This Web page covers a variety of open source and/or free software for students, staff and faculty. Not all suggestions mentioned here are technically supported.
Remember, always look for educational discounts on products that aren't free and read through all software licenses carefully!
Mozilla is the open source version of the popular Netscape Communicator suite. It's available for Linux, Windows, Mac OS and many other operating systems. Some components of Mozilla include Mozilla Navigator, Mozilla Mail and Mozilla Composer. Mozilla Navigator, the Web browser, portion is the equivalent to Netscape's Navigator and lets you browse the Web like Internet Explorer. Mozilla Mail, the e-mail program, is the equivalent to Netscape's Messenger and includes spam filtering technology. Mozilla Composer, the Web page editor, is the equivalent to Netscape's Composer and allows you to create or edit Web pages like Dreamweaver or Frontpage.
GAIM is an open source and free instant messaging client originally for Linux. However, Windows, Mac OS and BSD ports are also now available. It's compatible with popular networks such as AIM, ICQ, MSN Messenger, Yahoo and IRC.
Fugu is an SSH and SFTP program for Mac OS X. It's also open source and free.
OpenOffice is the popular open source version of Sun Microsystems' StarOffice suite. It's available for Windows, Linux or Mac OS. OpenOffice includes Writer (word processor), Calc (spreadsheet), Web (Web page editor) and Impress (presentation) and many more features. It also provides good compatibility with Microsoft's Office suite.
The GIMP is a professional-grade graphics program like Adobe's Photoshop and can accomplish tasks such as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring. GIMP stands for GNU Image Manipulation Program. The GIMP is also available for Windows or Mac OS.
Word Viewer, PowerPoint Viewer and Excel Viewer from Microsoft will let you view and print Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel files without having to purchase their Office suite.
Linux is an operating system like Microsoft's Windows or Apple's Mac OS. It was created by programmer Linus Torvald in the 1990s and is maintained by programmers from all around the world. There are many Linux distributions - each has its own purpose. For more information on Linux operating systems, see the Distributions section at Linux Online.
Red Hat Linux / Fedora Project: Red Hat currently offers an Academic Desktop version of their Enterprise Linux product as well as an open-source, community-driven distribution called Fedora.
Novell SUSE Linux is another popular Linux distribution originally from Europe.