Renu Chawla

FREE SOFTWARE, THEIR USE AND HOW TO USE THEM Free software are the open source programs that allow the user the liberty of using, storing, copying, sharing, studying, directing and modifying its source free of cost or with larger liberties of use. The modifications or use require the user not to violate the original copyright directive of the software. This provides the user with the freedom to experiment in more ways than is possible on any proprietary software available. Thus, the free software form a veritable backbone of the user software experience on the browser world. This is a boon in today’s times of free information flow as it provides its users added value at virtually no cost. The user just needs to access his browser with the key words denoting the software and the requisite free software would show up in the organic listings obtained in the search. After that, it is the acumen of the user that defines the utility of the free services acquired from the software. Most of these software stress on the volume of consumption and increased user base. Sharing and modification are the backbone of free software leading to improvisations for the larger good of the user base. The free software experience is the exact reverse of the proprietary software which demand a payment for the services rendered and are bound by strict user legal codes. As an individual or a company we need to be constantly cognizant of the legal repercussions of using a proprietary software. There are user agreements to be followed in proprietary software, which, we have complete freedom from in the free software as long as the source copyright is not violated. The restrictive domain of the paid software is in complete contrast to the freedom exercisable in the free versions. The free software are the painstaking product of ethical programmers and programming organizations to liberate and add value to the user experience at no additional cost. There are organizations of repute involved in presenting users with such free software to enrich their browser experience and offer numerous downloadable workstations. “Free” in a few cases may be more a reference to the liberty of use of the product, than the cost itself. This is by and large a contribution of the organization in respect of social responsibility and a social movement enterprising to disburse knowledge for the common good of humanity. Most of these software are covered by the copyright law and the source code is more often than not protected. Examples of such software are adobe acrobat, Google Chrome, Firefox, VLC Media Player, Linux etc. The free software ethic was propounded by Richard M. Stallman a computer scientist in the year 1983. The first software program made available free to the users was GNU Project which replaced the UNIX operating system and made it available to the users with more freedom of use. A software is classified as free if it covers all the following freedoms:- 1) The liberty or freedom of running the program as per your wishes, for the purpose of your use or choice. 2) The liberty or freedom to study the working of the program along with the liberty to change it so that it allows free computing and processing of your requirements. 3) The liberty or freedom to make copies for redistribution to help others. 4) The liberty or freedom to make modifications and share the changes with others to help and benefit the society as a whole. All of the above four “freedoms” are mandatory to classify a software as a “free Software”. More than 5000 free software exist today to enable the execution of most tasks a computer user may want done. These have simplified work for governments, professionals, individual users, students and organizations like never before. Thus, free software has become a robust tool supplementing the software supply chain. Thus, the advocacy of free software is gaining ground the world over with more and more organizations devoting their resources in this direction. The uses of such software are far too many to illustrate at one place but generally they accord the following benefits to their users: a) The freedom of use, re-program, run, modify, copy and share. b) The availability, and ease of access and use, make them valuable tools for the end users. c) The functionality and use of such programs in academic, information and organizational processes/disbursal is of immense value. d) These are powerful tools in the hands of the right user. e) They contribute to the society, community and humanity at large. f) They help the ever-growing user community to explore, learn, process and spread knowledge. g) They lack the malicious features that force users to upgrade or renew the proprietary versions by expending more money. h) They do not threaten the user’s security like most proprietary software do. The right way to use a free software is to download it on your computer in an easily accessible folder, so that it is available at the click of a button. Running the software to accomplish the tasks is the next step. Modifications, copies, bridging of software and additions to the original source program are the advanced uses of the free software. Most of these software compile and organize the resultant information in a downloadable format for ease of use, modification and access. A free software is perhaps one of the most important adjunct to the information boom. The emphasis on this software supply chain feature is gaining new ground day by day. The number of operators providing the free software is multiplying by leaps and bounds. In times when the user is the most important aspect of any public software platform, appeasing the user with free open source projects like these is the call of the day. The popularity of the software depends largely on its ease of use and where it fits in the demand and supply equation of the software supply chain. In many cases, the free software has become the mascot of the company as a whole due to its popularity. Free software are, thus, the new game changers in the programming world where the tilt of the focus rests today.