Wednesday, May 16, 2007

My Top Ten Free Software Applications

Everyone likes free, except the folks that want to charge money for the same things. But we're naturally a bit suspicious about free offers. We're like the ant who sees a free bit of water at the bottom of that cup-looking plant there. Oops. That was a pitcher plant. Sometimes free offers come with a cost.

When it comes to free software, though, what's the catch. If it's designed by a sociopath, it'll contain malware code. But when offered and recommended by sites you trust (like mine), there is no catch. Then why do people create software and offer it for free? What do they get out of it?

Well, there's the feeling you get when you act in an altruistic fashion. It feels good to know that you made something that helps people. Then there's notoriety, a species of fame. If you make great software and offer it for free, you become well-known. Finally, there's the commercial angle. If lots of people come to your site to get your free stuff, you can get some good ad revenue. Yippee! You can also sell more feature-rich versions of your software.

So free software is a good thing and it's good for you and me. Here's my top-ten list of free software offerings:
Enjoy!

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