Figure 1. A new logo for Melb PC?
Built-in scripts in the GIMP
make anyone an artist.
It's great to hear about some handy tool or program that you haven't tried before. And it's all the better if you can get it gratis. This top twenty was collected from the opinions of friends and work mates who were asked to suggest their favourite useful programs. The top twenty were chosen from those that:
The list is completely arbitrary - it is neither a review nor a recommendation - but hopefully there's some- thing here that you will want to test drive.
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Figure 1. A new logo for Melb PC? Built-in scripts in the GIMP make anyone an artist. |
A testament to the commitment and ability of free software developers, this is a sophisticated and quality product.
The GIMP is released under the GNU General Public License (GPL).
 Figure 2. All the features of a modern word processor in OpenOffice.org Writer. |
OpenOffice.org is licensed in a dual arrangement under the GPL and the Sun Industry Standards Source License.
Opera runs on Windows, Macintosh, GNU/Linux, OS/2, Solaris, FreeBSD, QNX, and Symbian handheld devices, and has excellent compliance with Internet standards.
The gratis version is supported by advertising.
PostgreSQL provides all of the features of a modern DBMS including support for the SQL standards, transactions, stored procedures, and integration with several programming languages (including C, C++, Java, Perl, TCL, and Python). It is a mature and stable product that compares favourably with the "enterprise" DBMS.
PostgreSQL is released under the BSD licence.
 Figure 5. Nothing gets past HTML Tidy — note the insertion of the final </p> tag. |
Anyone who produces Web pages should have HTML Tidy in their toolbox.
HTML Tidy is available for Windows, Macintosh, GNU/Linux, BSD, and Solaris under a W3C license.
 Figure 4. jEdit has an extensive collection of standard plug-ins — it also enables users to record their own macros. |
One of the major strengths of jEdit is the plug-in architecture, considerably extending the functionality of the standard editor. Not that the standard features are lacking - there is intelligent bracket matching, automatic indenting, syntax highlighting for an enormous number of programming languages, and the 'text folding' feature that allows parts of the text to be hidden selectively. It also uses the BeanShell language to add support for macros.
Despite all that functionality, it is easy to use with a clean interface and good documentation.
jEdit is released under the GPL.
HTTrack downloads Web sites to your local machine, rebuilding the file structure as it goes. The result is a copy of the Web sites that you can browse from your hard disk.
HTTrack has a multitude of options, which gives it plenty of flexibility and some complexity too. So read the manual, which contains many examples.
HTTrack is released under the GPL.
Sounds like Remote Desktop, doesn't it? Both Apple and Microsoft have Remote Desktop tools, but VNC works across platforms. The server and viewer can be on Windows, Mac or GNU/Linux but they don't need to match (e.g. you can view a GNU/Linux machine from Windows). There is also a Java viewer and one for Palm Pilot! VNC is released under the GPL.
The standout feature is "scrubby", which allows the editor to move through audio files with pin-point accuracy "just like you would have slowly turned the reels on a tape machine in the old days". Scrubby also allows for some funky DJ effects on recorded or live tracks, using the scrubby tool as if moving the stylus on a record.
Sweep is released under the GPL.
Belarc Advisor is free for personal use.
 Figure 6. Don't be fooled by the simple interface; ImageJ has plenty of powerful functions. |
It has all the usual features of a graphics application including resizing, cropping, rotating, cut/paste, blend, polygon shapes, and batch processing. It is also extensible with plug-ins. ImageJ is surprisingly fast and powerful for a graphical Java application.
ImageJ is released to the public domain.
IRFanView is free for non-commercial, educational, and charitable use.
 Figure 8. NoteTab Light is more than a Notepad replacement. |
The tabbed interface makes working on multiple file easy, and NoteTab offers about a dozen "clipbook libraries" that provide shortcuts for editing HTML and, cascading style sheets, among others.
Sadly NoteTab Light does not include syntax highlighting - you have to pay for that privilege.
NoteTab Light is released as freeware under its own license.
Documentation is generous with several tutorials and manuals available that cater to both the complete beginner and more experienced users. Features include a general ledger, double entry transactions, stock journal, charting, and a heap of reports.
GnuCash is released under the GPL.
Like most good utilities, it does one thing very well - it just compresses and decompresses files without fuss. The author, Dariusz Stanislawek, says "If you know how to use Windows Explorer, then you do not have to learn anything new to use FreeZip."
Dariusz also has some other good looking tools at http://members.ozemail.com.au/~nulifetv/freezip/freeware/index.html.
FreeZip is not associated with Braxio FreeZip! (which appears to be Spyware). FreeZip is freely available for use and distribution.
LeBackup is released as unsupported freeware.
Trillian is skinnable using SkinXML, which allows users to customise all aspects of the interface.
Trillian is freely available.
Ad-aware is freely available for non-commercial use.
 Figure 9. One of the most attractive features of BBEdit Lite is pattern matching in the search function. |
More powerful and feature rich than the editors that are packaged with the Mac, BBEdit includes good HTML editing features and powerful regular expressions search-and-replace. Unfortunately Bare Bones Software is not upgrading BBEdit Lite anymore, but it is still available from their Web site and you should be able to find it elsewhere on the Web.
BBEdit Lite is a freely distributable, copyrighted program.
About the Author
Trevor is interested in hearing about other handy tools, and invites readers to add to his list at http://member.melbpc.org.au/~tgosbell/.
Copyright Notice
Copyright © 2004, Melbourne PC User Group Inc and individual authors. Except where otherwise stated, all material is the copyright of the author. Material in this magazine may be copied by nonprofit PC User Groups without fee provided that there is no restriction published with the article, the copies are not used for commercial advantage, and the origins of the material and this permission to copy are acknowledged in the reprinted item.
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