Free Software We're Most Thankful For

[pokerfan]

http://lifehacker.com/5098944/free-software-were-most-thankful-for">

Dear free software developers: Before we American nerds sit down to our turkey and mashed potatoes today, know that your creations are at the top of the list of things we're most thankful for. Whether you're an indie hacker putting out the occasional script or an employee at a giant internet company building out a webapp with millions of users or a voluntary coder contributing to an open source project, we salute you this Thanksgiving in gratitude for all the things your work enables us to do every day. Short of covering you in candied yam kisses and cranberry sauce hugs, please accept our hearty thanks for your work. We like you. We really, really like you.

While our thanks goes out to ALL developers of ALL the free software we've featured on these pages, a few projects deserve special mention. On Monday we asked exactly what free software you're most thankful for, and thousands of votes later, we've boiled down the list to the top 40 or so. While we're offline for the day, feast your eyes and mouse on this prodigious list of some of the best free software we're most grateful for. Happy Thanksgiving!

http://lifehacker.com/5098944/free-software-were-most-thankful-for

[Pool Hall Ace]

1. I just discovered this post and I am truly thankful !

:hi:

[Deja Q]

2. Aye, same here!

Ubuntu and VirtualBox are terrific...

I have also purchased licenses for Codeweavers (for Crossover Office) and Win4Lin. Both are usable, and have a couple of features VirtualBox lacks (never mind CrossOver Office provides an inestimable front-end to WINE that increases stability and functionality too).

[pokerfan]

3. You're welcome

I've been a freeware/shareware/open-source fan for the longest time.

Firefox instead of IE
Open Office instead of Office or Works
GMail and/or Thunderbird instead of Outlook
FoxIt instead of Acrobat Reader
Total Commander instead of Windows Explorer
Metapad instead of Notepad
Locate32 instead of Windows Search
Picasa instead of Windows Picture Viewer
VLC Media Player instead of Windows Media Player

Ubuntu will be the next step for me once I get my new system.

:hi:

ETA: Lifehacker is a pretty good blog.

[qnr]

4. Interesting that they don't include GCC - without the GNU Compiler Collection,

a great percentage of those other programs wouldn't even exist.