Does anyone else here never pay for software

[BigToque]

I'm not sure if I'm unique, like most people or just cheap but I pretty much refuse to buy software for anything.

Generally, I find that in most cases OSS is really good software and often times the best software for that particular need.

The only software I might buy (other than windows) are MS Office and if I ever needed them, professional tools like Photoshop, or CAD software, etc (since I haven't needed these kinds of tools I'm not sure what the OSS camp has to offer in place of them).

 

[velillen]

i bought windows xp and office 2003. Other than those i don't really buy software because there are tons of free solutions out there. pretty much any pay software has some sort of free solution (though it might require 2 or 3 extra steps)

 

[Nothinman]

I've been exclusively Linux at home for a few years now and I don't see any compelling reasons to switch to closed-source software.

At work I don't have much choice so I end up using and supporting a bunch of closed software and it's a huge PITA compared to the free alternatives.

 

[EKKC]

i am making the switch to mostly freeware. it is my mission to use nothing but freeware from now on (save for windows, office, and maybe antivirus, AVG is making a strong case for me not to though)

i just find it ridiculous some of the paid apps, or bigger names apps I previous used are such resource hogs.

aim, msn, yahoo, adobe acrobat, nero, they hogs your system like you're running a dedicated IM or Acrobat reader machine or CD burning machine! firefox is next on the list of the big offenders but I'm too dependent on extensions to do anything about it (ff3 should be better)

just because i have 8GB of RAM does not mean you can be lazy in programming and grab all my memory!

chat: pidgin
pdf: cutepdf writer / foxit reader
cd/dvd: cdburnerxp
archiving: jzip/7zip
and tons of freeware that makes windows work so much better...

 

[law9933]

I only bought XP & have a bunch of good free programs. OpenOffice is free

 

[MotionMan]

I bought Windows and Quicken. Otherwise I use or have used the following programs:

Ad-Aware
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/
Anti-Spyware

Adobe Reader
http://www.adobe.com/products/reader/
Document Reader

AVG Anti-Virus Free
http://free.grisoft.com/doc/1
Anti-Virus

Belarc Advisor
http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html
Provides detailed information regarding your installed software and hardware

CCleaner
http://www.ccleaner.com/
Removes unused and temporary files

CPU-Z
http://www.cpuid.org/cpuz.php
Provides detailed information regarding your CPU, Mainboard, Memory and System

Dell Inspiron/Latitude/Precision Fan Control Utility
http://www.diefer.de/i8kfan/
Changes the thermal management of Dell laptops

DVArchive
http://www.dvarchive.org/
Allows computer to act like a "Virtual ReplayTV"

FastStone Photo Resizer
http://www.faststone.org/FSResizerDetail.htm
Image converter and resizer

Firefox
http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/
Web Browser

FTP Commander
http://www.internet-soft.com/ftpcomm.htm
FTP Client

HD Tune
http://www.hdtune.com/
Hard drisk utility

KillDisk
http://www.killdisk.com/
Hard disk eraser

K-Lite Mega Codec Pack
http://codecguide.com/about_mega.htm
Alternative to RealPlayer

OpenOffice
http://www.openoffice.org/
Microsoft Office alternative

OpenWithClear
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_open_with.htm
Clears dynamic "Open With" lists in Windows XP

Pidgin
http://pidgin.im/
Multiple service instant messaging client

Pop-Up Stopper
http://www.panicware.com/product_psfree.html
Stops pop-ups

SpeedswitchXP
http://www.diefer.de/speedswitchxp/index.html
Allows dynamic switching of the frequencies of mobile Intel and mobile AMD CPUs under Windows XP

Spybot - Search & Destroy
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/spybotsd/index.html
Anti-Spyware

Startup Control Panel
http://www.mlin.net/StartupCPL.shtml
Allows control of which programs run when computer starts

StartupMonitor
http://www.mlin.net/StartupMonitor.shtml
Notifies you when any program registers itself to run at system startup

TClockEx
http://www.rcis.co.za/dale/tclockex/index.htm
Enhances the standard Windows taskbar clock

Thunderbird
http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/thunderbird/
E-Mail Client

Trillian
http://trillian.cc/
Multiple service instant messaging client

UnFREEz
http://www.whitsoftdev.com/unfreez/
Create an animated GIF from multiple GIFs

WinRAR
http://www.rarlab.com/download.htm
Archiver

MotionMan

 

[bruceb]

Winrar is not Free .. For Pop Up Stopper from panicware you are
better off with the Pro Version .. very cheap and works very well

 

[MotionMan]

Originally posted by: bruceb
Winrar is not Free

That is what the pop-ups keep saying.



MotionMan

 

[Pabster]

"Never" is a no-no phrase :laugh:

I buy lots of software. If it is good and useful, I don't mind paying for it.

That said, I do use a lot of open-source stuff too.

 

[TSCrv]

Hmm, what is this "buying software" you guys are talking about?

Does "working" at home merit using your employer's extra licenses for closed source software? (and him being perfectly okay with it.)

 

[lxskllr]

I pretty much only buy O/Ss and games, everything else is open source or free.

 

[Net]

i've never seen those winrar pop ups that everyone talks about. i only use winrar by right clicking on files. when do you guys see those pop ups?

 

[lxskllr]

Originally posted by: net
i've never seen those winrar pop ups that everyone talks about. i only use winrar by right clicking on files. when do you guys see those pop ups?

If I remember right, you get them by double clicking an archive. I switched to 7zip because of that. It wasn't a hassle or anything, but I like to stick with the spirit of the software release. You're supposed to buy Winrar if you keep using it, and for me 7zip works just as well without any licensing encumberments.

 

[WildHorse]

I pay for:
Windows OS
Kaspersky Internet Security (but rebates make it almost free),
Microsoft Office Pro 2007
SnagIt
Lavasoft Ad-Aware
Nero suite of stuff
Mathematica
Crystal Reports XI


I have sent voluntary donations for the shareware that I like, examples (there are more I can't think of right now):
Spybot Search & Destroy
MozBackup
nLite
7-zip

 

[timswim78]

At Home
I pay for:
Windows
Office
Nero
Everything else is OSS or freeware.

At work, nothing is OSS or freeware.
They pay for Adobe CS3, Windows, Office, some stats software, AV, etc.

 

[Noema]

Other than Windows and games, I use free / open source software almost exclusively.

 

[soonerproud]

Originally posted by: EKKC
i am making the switch to mostly freeware. it is my mission to use nothing but freeware from now on (save for windows, office, and maybe antivirus, AVG is making a strong case for me not to though)

i just find it ridiculous some of the paid apps, or bigger names apps I previous used are such resource hogs.

aim, msn, yahoo, adobe acrobat, nero, they hogs your system like you're running a dedicated IM or Acrobat reader machine or CD burning machine! firefox is next on the list of the big offenders but I'm too dependent on extensions to do anything about it (ff3 should be better)

just because i have 8GB of RAM does not mean you can be lazy in programming and grab all my memory!

chat: pidgin
pdf: cutepdf writer / foxit reader
cd/dvd: cdburnerxp
archiving: jzip/7zip
and tons of freeware that makes windows work so much better...

Adobe did a good job of lightening up the resource usage on Acrobat Reader 8. It is no where near as bad as Acrobat Reader 7 was in size and resource usage. Since it supports FF better than Foxit, I switched back. Other than that, I agree with your choices of free apps versus the paid, bloated alternatives.

 

[Sir Anonymous]

Yes, as law9933 mentioned, OpenOffice.org is a completely free set of programs that are just as good (if not slightly better) than Microsoft Office (not meaning to put down Microsoft, since XP is a brilliant OS). This online community of programmers and such were able to create this entire freeware package that simply rocks.

Only two cons I can immediately think of:

-It has its own file format for each application (.odt and such). Granted, it will let you save in .doc, .rft, and all that, but in my opinion it's somewhat unnecessary to create yet another file type in an area with so many that you have to convert from or deliberately ignore.

-OpenOffice Writer, their Word application, does not have grammar checking. I am sure that this would be an annoyance to anyone that needs to do grammar editing on a regular basis and can't just check out the sentences with green lines beneath first before going ahead to scan for the more subtle mistakes.

On a side note, the current version is 2.3.1, their 2.4 will be released on March 17th, and their 3.0 will be released on September 2nd. Enjoy.

 

[corkyg]

There is a lot of good freeware out there - and I use some of it. But I also buy what I need and don't mind paying people for their work.

 

[djplayer]

I purchased my first piece of software in 15 years last month.. Microsoft Vista. (I wasn't happy about it either)

 

[Red Squirrel]

I don't buy software, as I find most is too outrageously priced so most of the time I try to look for free alternatives, or use a "trial". But if I use a piece of software that is a "trial" a lot and that the price is not that bad, I consider buying it, specially if its a smaller company so I can at least support their work.

I recently bought Acronis. It has a decent price tag, and that product has never failed me, and figured I can do the effort in buying a legit copy.