Computing for the Bewildered. By Bill Hayles SOFTWARE - Part 1 Hello again. Thank you for all your e-mails commenting on these columns. I promise that I read them all, although I can't guarantee to reply to every one personally. I have been asked to explain, in the words of the questioner, "how buying software works", in the sense of the various types of licensing and sources, and, if you download something . It is true that there are a great many different ways to acquire software in these days of the Internet, some more legitimate than others. I'm only going to talk about legitimate sources. You don't buy software. You buy (or acquire) a licence to use it. The terms of how you can use the software are normally contained in the EULA (End User Licence Agreement) - the bit you normally ignore and just click "I agree" to when installing a new program. Terms vary, but normally you agree not to make illegal copies, or to try to hack into a program. EULAs are the subject of considerable controversy, and some of the terms and conditions are generally considered to be unfair, so don't worry about them too much, but next time you install something, why not read the EULA and see just what it says? What prompted the question was a comment of mine about free software - and let's face it, everybody likes the idea of "free". LICENCES There are three basic categories of software licence. These are commercial, shareware and freeware. Commercial software is (generally) the type of program that you will buy from a computer store (or on-line) for which you'll pay money up front, and which will come on a CD or DVD in a box which may or (increasingly) may not contain a printed manual giving instructions how to use it. Most Microsoft programs and games are examples of commercial software. Shareware is a try before you buy" system. You most likely download the software from the Internet. If you like the product, you register it for a fee with the author or their agent, which will often entitle you to technical support, free updates, etc. If you do not like it you are honour bound to delete it from your system, usually after a month. Increasingly, such trial software will cease functioning after a month in any case. You are often actively encouraged to copy and distribute the shareware version. Freeware is distributed over the Internet like shareware, but there is no registration fee- you can use it for free, and copy and distribute it as you wish. Copyright remains with the author, and you may not distribute the programs if they have been altered in any way. Some freeware authors still encourage you to register with them – it gives them an idea of how successful their software is, as well as giving them satisfaction of a job well done. A few packages are released as free for non-commercial use. If you intend to use these in a business setting, you are supposed to pay a fee. Freeware has many subcategories, such as Public Domain and GNU. For the average user, there is no practical difference between these categories. BUYING AND ACQUIRING Commercial software is easy. You generally go into a shop and buy it, or order it from somewhere like Amazon. Occasionally, you can buy commercial software over the Internet, by paying your money and then being allowed into a download area where you can download your software. As said earlier, both shareware and freeware are normally downloaded over the Internet. Most authors, both large and small, allow you to download from their own websites. This is fine if you know what you want and who publishes it, but for the rest of us there are several large software repositories where you can search for a program that suits your needs and download it, either as a trial or as your own free copy. The two biggest sites are Tucows at http://www.tucows.com/sitemap.html and CNet Download at http://download.com.com (that's not a typo!) Of the two, I tend to prefer CNet as Tucows is increasingly concentrating on the commercial software it sells at the expense of the shareware and freeware. For internet related items, I recommend http://www.freebiesonly.com and for general freeware http://www.thefreesite.com. If you're still looking to see if there's any free or cheap software for your particular needs, then my recommendation is to consult that fount of all knowledge, the Usenet archives at http://groups.google.com, where you're almost sure to find somebody has had the same needs before. WHY PAY MONEY? That's why you're still reading this, isn't it? There are free alternatives to almost every expensive commercial package. Let's start at the beginning. If you don't want to pay Bill Gates and Microsoft for a copy of the latest windows, there's a free alternative. Linux is a free operating system and more for PCs. Virtually anything you can do with Windows, you can do with Linux - except run Windows programs! The software is specially written for the Linux platform, and although a few programs exist in both Linux and Windows versions, in most cases you will need to learn new techniques. This is why I don't recommend Linux for inexperienced computer users (and the experienced ones probably know about it already). I have tried and used Linux on several occasions, and have ultimately abandoned it due to its very non-Windows nature. However, on the assumption that you already have Windows installed, we can start being far more positive. Don't want to pay the nearly 600 Euros for a copy of Microsoft Office? Fear not. 602Pro PC Suite is a free clone of most parts of Microsoft Office. The big feature is that it looks, feels and works like MS Office, so that if you're familiar with Word and Excel you'll immediately feel at home with their 602Pro counterparts. You can download the software from http://software602.com/download. Fancy a free anti-virus program? Try AVG Antivirus from http://www.grisoft.com. Need an HTML editor for your website: There's Arachnophilia at http://www.arachnoid.com. I could go on and on, but the editor would doubtless cut me off in my prime, so I'll leave it there for today. In my next article, I'll discuss how to go about downloading all these free goodies - what you need, and what you need to know. That's it for this time, but I'd like to let you know about my computer classes at the Javea Oasisn Centre which will be restarting at the beginning of October. Absolute beginners sessions will be on Friday afternoons from 1430 to 1630, and intermediate on Saturdays from 1030 to 1230. Watch for more details in the September 27th edition of "The CB Freebie". My Costa Blanca Expats Internet Group can be found at http://groups.costablancaexpats.net. My main website, including details of my classes and other activities, is at http://billnot.com.