GOV
Community Resources
A list of free software and online tools
Many Internet businesses give away free services and useful software tools. These tools can be used to build and maintain our local communities.
The free resources below consist of only a limited sample of the vast resources available on the Internet:
- Web Browsers
- Operating Systems
- Email Accounts
- Personal Computer Security
- PDF Converters
- Electronic Money Transfers
- Fax Services
- Document Sharing/Collaboration
- Office Applications
- Talk Over the Internet
- Instant Messengers (IM)
- Web Hosting
- Software for Creating and Updating Websites
- Blogs and Journals
- Online Communities
- Local Online Bulletin Boards
Web Browsers
- Firefox (Windows, Mac, Linux)
- Google Chrome (Windows, Mac, Linux)
- Safari (Windows, Mac)
- Opera (Windows, Mac, Linux)
- Edge (Windows)
Operating Systems
Free and stable operating systems for your computer.
- Ubuntu (Very stable, easy to use and install)
- Kubuntu (Stable, great for slower/older machines)
- Joli OS (Easy to use, great for laptops)
Email Accounts
- GMail (Google) http://gmail.com/
- Yahoo! Mail http://mail.yahoo.com/
- Outlook Mail https://outlook.live.com/
- FastMail.fm http://fastmail.fm
Free Email Address Directory lists many other services, including some which offer support for non-English characters.
Personal Computer Security
Anti-Virus
- Microsoft Security Essentials http://windows.microsoft.com/mse/
- AVG http://free.avg.com/
- Avast! http://avast.com/
Anti-Spyware
- Spy-Bot Search & Destroy http://safer-networking.org
- Ad-Aware http://www.lavasoftusa.com/
Home Wireless Networks
PDF Converters
- CutePDF http://www.cutepdf.com/
- Icecream PDF Split and Merge https://icecreamapps.com/PDF-Split-and-Merge/
- PDF Tools and Resources from Investintech https://www.investintech.com/resources/freetools/
- PrimoPDF http://www.primopdf.com/
Electronic Money Transfers
- PayPal
- Network for Good (For direct contributions to registered 501(c)(3) organizations)
- Go Fund Me (For online fundraising for invidividuals and organizations)
Fax Services
- faxZERO (sending only, free version puts an ad on cover page)
- GotFreeFax.com (sending only, no ads in free version)
- Send A Fax Free (sending only, free, no ads)
Document Sharing/Collaboration
Files and Documents
- Dropbox (Store, sync, & share files online)
- Google Drive (Create, edit, share, and collaborate on documents online)
- Zoho (Create, edit, share, discuss online and more)
- Microsoft One Drive
Wikis
The concept of a "Wiki" popularized by (http://www.wikipedia.org) is that anyone can edit the content of any page on that site.
Office Applications
Online Services
- Google Docs (Word processing, spreadsheets, presentations)
- Microsoft Office Live (Word processing, spreadsheets, presentations)
- Zoho (Word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, wiki, planner, database, invoice)
Desktop Software
- Libre Office (Full office suite for Windows, Mac, Linux)
- AbbiWord (Word processing only)
Talk Over the Internet
- Skype (Voice, video, text, call land and cell phones)
- Google Hangouts (Video, voice, text)
Instant Messaging (IM)
- Google Hangouts
- Facebook Messenger (visible when logged in to a Facebook account)
- Slack
- Discord
- Skype (For Windows & Mac)
- Pidgin (Chat client that lets you connect to multiple accounts at once. For Windows & Linux)
- Adium (Chat client that lets you connect to multiple accounts at once. For Mac)
- Miranda IM (Chat client that lets you connect to multiple accounts at once. For Windows)
Web Hosting
- Google Sites
- Tripod
- Free-Webhosts.com (database of organizations that offer free web hosting)
Software for Creating & Updating Websites
WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get)
WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) software allows you to directly create and edit the look and feel of your website without having to know any HTML or CSS.
Text Editors
- Atom (Windows, Mac, Linux)
- Visual Studio Code (Windows, Mac, Linux)
- Notepad++ (Windows only.)
FTP Clients
Image Creation/Manipulation
- GIMP (Windows, Mac, Linux)
- Paint.NET (Windows only)
- pixlr.com (Online service)
- Photoshop.com (Online service)
Blogs and Journals
Online Communities
Local Online Bulletin Boards
Feedback is anonymous.
