I’ve mentioned “free software” many times in my articles. Today I thought it might be fun to talk a bit about free software, and tell you about several free programs I haven’t discussed before.

There are a couple different flavors of free software, and some free software comes in more than one. Free as in “doesn’t cost you anything” is one flavor. The price is right, but sometimes it comes with a sacrifice, such as having to view advertising while you use the software, or “nagging” you to purchase the company’s “full version,” etc. Some “free software” is just a modern-day Trojan Horse for programs you wouldn’t normally consent to install, but authorize when you agree to the long “End User License Agreement.” On the other hand, there are tons of useful programs that don’t have any of those negative side effects, and that work like a champ.

One other flavor of free software is in the form of “open source” software. Open source software isn’t different from any other kind of software except that the lines of code that were used to create the software are freely available for anyone to see, download, fix, modify and redistribute, paying attention to whatever license stipulations that the software is distributed under. Many open source projects are not only free with their source code, but free with the cost as well.

My first example of free software is one you may have never heard of, but if you’ve used the Internet, you’ve used it. “Apache” is web server software that doles out web pages when a user on the Internet requests them. At least half of the world’s web servers are powered by Apache software, which is both free to use and open source.

One free program you may have heard of is “Mozilla Firefox.” Firefox is a web browser similar to Internet Explorer, but “free” in the open source sense of the word. Firefox made advances in web browser technology for many years while Internet Explorer languished. It incorporated “tabbed browsing,” like the free “Opera” before it. It also allows users to create helper programs called “extensions” that plug into Firefox to make it more functional. I use the “Google Toolbar” extension and “Gmail Notifier” as well as ForecastFox, an extension that keeps track of the weather outside while I’m browsing inside. You can download Firefox from Mozilla’s web site at www.mozilla.com.

Aside from OpenOffice.org, the full office suite we’ve discussed in previous articles, there is also “The Gimp,” or Graphical Image Manipulation Program. You can grab it for free from the official web site, www.gimp.org, and what you’ll find is an advanced image editing program that rivals Adobe Photoshop but doesn’t empty your wallet of several hundred dollars. The Gimp is free and open source, and has been under active improvement and development for years.

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[Author’s Note: “Ask the Geek” is published weekly in the Stratford Star - the penultimate reading experience for residents of Stratford, Texas, population 1,920. It is posted on WritersCafe.net for posterity. Feel free to comment, but I can’t promise you’ll make the Star.]