Some Lagniappe for You
By Tiny Ruisch
la·gniappe (lnyp, ln-yp)
n. Chiefly Southern Louisiana & Mississippi
1. A small gift presented by a store owner to a customer with the customer’s purchase.
2. An extra or unexpected gift or benefit. Also called regionally boot.
Merry Christmas! This month, instead of reviewing a free program, I thought I’d tell you of a few web sites where you can find reviews and links for useful, free software.
Before you start downloading, don’t forget the old adage: “There is no such thing as a free lunch.” The same thing does for free software. The cost isn’t cash out of your pocket, but is usually information of one sort or another. Carefully read the licensing agreement before you hit the install button. Often, free software comes with other downloads that you may or may not want to install. Once again, make sure you read every installer screen and make sure what your getting is what you want.
Enough warnings. On to the sites.
One of my favorite software review sites is Gizmo’s Freeware. This site is staffed by volunteers that review different categories of freeware. On the main page are links to “Best Freeware Lists” and “Freeware Categories”. Both links take you to lists of what the editors consider the best free software. On the right side of the page are links to recently reviewed or updated software articles. There are also many other areas on the site that you can explore for more information.
The Freeware Genius is another site that reviews free software. It’s maintained by one person and isn’t updated as often as Gizmo’s. After several years, there has been a lot of programs reviewed. The sites motto says it all: Someday all software will be free.
Freeware Geeks is a free software directory site. As I write this article, there are 2204 programs listed in twelve categories. Clicking on a program title, will give you a short synopsis of the program and a link to the download site.
The Source Forge is dedicated to making open source projects successful. This site is more technically oriented. Much of the software is still being developed. All of the programs are open source, which means anyone can download the code.
NirSoft is a one man website. All of the programs were written by Nir Sofer. They are mostly utility software. All of the programs are freeware.
There are a lot of other sources for free software besides the four I’ve listed. Many of them are very good and can be trusted. Others are not. Do some research before you download.
If you like any of these web sites, just tell everyone that you’ve got a SWLAPCUG extra, a bonus perk, a small gift, a present from the club: a little lagniappe.