For everyone who is interested in discovering alternative solutions to proprietary software (e.g. if you want to find some good open-source and free software), I found this great post that made the front page of digg. For added convenience, I have recreated the list (in no particular order):

• Firefox
• Thunderbird
• Mozilla Sunbird
• Abiword
• OpenOffice
• Gaim
• BitTorrent
• GIMPShop
• Gnucleus
• VLC Media Player
• Juice
• Audacity
• RSSOwl
• FileZilla
• Keynote
• MusikCube
• Handbrake
• X-Chat 2
• KeePass
• TrueCrypt
• PDFCreator
• Freemind
• NASA Worldwin
• Notepad2
• HealthMonitor
• Workrave
• GanttPV
• GnuCash
• True Combat: Elite

I realize that might be a long list for some people, but here’s a short list of what I consider essential software for any user:

• Firefox
• Thunderbird
• OpenOffice
• Gaim

I consider Firefox a literal life saver for me. I cannot stand using Internet Explorer and I truly enjoy the flexibility afforded to me by Firefox. I consider Firefox so essential that I even have a portable version of Firefox installed on my USB flash drive so that I’m never without it on any computer.

Both Thunderbird and Gaim are perfect for users demanding high quality software without paying excessive fees for them. Thunderbird is a great alternative to Microsoft Outlook. I still consider Outlook a great Email application, but I can’t help but still be upset with its abhorrent pricing. I guess much of my discontent with software pricing stems from the fact that I am still a college student. And for AIM/MSN users, the respective clients for those popular chatting protocols are completely bloated, filled with advertising, and install a bunch of shortcuts and links to additional websites that most people don’t really care about.

And finally, Since I migrated to Ubuntu/Kubuntu in August, I have been an avid user of OpenOffice. To be honest, OpenOffice still requires much work before it can become a strong alternative to Microsoft Office. I still think that Microsoft Office is a very powerful suite and it can certainly do much more than OpenOffice can right now. However, for the average user, I think OpenOffice can easily suffice.

From my own experience, I think the list of 30 great OSS alternatives is fabulous and worthy of a look by all computer users. I think most proprietary software is filled with junk software and use excessive amounts of memory. I realize that many companies want to offer the most features and have an edge on their competition, but OSS is the perfect blend of what a user really wants and needs and competitive offerings. So go ahead and let your computer experience the freedom and value of open source software.