For a wide range of gamers, sympathizers, or just curious people, role-playing games are almost certainly associated with colorful, beautifully designed books. Their glossy pages are lavishly decorated with illustrations, and their covers are works of printing art. At the sight of colorful rulebooks, the heart of a true roleplayer trembles, his eyes burn, but his mind remains calm. After all, these magical books, which open the way to the world of wonders and adventures, cost a pretty penny.
Bourgeois and pirates
Rulebooks of the most popular role-playing games, which include D&D, GURPS, Vampires: The Masquerade and some others, published abroad, taking into account the tastes and wallet of the Western role-player. And even his prices are Role-playing games sometimes make you brooding. For the Russian amateur, who is often a schoolchild or student, purchasing only the Player's Guide D&D, costing $30, can mean a lot of sacrifice.
At the same time, as you know, for commercial systems a situation is typical when one book with the rules is not enough to start the game. In case of D&D It quickly turns out that two more books are essential for a full-fledged game: the DM's Guide and the Monster Manual. If you think about it, it's not a bad idea to shell out money for an excellent official module, and then for the setting in which this game is based. the module has been written.
With other commercial systems, the situation may differ in detail, but is identical in essence: “Don’t hide your money in banks and corners!” Of course, there is another way to achieve ownership of at least some semblance of a rule book - piracy. We won’t even consider it, since we believe that all our readers respect copyright and intellectual property. Reproduction of rulebooks on photocopiers or printing scans of poor quality are realities of the long-standing role-playing past, when there were practically no other ways to obtain the system, and the slogan “Freedom of information!” taken too literally.
Abroad
However, stop! We write "commercial role-playing games" here.
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Why would a commercial company create something for free? The reasons can be very different. Here is the most famous example: the company Wizards of the Coast , who created the Third Edition D&D and many other games, developed and published a free role-playing system on the Internet d20 system. You can freely download it from the official website and play it. Freebie d20 represents something of a skeleton of a commercial D&D. Its texts contain everything you need for the game.
Having released d20 even before sales start D&D, WotC killed two birds with one stone. Firstly, it served as a “demo” for fans of the Second Edition AD&D, excited by rumors of revolutionary changes in the native system. Secondly, d20 was adopted by a large number of independent companies as a standard, a unified metasystem, for which they began to write a myriad of modules, settings and other accessories. Nowadays the label "d20-compatible" means familiar
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Another example of a free role-playing game created by professionals is the system Fuzion, written jointly by the companies R.Talsorian Games And Hero Games . It can also be freely downloaded from the official website Hero Games. Unlike d20, which currently exists in the form of simple texts in RTF format, Fuzion are well-designed PDF files suitable for printing. The reason for the appearance Fuzion served by the same desire to create a unified mechanics of the series role-playing games. Moreover, this project was a clear success, although the circle of companies producing products under Fuzion, significantly narrower than in the case d20.
However, for numerous fans Fuzion in everything
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Finally, the system is very well known FUDGE. Simple, not overloaded with details, it is well suited for playing at the “half-word” level, when the rules are used only where they are desperately needed. Simple mechanics FUDGE allows you to widely change the detail of the game. For example, the outcome of a battle can be decided either by a single throw or during a long round of play - your choice. Unlike the systems mentioned above, FUDGE- author's development of an enthusiast named Stefan O'Sullivan . And its success shows that a professional and popular role-playing game can very well be the result of the work of amateur designers.
We have
All of the above are free
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If we are behind our foreign colleagues here, it is no more than in the field of commercial games. There has been a domestic role-playing game on the RuNet for more than two years" Great Dragon World" ("Ministry of Internal Affairs"). The system was developed by a team of enthusiasts, which is not surprising - three years ago professional development No one in our country was involved in role-playing games. But everything was done seriously, at the level. " Great Dragon World"is a beautifully designed book in PDF format, which has become almost a standard for non-commercial systems. On the official website you can get the “Rules”, “Leader’s Guide” and various applications, such as monster hunting and descriptions of magic spells. Role-playing software is also posted there (programs
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Commerce vs. Altruism
If you have already felt the possibility of choosing between a commercial and a free system, let's see how to do it right. The fact is that an experienced role player can clearly see principled difference between paid and free systems. Any commercial role-playing game is first and foremost a product. And therefore, their main priorities will be product quality, breadth of coverage of customer needs and profit. Profit is the main thing, because people do business. The result of this approach is perfectly designed books of high printing quality. The material required for the game is divided into several books - the more books you buy, the more profitable the business. Any of your whims in terms of variety in the form of the game can be satisfied - with one more book. On the other hand, your attempts to create something of your own within the commercial system will turn out to be a very time-consuming and difficult task. It’s easier to direct the same efforts to making money, which you can then spend on buying another rule book,
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The situation is completely different with free systems. Their common feature - versatility. If you've played enough fantasy D&D and you want space opera - welcome to the store where you can buy a rulebook for Star Wars with a separate system. Both systems have the same base ( d20), but with only the Player's Handbook in hand D&D, you won’t be able to play the confrontation between the Jedi and the Sith.
In the same time Fuzion with all its applications covers the entire spectrum of adventure genres. But at the same time it represents one single system. And this is also the logic of life. Developers of free systems are often driven by altruistic, creative motives. But they also don’t want to do extra work. And it’s easier to write a universal system once than one for every occasion.
The price for versatility, of course, is detail and
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For a commercial system it is very important to approach as much as possible more role players. Therefore, 80% of her rulebook contains something that you personally will never need, but without which some Vasya Pupkin cannot imagine a normal game. It turns out that the lion's share of the hard-earned money you paid for the book goes to satisfy Vasya Pupkin's requests. In a free system, as a rule, you will find only those 20%, without which it is basically impossible to play. What you, Vasya Pupkin, and any other roleplayer need. And if the system is missing something, add it yourself, there are all the conditions for this.
And this is a completely conscious approach. For example, in the "Presenter's Guide" for " Great Dragon World“An entire chapter is devoted to ways to improve the game: how to create a new race, a new class, skill or type of weapon, and not upset the balance of the system.
Making a choice
Free systems are most often liked not by freebie lovers, but by creative leaders who tend to embody some of their own ideas in the rules. For this reason, a person, even having money for commercial
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Free RPGs in English:
D20 - www.opengamingfoundation.org
Fuzion - www.herogames.com/fuzion
FUDGE - www.io.com/~sos/fudge.html
Free RPG in Russian:
Ministry of Internal Affairs - www.dragonworld.rolemancer.ru
The article uses illustrations made by Princess Dragon for Game " Ministry of Internal Affairs".
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- Rules of the game . Role-playing game basics; description of the characteristics of heroes, races, classes, skills. Rules for character development, rules of combat, the effects of magic.
- Presenter's Guide . Basics of driving, creating a group of heroes, consideration of basic game situations, system modification, game psychology.
- Magic . Descriptions of spells for magicians and priests, additional rules.
- Bestiary . Application to the "World of the Great Dragon" system. Examples of descriptions of monsters, monsters, animals.
- Character Sheet , designed for convenient recording of character characteristics.
- Character creation program . Allows you to create a character in full accordance with the rules, store data about him, and export the character sheet to MS Excel.
- "Mad Troll" . Scenario (module) with a classic plot for novice presenters and players.
As the computer industry introduces more and more tools to protect systems and networks, users are becoming increasingly interested in free software to understand whether its potential benefits outweigh its potential disadvantages.
Although freely available security systems have been around for a long time, they have never been used as widely as the operating system. Linux system and Apache Web server. John Pescatore, Gartner's director of Internet security research, noted that freeware now accounts for 3-5% of security deployments, but that this figure could rise to 10-15% by 2007.
The main reason for this potential is the quality of the numerous freely available security packages. , - noted Eugene Spafford, director of the Center for Education and Research in the field information security Purdy University.
Free software products include free tools that can be downloaded from the Internet, packages for which manufacturers offer commercial support services, and additional tools that are included with commercial products.
To the most popular tools include Netfilter and iptables; intrusion detection systems such as Snort, Snare and Tripwire; security vulnerability scanners such as Kerberos; firewalls, in particular T.Rex.
Some enterprises have even begun to use freely available security systems to secure their critical infrastructure.
Growing interest
IT professionals have been using freely available security tools to varying degrees for about 15 years. There is now increasing interest in such tools from large companies, security consultants and service providers who can adapt such software to the needs of specific users. For example, EDS began using Astaro's freely available security tools to secure the front-end component of the Web sites of several credit unions that offer transaction processing capabilities.
Integrators of information security systems recognize that users are attracted by the low price of freely distributed tools. For example, Richard Mayr, managing director of R2R Informations und Kommunikations, noted that his company has been offering its commercial firewall for many years. However, the collected data shows that 75% of the company's clients prefer freely distributed analogues. Guardent offers a $1,500-per-month Internet security subscription based on its Security Defense Appliance. The solution combines commercial components, such as Cisco Systems' PIX firewall, with freely available components, including iptables, Nessus, and Snort. A similar service that relies solely on commercial products can cost around $10,000.
At the same time, C2Net Software, which was recently acquired by Red Hat, developed its commercial Stronghold Secure Web Server based on Apache and OpenSSL - a freely distributed toolkit that implements socket-level and transport layer, and also containing a general-purpose cryptographic library.
According to security consultant Paul Robichaux of Robichaux & Associates, organizations with specific legal security requirements, such as those in healthcare and finance, are unlikely to use freely available tools. Instead, they will likely continue to be dependent on manufacturers to whom they can hold responsible for security breaches. Robichaux believes that freely available security systems will be more likely to be used by consulting and service firms that already know and trust the tools, as well as by companies whose IT departments have already tried such solutions.
Freeware Security Tools: Pros and Cons
Let's compare free and commercial tools in terms of cost, quality and technical support.
Expenses. One of the main advantages of freely distributed tools is their lower cost compared to commercial products. Such systems are distributed free of charge or at very low prices. low prices, and, in addition, they either do not provide for licensing payments at all, or these payments are significantly less than for commercial products. However, some users have learned from their own experience that the statement is fully applicable to freely distributed tools.
However, Buddy Baxter, EDS technical manager for infrastructure solutions for credit unions, believes that just because a product costs more doesn't mean it will be more secure. According to him, EDS can install a security system based on the Astaro software tool, which will cost four times less than a commercial product from Check Point Software Technologies.
Quality. Guardent's chief technology officer, Jerry Brady, confirmed that some freely available security tools are as good as, if not better than, their commercial counterparts. For example, he said, the Nessus security vulnerability scanner provides better distributed processing, remote triggering and scheduling capabilities than many commercial products. , he emphasized.
However, Marcus Ranum, a security expert and head of NFR Security, objects to him: .
Spafford agrees with him: .
Proponents of open source solutions argue that there are so many people studying open source code that they can find problems much faster than the limited number of developers who create a commercial product for a given company. , said Mike Curtis, director of research at information security services company Redsiren Technologies.
Additionally, as Curtis noted, open-source software developers can respond more quickly to security flaws than commercial companies simply because they are less busy and bureaucratic. , he thinks.
However, Ranum disagrees with him: “he said.
Many closed source proponents believe that the quality of a program, not the number of people studying it, is more important in finding bugs in a program. They argue that the company's software experts working on their own products produce better work than those studying freely available packages.
Spafford also joins his opinion. , he noted.
Support. Proponents of commercial software argue that their vendors, unlike free software vendors, offer support and other resources to help customers run into problems. However, this approach also allows those who offer support services to users of free security software to strengthen their position.
Brady noticed.
Other questions. Some closed source advocates believe that the availability of free code makes it much easier for hackers to figure out how to overcome such protections. However, apologists for freely distributed solutions argue that this is not so, since hackers are able to hack the protection organized using commercial products. At the same time, they note that freely available security tools are easier to set up because the source code is available.
Known freeware projects
Let's look at some important freely available security tools.
Kerberos
Kerberos authentication and encryption technology ( http://www.mit.edu/kerberos/www) was developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1987. Since then, this technology has become the standard used by working group Common Authentication Technology Working Group, formed under the Internet Engineering Task Force.
Freely available versions of Kerberos are available for the Macintosh, Unix, and Windows platforms. Commercial implementations have been created by Microsoft, Oracle, Qualcomm and a number of other companies. Microsoft drew criticism from those in the market by integrating a version of Kerberos into Windows 2000 that was not fully compliant with the standard.
Snort
Snort ( www.snort.org) is considered one of the most popular freely available security tools. According to Marty Reusch, lead developer of Snort, this application is used by 250-500 thousand people. This software has a group of active supporters and very detailed documentation.
Snort is a simplified network intrusion detection system capable of performing real-time analysis of traffic and packets recorded on IP networks. Released in 1998, Snort helps identify potential security breaches by performing protocol-based packet analysis as well as pattern-matching searches on content. This system is capable of detecting probe activity and detecting various security violations such as buffer overflows, stealth port scans, and common gateway interface attacks.
Snort runs on a variety of platforms, including FreeBSD, Linux, MacOS, Solaris, and Windows.
Snare
System Intrusion Analysis and Reporting Environment is a hosted intrusion detection system designed for Linux systems. InterSect Alliance ( www.intersectalliance.com), which brings together consultants specializing in security issues, developed and released Snare in November 2001.
Snare uses dynamically loaded module technology to interact with the Linux kernel at runtime. By using only those modules that are needed to perform a specific task, Snare reduces the load on the host system. And because Snare loads dynamically, users don't have to reboot the system or recompile the kernel, as is the case with some Linux enhancements.
Tripwire
Purdy University's Spafford and then-student Gene Kim developed the Tripwire Academic Source intrusion detection system, which has been downloaded by more than a million users since its release in 1992. Tripwire Company ( www.tripwire.com), which Kim founded, later completely redesigned the program, turning it into a closed-source commercial product. Tripwire offers a free version for Linux, but sells commercial versions for Unix and Windows NT platforms.
Nessus
Nessus ( http://www.nessus.org) is a security vulnerability scanner that allows you to check the security of a Web site remotely. The Nessus developers released this toolkit in April 1998. Nessus supports servers that comply with POSIX requirements and work with Java, Win32 and X11 clients.
Saint
Security Administrators Integrated Network Tool is a security vulnerability scanner (see Figure 1) that works with most flavors of Unix, including Linux. The scanner was created on the basis of freely distributed tools for analyzing security defects Satan (Security Administrator's Tool for Analyzing Networks). Saint company ( www.saintcorporation.com) has discontinued older versions of the scanner, but sells the latest version, as well as SAINTwriter for generating custom reports and SAINTexpress for automatic update signatures of security defects.
Rice. 1. Saint - a scanner that checks systems for vulnerabilities. Given a particular configuration, the control mechanism determines whether (and to what extent) Saint can scan a set of network nodes. The target selection subsystem creates a list of attacks for tests launched on scanned nodes. The data acquisition subsystem collects facts about the results of the probes. Using a rule base, the interaction engine processes facts while collecting data and defining new addressable hosts, probes, and facts. The results subsystem displays the collected data as a hyperspace that users can interact with using a browser
Netfilter and iptables
The free software team has prepared Netfilter and iptables for integration into the Linux 2.4 kernel. Netfilter ( www.netwilter.org) allows users to track feedbacks associated with a network intrusion, thereby making it possible to identify the fact that the system is under attack. Using iptables ( www.iptables.org) Users can define the actions that the system should take if an attack is detected.
T.Rex
T.Rex() is a free software firewall released by Freemont Avenue Software in 2000. It runs on AIX, Linux and Solaris platforms and is currently used by approximately 31,000 users.
Prospects
The widespread use of freely distributed security systems is hampered by a number of difficulties and problems.
Fear of open texts
Some companies are afraid to purchase free software because it is not developed by a specific company and is not supported software which they are accustomed to purchasing. Because of this, as predicted by David Moskowitz, director of technology at the consulting company Productivity Solutions, many freely distributed tools begin to be used only after IT specialists try it out on their own initiative and gradually implement it in the enterprise.
Fear
Because the code is open source, some companies fear that hackers will create freely available tools that they can use to infiltrate systems. Robichaux remarked about this: , without any ready-made or downloaded packages>.
Certification
Certification of a product by authorized government organizations can give a serious impetus to its widespread use. The US government requires that security systems and other products related to information technology, have been tested to meet the Federal Information Processing Standard by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) before they can be purchased by US government agencies.
The cost of compliance testing can range from tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars. All this can prevent organizations that create free software (and usually have a very modest budget) from certifying their technology. In fact, as Annabel Lee, director of the NIST Cryptographic Module Validation Program, noted, she is not aware of any freely available products that have been certified.
Ease of use and management
Free software vendors tend to prioritize functionality over ease of use and management. As a result, such applications are sometimes difficult to deploy and manage. For example, as Reusch noted, .
Pescatore explained the situation this way: .
All of this creates a small but rapidly growing market for defense system integrators and service providers such as Guardent, Redsiren and Silico Defense. These companies can offer management tools and thereby hide the complexity of freeware products from users, while also providing a guaranteed level of service and support.
Astaro strives to create a complete security infrastructure that integrates numerous freely available technologies into a single, easy-to-use interface. Ernst Kelting, President of the American branch of Astaro, emphasized: .
Conclusion
Simon Perry, vice president of security systems at Computer Associates, believes that the use of freely distributed security tools will increase, although not in large corporations. Organizations that develop open-source software don't have the resources or management tools needed to achieve the integration required to provide security across multiple platforms, as large companies do, he said.
An interesting trend in the open-source security market may be the development of business models that combine open source with specialized hardware, commercial front-end tools, and/or service-level guarantees. For example, Brady noted that manufacturers could combine their knowledge of hardware optimization with freely available technology to create products such as network set-top boxes that support secure, fast connections.
Cox emphasized that.
However, Pescatore believes that the share of revenue from all security products coming from the sale of commercial support services for open-source tools will rise from 1% to just 2% by 2007. This is partly because many companies will use free tools rather than commercial open source packages.
One of the dangers associated with tools distributed in source code is that users may be lulled into a false sense of security in the belief that the code has been reviewed by multiple experts. According to Dan Geer, Kerberos developer and chief technology officer at security services company @Stake, .
freeware /ˈfɹiːwɛə(r)/ from English free
Difference between free and free software
Free software, unlike free software, can be distributed without source code and may contain restrictions on commercial use, modification, etc. Free software provides everyone, in addition to the right to use the software, the right to modification and a number of other rights.
Differences between free and shareware software
Free software, unlike shareware, does not imply any payment to the developer and, accordingly, no additional services, such as improved versions, are expected.
There is also a method of software distribution that occupies a middle position between shareware and freeware, when a certain program is released as free, but lightweight, and, unlike most shareware programs, the use of which is illegal after the trial period ends, there are no restrictions by time of use free version does not have, and restrictions are imposed on any “advanced” features of the program, and sometimes its use is also prohibited in cases specifically specified in the EULA (most often for commercial purposes). This is, for example, a free version of the Micro-Cap program, which can be legally used for an unlimited time, but its library of modeled elements is greatly reduced, use for commercial purposes is prohibited, and the speed of modeling is artificially reduced.
The problem of naming free and open source software
Many texts on the topic of software are written in English, in which the words "free" and "free" are translated equally as free. This creates naming confusion
This lecture contains various materials about free software developed specifically for educational purposes or suitable for use in schools and other educational institutions to conduct and/or support the educational process.
A series of video lectures on the topic “LINUX operating system”
In the “Telecourses” section in the “Video Lectures” subsection there is a series of video lectures on the topic “LINUX Operating System”
March 18, 2009. A set of applications for education, EduMandriva 2009, and a package of free applications for Windows, FreeSpring 2009, were released. This set of applications was prepared at the Mandriva Competence Center of the Glazov State Pedagogical Institute. V.G. Korolenko and is intended to facilitate the installation and use of educational software, as it contains a selection of software necessary for conducting classes in computer science and ICT disciplines in secondary, secondary specialized and higher educational institutions, compiled on the basis of the wishes of teachers.
Free Software
Along with commercial software products, so-called “free” software has become widespread, distributions of which are posted on the Internet for a wide range of users. Most developers of such software position their products as “free for non commercial use” - free for non-commercial use. This means that such software can be freely used by individuals and educational institutions, but cannot be used by anyone to make commercial products.
Below is a summary table of free software recommended for use in educational institutions.
| Software name | Purpose | Distribution |
| ALT-Linux EdUbuntu Debian MOPSLinux |
Operating systems (for servers and workstations) | http://linux.armd.ru/ http://ubuntu.ru/ http://www.debian.org/ http://www.mopslinux.org/ |
| OpenOffice | Office suite ( text editor"Writer", mathematical formula editor "Math", spreadsheet "Calc", database management system "Base", presentation editor "Impress" | http://ru.openoffice.org/ |
| Scratch (similar to Logo) | http://scratch.mit.edu/ | |
| Lazarus (similar to Pascal) | Visual programming environment | http://www.lazarus.freepascal.org/ |
| Eclipse | Visual programming environment | http://www.eclipse.org/ |
| NetBeans | Visual programming environment | http://www.netbeans.org/ |
| Mozilla Firefox | Web browser | http://www.mozilla-europe.org/ru/firefox/ |
| Mozilla Thunderbird | Client Email | http://www.mozilla-europe.org/ru/products/thunderbird/ |
| KompoZer | HTML editor | http://www.kompozer.net/ |
| Gimp | Raster graphics editor | http://www.gimp.org/ |
| Inkscape | Vector graphics editor | http://www.inkscape.org/ |
| QCad | Professional drawing system | http://www.qcad.org/ |
| Scribus | Desktop publishing | http://www.scribus.net/ |
| Audacity | Sound file editor | |
| Avidemux | Video editor | http://www.avidemux.org/ |
| Blender | 3D graphics editor | http://www.blender.org/ |
| Skype | Video calling, instant messaging service | http://www.skype.com/ |
| MySQL | Database management system | http://www.mysql.com/ |
| Google Apps | Software as a Service (software as a service) | http://www.google.com/a/help/intl/ru/index.html |
Prospects for the development of information technologies in education, Lagunov Alexey Yurievich, department. computer science and computer technology Primorsky State University, Arkhangelsk
Free Software in School: LinuxSchool Community
To support teachers' work with free software, we suggest you use the Linux Format magazine in your work. This magazine is the only monthly periodical in Russia entirely dedicated to free software and operating system GNU/Linux.
Skype
Small free application Skype allows you to organize audiovisual conferences between Internet users. Wherever your interlocutor is, you can always contact him via Skype with the ease of normal phone call, which won't cost a penny. In addition to voice communication, Skype allows you to exchange instant text messages, and if you have a webcam, the program turns into a real video phone, which makes it unique in the free software sector. Large scope for use makes it possible to organize conferences - connect several users to a conversation at the same time (up to 25 participants).
IN educational institution this application can perform many tasks: from operational communication between teachers and administration to video broadcasting of open lessons, remote communication with students. Using Skype program, schools can share experiences remotely, and class teachers can hold remote parent-teacher meetings. These are just a few examples of how this indispensable application can be used.
Even a low-speed ADSL connection to the Internet is sufficient for the program to work. After installation and registration, the program is almost immediately ready to work.
Minimum system requirements: OS Microsoft Windows 2000, XP and later versions, microphone, Internet connection speed of 128 kbps. The higher the Internet connection speed, the higher the quality of communication.
To operate video communication, you will need a computer with a processor frequency of at least 1 GHz and RAM with a capacity of at least 256 MB and, of course, a webcam.
Official website where you can download the latest version of the program: http://www.skype.com/
Free software from Google
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Developers from the American company Google, which owns one of the most popular Internet search systems in the world, have long gone beyond the purely “search” industry. New ones appearing with astonishing speed software solutions from Google, although they revolve around the same search engine, they are increasingly acquiring the features of separate, self-sufficient and complete products. Now Google offers for free a whole package of programs and web tools that allow you to edit texts and graphics, view maps, conveniently use the Internet, optimize system performance - our review today is dedicated to these features. Below we will look at several useful applications, which can be used in the educational process. |
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Google Chrome: Web browser for Windows |
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Google Web Tools The Internet is becoming more functional. If previously you could only browse Internet pages using a browser, now on the Internet you can use many Internet applications and web tools that can sometimes completely replace ordinary software that must be installed on your computer. This means that, wherever you are, on any computer, if you have access to the Internet, you can take advantage of many of the features that you are used to working with on your PC. |
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GMail email service |
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Google Earth – Planet Earth The amazing Google Earth application allows you to travel around our planet without leaving your chair. This is a three-dimensional model of the planet, moving around which you can view satellite photographs of the earth's surface with stunning detail, and in latest versions programs - even explore the starry sky. Thanks to the wide possibilities of functional expansion of the program, a whole community of users has formed around it, who share their photographs, observations and other information through many Google Earth tools. For example, anyone can link a photo they take to a geographic point. And all other users, viewing a map of the area where the photo was taken, will immediately be able to see it. Millions of people now use Google Earth to explore the world around them. Developers create additional layers that can be superimposed on satellite images: the railway network, interesting tourist routes, mining sites and many more additions are available for download on the Internet. The program is indispensable, first of all, in geography lessons. Students can instantly see almost any geographic feature on the screen from a bird's eye view. Just imagine: mountains and plains, seas and oceans, islands, rivers, cities - and all this is just one click away. Agree that exploring satellite images is much more fun than using ordinary geographic maps: when working with the program, you get a feeling of tangibility, the reality of everything that is displayed on the screen, and the lesson turns into an exciting journey. The program can also be used by students to illustrate multimedia projects, and not only those dedicated to geography. It is applicable in physics, biology, astronomy... The program downloads all data in real time from the Internet, so its operation requires a stable connection to the network and, preferably, a tariff with unlimited traffic. Distribution is free. |
About this type of software, it’s worth saying right away that the condition of having a license for a certain product is not mandatory. For example, freely distributed programs include both licensed applications and those developed by enthusiasts (semi-professionals, students, etc.).
Thus, among all that is offered on the computer and mobile software market today, three large categories can be distinguished separately:
- public programs;
- freely distributed applications (freeware);
- open source programs.
Types of free software
What programs are called freely distributed is already a little clear. But there are some nuances here too.
Publicly available software, from the point of view of legislative acts, is not protected by copyright. In this case, only the fact of alienation of the rights to the product from the author is indicated and their classification as a public domain, when the rights are common property. A striking example is some of the Internet standards (HTML, TCP/IP, etc.). However, they may or may not be open source. But in any case, such freely distributed programs for Windows, for example, can be modified, changed, used to develop new software, or simply distributed without any restrictions.
For the second type of software products, copyright is retained by the developer, and their use, as a rule, is limited to truncated capabilities, as well as terms of non-commercial use. For freeware programs, as is already clear, any modification without the consent of the author is impossible or even illegal, although you do not need to pay for their use. In addition, the developer, as a rule, constantly monitors the use and distribution of his software product, and in some cases may even transfer it to shareware status, which implies restrictions in functionality or free use for a certain period.
Finally, another look at free software. Examples of such software would not be complete without addressing the issue of open source software. What does this mean in the simplest terms? Yes, only that the developer provides users with unlimited rights to run the application for any purpose, change and modify it, with the subsequent transfer of its original or modified copy to third parties, etc. its level of freedom of action is much higher than for other freeware products, for which basically the concept of free distribution includes only the possibility of creating a copy and using it for your own needs.
Criteria and definition of free software
Speaking about what programs are called freely distributed, one cannot help but touch upon the issue of so-called freedoms, which is regulated by the rules of the General Public License (licenses will be discussed separately).
Back in the 70s of the last century, R. Stallman formulated the basic concepts of freedom in relation to software products:
- “zero freedom” - use the software for any purpose without restrictions;
- “first freedom” - the opportunity to study the work of the program and adapt it to your needs;
- “second freedom” - free distribution of copies of the application;
- “third freedom” - the ability to change or improve the program with subsequent public publication.
As can be seen from the above criteria, for the “first” and “third freedom” one of the prerequisites is the presence of that same open source code, the concept of which, by the way, was introduced a little later by E. Raymond. In general, based on these principles, by and large, only those that meet all four criteria can be called free programs and applications.
Types of free licenses
Not to mention the main license, today you can find quite a lot of other legislative acts regulating this area of activity.
However, as a rule, the most common and most widely used free license is the GNU GPL different versions. In addition, there are also varieties such as MIT and BSD. The most important advantage of such software is that it can be used at home, in schools and universities or in any other organizations.
Free Software: Examples
If you start listing everything that can be classified as free software, partially or completely, it may take too much time, and you can find quite a lot of software products themselves.
However, among all the things that users use most often, we can note various kinds of multimedia tools, Internet technologies, some computing tools and even entire office packages(Oracle OpenOffice). Licensed programs are not open source, but some applications can be easily modified. Even the developers themselves initially agree to modifications of their software products by users in order to improve functionality or correct errors.
Features of licensed applications
Among free software, it is especially worth noting licensed programs. As stated above, they are protected by copyright and usage agreements.
But many of us encounter such things almost every day. Surely, many have seen that when installing some programs, at one of the first stages of installation, a window appears in which text is shown and, if you do not check the box below in front of the line agreeing with all the points, the installation simply will not continue. Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of users consider this a pure formality or convention and never read the text itself. But in vain. It wouldn't hurt a lot of people to know what it's all about.
The license, by the way, implies that this software will work 100% on the hardware or configuration declared by the developer, which cannot be said about other free products, no matter how attractive they may look.
Some types of paid applications
Finally, let's look at paid apps. All categories will not be considered. We are interested in the shareware and trial types of shareware programs.
In most cases, they can be downloaded and installed completely free of charge. Typically, such programs may have full functionality or limited functionality that can be used for a certain period of time (usually 30 days). But after this, the application may stop working, since it will need to either be registered as an official copy or purchased.
With the first case everything is simple. You just need to go through a simple registration on the developer’s website, sometimes confirmation via e-mail may be required, but if this is a demo version, you will have to buy the full version. In the second case, you will also have to pay. However, this has never stopped our user (and others).
Is it possible to bypass restrictions when using paid programs?
Today in the Internet computer space you can find quite a lot of groups of enthusiasts who are engaged, to put it mildly, in illegal activities - hacking programs. And, from the point of view of international law, all those who install or use such copies can also be classified as cybercriminals (at least accomplices, that’s for sure).
Therefore, when it is proposed to use other people’s license keys, password generators (KeyGen.exe), patching (Patch.exe) or something else like that, you should think a hundred times about the legality of such actions. No, of course, international organizations involved in combating cybercrime will not be able to track all users (they simply do not have enough time or resources for this), but the very fact of using hacked software products is already a direct offense.
Conclusion
We can only hope that many people already understand what programs are called freely distributed and what criteria they meet. Among most users, by the way, there is a misconception that free software is less functional compared to paid software products. Nothing like this. Some licensed and freely distributed programs created by enthusiasts and/or often have open source, sometimes not only are not inferior to paid analogues of well-known developers, but even surpass them (the same OpenOffice, which many users consider a much more interesting package than paid analogue from Microsoft).
