page composer.
Thunderbird
(V. 1.0.2 Installer, 5.8 MB) Check the information on
the link of
Thundrbird home.
Would you like an office suite of programs, including a word processor
(reads/writes MS Word files), a spread sheet (reads/writes MS Excell files),
presentation program (reads/writes MS Power Point files) and much more?
Download Version 2 from your TIP server here:
OpenOffice.org version 2.0
(75.0 MB) Check the information on the link of
OpenOffice.org home
Python is a powerful, modern programming language. Python programs run on most
major OS's.
The version for download here is a Windows OS version of Python interpreter. It
includes "Idle", a GUI for Python programming. Technically, Python is an interpreter.
So programs developed with Python run a little slower than "native" code, but are
very portable.
Because of the rapid increase of PC's speed, interpreters are becoming
more popular with programmers, as program execution speed is less important with
modern, fast PC's.
Python
(9.4 MB) Check the information on the link of
Python home
Please note that all these programs are also available for GNU/Linux OS platform.
Useful links:
The Open CD is a collection of Windows Open Source Software (OSS). It is
organised into one CD and it is probably too big for most people to
download. However, the site is useful for information about this
selection of Free Open Source Software (FOSS).
www.theopencd.org
The GNUwin, like Open CD, is a collection of Windows Open Source Software (OSS). It
is organised into one CD and it is probably too big for most people to download.
However, the site is useful for information about this selection of Free Open Source
Software
(FOSS). Also, individual program files can be downloaded separately from the rest of
the selection from this site.
GNUwin
GNU/Linux Open OS (Operating System)
For all things Linux, the following link points to an Australian store, which
sells via internet:
Linux internet store
Here is another Australian all things Linux store, which sells via internet:
Linux store in Sydney
Find out more about Knoppix, the self-starting CD with full Linux OS. It
does not touch your hard disk and runs only in the memory of your machine.
It has a nice selection of programs, including "Scribus", the DTP (Desk Top Publishing) tool.
Knoppix
It is hoped that some of these programs will be available on CD's at the PCUG
Centre for a nominal charge of $5.
The following notice applies to all OSS programs:
NO WARRANTY
11. BECAUSE THE PROGRAM IS LICENSED FREE OF CHARGE, THERE IS NO WARRANTY
FOR THE PROGRAM, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW. EXCEPT WHEN
OTHERWISE STATED IN WRITING THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND/OR OTHER PARTIES
PROVIDE THE PROGRAM "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED
OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE ENTIRE RISK AS
TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE PROGRAM IS WITH YOU. SHOULD THE
PROGRAM PROVE DEFECTIVE, YOU ASSUME THE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING,
REPAIR OR CORRECTION.
For program source refer to the originators' sites.
Please send to me any suggestions and comments. Of course, if you wish to
complain about my voluntary work, by all means email the committee, too.
(Last amended 2005.12.04)
My email address is akabaila[at]pcug[dot]org[dot]au
-- of course [at] is "@" and [dot] is "."
My home website is Old Al
