Open Source Tool Helps Companies to Get Free

Considering that Microsoft Office and Internet Explorer hold the vast majority of their respective markets, and that the software diversity is a crucial factor to improve the internet security, Brazilian software company GNU BIS released an open source script called "GetFree", to automatically download and install several open source programs on any Windows computer.

Considering that Microsoft Office and Internet Explorer hold the vast majority of their respective markets, and that the software diversity is a crucial factor to improve the internet security, Brazilian software company GNU BIS released an open source script called "GetFree", to automatically download and install several open source programs on any Windows computer.

The selected programs are OpenOffice.org 1.1, which is an alternative to MS Office; Mozilla Firebird, an alternative to Internet Explorer; Mozilla Thunderbird, an alternative to Outlook Express; and Gaim, an alternative to proprietary instant messengers like AIM, ICQ and MSN Messenger.

GetFree must be manually executed once, and can recover interrupted downloads. The standard behavior is to display each application setup dialog, and the script can be configured to an almost silent mode.

The goal is to increase the internet security via software diversity. Open Source Software is known to be less vulnerable to viruses and worms than proprietary software.

Developers are invited to download, modify and redistribute the source code. The script is open source and dedicated to the public domain.

Links:

GetFree:

http://www.gnubis.com.br/cgi-local/twiki/bin/view/English/GetFree

OpenOffice:

http://www.openoffice.org

Mozilla Firebird:

http://www.mozilla.org/projects/firebird/

Mozilla Thunderbird:

http://www.mozilla.org/projects/thunderbird/

Gaim:

http://gaim.sourceforge.net/

GNU BIS:

http://www.gnubis.com.br/cgi-local/twiki/bin/view/English/