Free Software versus Commercial Software

I am a fan of the Free Software and also the Opensource movement. But one must realized that not all free software are good for you. Here is why: Usability.

I realized that you should not choose to use an FOSS software just because it is free. Because a software maybe so unusable that what you save in money will cost you time. For me time is more valuable than money. Don't we all think that way?

So I am trying to discipline myself to use the “best of the breed” approach for choosing software Instead of going with what is free.

Having said that these are the free software I can recommend: Inkscape, Wings3D, Flex, Jquery, PHP, Apache, Codeigniter, and MyPaint. They are very easy to use. They have intuitive user interfaces. No. You won't find yourself pulling your hair when you are using them. They are great.

As for the other prominent free software out there, I won't mention them cause some of their supporters can be frighteningly sensitive and fanatical.

Warning: This problem with usability is not unique to free software. You can also encounter them on commercial ones.

As a rule, always try a trial version of a software first before purchasing them.

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