Flash Advertise
| Why Software Still Matters |
| 摘自: www.osweekly.com 被阅读次数: 296 |
由 yangyi 于 2008-05-16 22:34:11 提供 |
(Column) - No matter which operating system (or systems) you choose to use, you’re sure to find an abundance of software titles that are available for you to enjoy. By default, some operating systems come bundled with enough useful tools to keep you happy, but just because that may be so it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t explore alternatives. If you only use what’s presented to you, you’ll miss out on a wide range of open source, freeware, and shareware applications. As you can obviously imagine, software developers want you to seek out their tools, and since I’m one of these aforementioned developers, I know this feeling all too well. The truth is that a user who is familiar with the third-party software that is out there and uses it in a proper way will enjoy their operating system more than someone who is just closed in and thinks that everything that they already have is fine and dandy. Since we’ve established the fact that supplemental third-party software does have a purpose, we now need to discuss what kinds of software are in the market. There’s a lot to choose from, and unless you’re willing to try everything, you may have a hard time deciding what to use. Instead of getting into specific titles, there are some things to think about in regard to software licenses and how our perception of these licenses has changed over the years. Why OS Features Are Difficult to Use Back when the shareware craze was upon us, it seemed like the only good stuff was the stuff you paid for. Free software titles were available, but a lot of developers were trying to make some money (can you blame them?), and if you wanted the full version of their work, then you eventually had to pay for it. Years ago, I remember that the majority of the applications that I had on my computer were shareware, and this was also the case with most of the people that I knew. Moving forward a few years, freeware began to rule the scene, and even if you would have been willing to pay for something, it was probably already being given away for free. Commercial software developers were still making plenty of money, but users as a group expected free options to compete with shareware tools, and that’s exactly what happened. All of a sudden it seemed as if money didn’t matter to developers anymore, and if their products were going to be used by people besides those who lived and breathed shareware, then they had to be free. Shareware and freeware titles are still prevalent today, but the open source movement has redefined what the word free means to people. Suddenly, instead of just wanting to use a product for free and without any limitations, we also wanted to have access to the source code so that we could build upon it as a community. In a way, open source makes everyone a developer, and instead of being separate from the development process, users are now a part of it. Whether shareware, freeware, or open source, you’ll find plenty of incredible solutions grouped under the variations of these licenses, and despite the fact that everything seems to be moving to the Web, now is the best time to energize your operating system by downloading some new software. Original link: http://www.osweekly.com/index.ph... |
