Free software is good software

I don't like being cheap, but we're in a not-quite-recession, and I get fired from a lot of jobs over "my attitude". At least, that's what the managers say. I know they're really just intimidated by my intelligence and honesty, but Arizona doesn't pay unemployment benefits for that.

Anyway, even though this site is (and always has been) hosted on a UNIX server, my box at home is running Windows 98. Here's a very quick list of Windows freeware that's been powering Bauser.com for so many years.

  1. Programmer's File Editor - I need a editor that numbers the lines and handle large files.
  2. Korax ColorDrop - So I can steal a color from anywhere on screen and find the nearest browser-safe color.
  3. HTML Tidy - Validates my HTML to the DTD.
  4. ActivePerl for Windows for testing and debugging Perl scripts before uploading them to the server.
  5. GIMP is a new addition to my web design arsenal, but it's become my preferred weapon when it comes to creating or altering graphics.
  6. Microsoft WEFT - Embeds fonts so I don't need to use .gifs for headlines.
  7. WebTV Viewer - See how it looks out on WebTV screens. (Don't laugh. My little brother and his wife use WebTV.)
  8. WS_FTP LE - Upload files. (I didn't used to be that lazy.)
  9. Xenu's Link Sleuth - Check the links in old pages. (I don't use this one enough, actually.)
  10. Analog - Analyzes the server access logs. (Obviously, I actually use the UNIX version on the server, but the Windows version is on my home box for research purposes.)