Free Software For Dummies

Description:

Searching for free software on the Web can be challenging. However, software experts Gurdy and Mary Leete have found the best, highest-quality free software programs and are anxious to share this information with readers! They show where to get these programs, how to install them, what functionality they offer, and, most importantly, how to use them effectively.
The book covers plunging into free software, office productivity software, Internet and e-mail software, multimedia software, and education and entertainment software, and also offers a directory to more free software and resources.
* Describes how to find, install, use, and get the most out of such popular programs as OpenOffice (office productivity), Mozilla Firefox (Web browsing and e-mail), MySQL (database), GIMP (digital image manipulation), Flight Gear (flight simulation), and FreeCiv (multiplayer strategy game)
* Web sites offering free software are booming: GNUWin had more than one million visitors in the last year, OpenOffice.org reports 20 million downloads since 2001, and Mozilla Firefox recently had more than 1 million downloads during a 100-hour period

 

Table of Contents:

Introduction.

Part I: Plunging Into Free Software.

Chapter 1: How to Use Tons of Powerful, Free Software — Fast.

Chapter 2: The Best Places to Get Free Software.

Part II: Using Powerful, Free Office Software.

Chapter 3: Word Processing with OpenOffice.org Writer.

Chapter 4: Formatting Your Writer Documents.

Chapter 5: Creating Spreadsheets with OpenOffice.org Calc.

Chapter 6: Juggling Numbers in Calc.

Chapter 7: Building Databases with OpenOffice.org Base.

Chapter 8: Creating Reports from Your Database.

Part III: Exploring the Internet — More Easily, More Securely, and More Featurefully.

Chapter 9: Surfing and Searching the Web Securely with Mozilla Firefox.

Chapter 10: Reading E-mail with Mozilla Thunderbird.

Chapter 11: Publishing Your Own Web Pages with OpenOffice.org Writer.

Chapter 12: Enjoying Podcasts with iPodder.

Chapter 13: Making Free Phone Calls with Skype.

Part IV: Using Powerful, Free Multimedia Software.

Chapter 14: Creating Graphics with OpenOffice.Org Draw.

Chapter 15: Making Presentations with OpenOffice.Org Impress.

Chapter 16: Digital Imaging with the GIMP.

Chapter 17: Drawing and Filtering Images in the GIMP.

Chapter 18: Drawing Diagrams with Dia.

Chapter 19: Creating 3D Animations with Blender.

Chapter 20: Recording Sound with Audacity.

Part V: More Powerful, Free Software.

Chapter 21: Learning with Free Educational Software.

Chapter 22: Fun with Arcade, Simulation, Puzzle, Strategy, and 3D Games.

Chapter 23: A Friendly, Free, and Powerful Alternative to Windows XP.

Part VI: The Part of Tens.

Chapter 24: Ten Lists of More Great Free Software and Stuff: A Directory.

Chapter 25: Ten Unreasonable Advantages of Free Software.

Appendix: Installing Programs Using KPackage and Installation Wizards.

Index.

描述：在網絡上尋找免費軟件可能會具有挑戰性。然而，軟件專家Gurdy和Mary Leete已經找到了最好的、最高質量的免費軟件程序，並渴望與讀者分享這些信息！他們展示了如何獲取這些程序，如何安裝它們，它們提供的功能以及最重要的是如何有效地使用它們。本書涵蓋了免費軟件、辦公生產力軟件、互聯網和電子郵件軟件、多媒體軟件以及教育和娛樂軟件，還提供了更多免費軟件和資源的目錄。*描述了如何找到、安裝、使用和充分利用OpenOffice（辦公生產力）、Mozilla Firefox（網頁瀏覽和電子郵件）、MySQL（數據庫）、GIMP（數字圖像處理）、Flight Gear（飛行模擬）和FreeCiv（多人策略遊戲）等熱門程序的方法。*提供免費軟件的網站正在蓬勃發展：GNUWin在過去一年中有超過一百萬訪問者，OpenOffice.org自2001年以來已經下載了2000萬次，而Mozilla Firefox在100小時內下載量超過100萬次。

目錄：
引言。
第一部分：深入了解免費軟件。
第1章：如何快速使用大量功能強大的免費軟件。
第2章：獲取免費軟件的最佳途徑。
第二部分：使用功能強大的免費辦公軟件。
第3章：使用OpenOffice.org Writer進行文字處理。
第4章：格式化您的Writer文檔。
第5章：使用OpenOffice.org Calc創建電子表格。
第6章：在Calc中處理數字。
第7章：使用OpenOffice.org Base建立數據庫。
第8章：從您的數據庫創建報告。
第三部分：更輕鬆、更安全、更豐富地探索互聯網。
第9章：使用Mozilla Firefox安全地瀏覽和搜索網絡。
第10章：使用Mozilla Thunderbird閱讀電子郵件。
第11章：使用OpenOffice.org Writer發布自己的網頁。
第12章：使用iPodder享受播客。
第13章：使用Skype進行免費電話。
第四部分：使用功能強大的免費多媒體軟件。
第14章：使用OpenOffice.Org Draw創建圖形。
第15章：使用OpenOffice.Org Impress製作演示文稿。
第16章：使用GIMP進行數字圖像處理。
第17章：在GIMP中繪製和過濾圖像。