{"id":87,"date":"2008-12-09T09:46:03","date_gmt":"2008-12-09T13:46:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mail.ale.org\/?page_id=87"},"modified":"2018-01-01T20:47:56","modified_gmt":"2018-01-02T01:47:56","slug":"techno-geeky-gift-ideas","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ale.org\/?page_id=87","title":{"rendered":"Geek Approved Gift Ideas"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nBelow are a some gift ideas for that are recommended by the friendly
\nmembers of the Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts group. Like all the best things
\nin life, the best suggestions below are Free. While these Free, Liberating,
\nOpen Source Software suggestions are Geek Approved, you will find they
\nare far more User Friendly and User Empowering than comparable
\ncommercial offerings and and can deliver the invaluable gift of Technology
\nFreedom to any friend or family member, from grade school youngsters
\nto grandparents.<\/strong><\/p>\n

OUR #1 GIFT SUGGESTION (of course):
\nA FREE, FREEDOM FRIENDLY LINUX OS CD or DVD<\/strong><\/span>
\nLinux runs Google and most of the Internet, so it’s the clearly the best choice
\nfor running your Personal Computer, too!
\n— There are literally dozens of popular versions of the user friendly, virus free
\nLinux Operating System that are available as bootable CD disks. These “Live”
\nCD disks not only let you explore the freedom of Linux without changing
\nanything on your computer, but they can also be used to install Linux either
\nin place of or in addition to your existing OS.
\n— Currently, the most popular and broadly supported desktop edition for the
\neveryday computer user or internet surfer is UBUNTU, which can be downloaded
\nor requested for free from the Ubuntu web site<\/a>.
\n— Because every user and developer is free to distribute and customize and
\nimprove Linux Open Source Software as they choose, there are literally hundreds
\nof other customized or specialized Linux OS & software combo packages available,
\nalmost always for Free. A comprehensive list of the many Linux “distros”, as well
\nas links to distribution copy services, provider sites and other resources, can be
\nfound at the Distro Watch web site.<\/a><\/p>\n

OUR #2 GIFT SUGGESTION (in keeping with the first):
\nFREE, LIBERATING GPL OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE
\n(available for any computer)<\/strong><\/span>
\nWhy suffer viral commercial software when better tools are available for
\nevery computer without the MafiaSoft license threats, restrictions or costs?
\n— The full list of Free, GPL, Open Source Software that is available on the
\ninternet could fill an encyclopedia, but our list is limited to a few of the
\nmost popular and common applications. All of the programs we’ve included
\nhave versions available that will run equally well on Linux, Mac and Windows
\nsystems. Since Open Source Software runs the overwhelming majority of
\nweb sites, internet browsing and email tools are at the top our gift list.
\nClicking the links will take you to the project and download sites.<\/p>\n

== FireFox \/ Thunderbird<\/a> cross platform internet browsing and email tools.
\nMore than half of the internet users in the world have chosen FireFox as
\ntheir browser of choice. The Mozilla offerings are generally more secure,
\nmore extensible, more stable and more standards compliant than any of
\nthe Internet Exploitative commercial offerings.<\/p>\n

== Pidgin <\/a> portable, multi-platform, multi-protocol IM and Chat client.
\nPidgin is just one among a number of the free, flexible, user friendly FLOSS
\nofferings for Internet Messaging. There are also many unique free tools for
\nenhancing and integrating social networking activities, like those found in
\nthe newest Ubuntu Linux<\/a> desktop.<\/p>\n

== Open Office (.org)<\/a> provides a complete, file compatible replacement for
\nexpensive commercial office suites. The Open Office suite provides feature
\ncompetitive software for Word Processing, Spreadsheets, Presentations,
\nDatabases and more. Versions are available for Linux, Mac and Windows.
\nWhile Open Office includes the ability to read and write restricted MS Office
\nformats, its defaults to writing files in the non-viral, publicly distributable
\nand globally recognized Open Document Standards.<\/p>\n

OUR #3 GIFT SUGGESTION:
\nLINUX BASED, LINUX INSTALLED SMART PHONES,
\nNETBOOKS AND LAPTOPS
\n(the software is still free but hardware may cost a few dollars)<\/strong><\/span>
\n— Because Linux is fully Open Source, computer makers and distributors can
\neasily scale and modify the Linux Operating System to work more efficiently in
\nin any hardware device. Because Linux is free, they can provide products at
\nlower cost where ever fair markets exist. Chances are good that you are already
\nusing a Linux appliance in your home or office right now in the form of a Linux
\nbased modem or switch or router or wifi gateway device.<\/p>\n

== A majority of the newest, slickest and app rich Smart Phone<\/a> models being
\nreleased today (like Android and models from HTC, Samsung, Nokia and Motorola)
\nare running on FLOSS Linux operating systems and software. Free of the rigid,
\ninhibiting restrictions of proprietary software development, Linux based Smart
\nPhones present unlimited application and modification opportunities to both
\nusers and app developers.<\/p>\n

== Many NetBook models (especially those sold outside of the U.S.) ship with
\na Linux OS and hundreds of free, feature rich applications installed by default.
\nNot only is Linux more efficient and cost effective, but the availability of free
\nLinux software and it’s built in resistance to computer viruses can save users
\nthousands dollars with any computer purchase. While almost any computer
\ncan easily have Linux installed on it, there are also NetBooks, Laptops and
\nDesktop computers shipped with Linux (and all the most common software
\napplications) pre-installed are available from a number of custom and
\nmainstream distributors, including several models from Dell<\/a>.
\n
\nThe list above barely scratches the surface of what is available in Free,
\nLiberating Open Source Software, Operating Systems, Computers,
\nAppliances and Gadgets. Just include the terms GNU & Linux in your
\nGoogle searches to find many thousands more Geek Approved Gift Ideas!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Below are a some gift ideas for that are recommended by the friendly members of the Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts group. Like all the best things in life, the best suggestions below are Free. While these Free, Liberating, Open Source Software suggestions are Geek Approved, you will find they are far more User Friendly and User […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":10,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-87","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ale.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/87","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ale.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ale.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ale.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ale.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=87"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ale.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/87\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":802,"href":"https:\/\/ale.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/87\/revisions\/802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ale.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=87"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}