Is free software reliable, might be a question you have been thinking about. I was listening to a potential Youtube technology shill claim that an enduser should never use free software. This is an absolute absurd statement.
First of all, I usually never give out advice in my blog posts and videos. However, I include instructions, tips, tricks, etcetera. that tries to help you solve your most common computer problems. Of course some free software is reliable.
Not all free software is reliable. GNU's Not Unix Cash which is a free and open source accounting software has been quite reliable. I have been using it for many years to help keep track of my accounting.
If it was not reliable I would not have been able to keep track of figures for my business and to perform my income tax filing. Ccleaner is another very reliable free software program. Ccleaner has been in existence for over a decade now.
The free software model has been used for decades now. Often times free software is reliable enough to the point endusers do not need the paid for version. Free versions of software also might be restrictive enough that endusers will end up paying for versions that are not restricted.
Reliable free software developers can also charge for support. You download and use a software program for free on your desktop computer, laptop computer, tablet computer, smartphone, etcetera. If you ever run into problems with that software, you will be charged money.
That is not to say that that software had bugs, crashed, etcetera. The enduser may have been receiving a problem caused by their computer, ignorance, etcetera. Some free software developers will charge for updates.
My point is that there are many different ways to monetize software. Just because software is free does not necessarily mean that it is not reliable. I have used a great many free software programs that were reliable enough for my business.
I often think there are Youtube technology channels that are literally being paid to tell their audience non sense. If an individual is hesitant on installing and using free software, they can always research that software on the Internet. They can read reviews, criticisms, experiences from people on the Internet that have actually used that software.
Free software model has been around so long, I have no idea where that Youtube technology shill came up with that statement. Computer operating systems are actually considered a form of software. Software is designed to communicate with hardware. Therefore technically an operating system is software.
Free software which is reliable in the form of computer operating systems have been around for decades as well. Linux is a classic case of free software. Although not all Linux releases are reliable. Microsoft endusers pay quite a bit of money for both Microsoft Office and Microsoft operating systems, and I would not describe both products as reliable.
Although my experiences are that overall Microsoft Office is more reliable then Microsoft Windows operating system. However, there have been quite a few different versions of Microsoft Windows operating systems, that some of them were more reliable then others. For example here is a list of every Microsoft Windows operating system software I can think of:
* Microsoft Windows 3.1
* Microsoft Windows Ninety Five
* Microsoft Windows Ninety Eight
* Microsoft Windows Ninety Eight Second Edition
* Microsoft Windows Two Thousand
* Microsoft Windows Millenium Edition
* Microsoft Windows NT
* Microsoft Windows eXPerience
* Microsoft Windows Vista
* Microsoft Windows Seven
* Microsoft Windows Eight
* Microsoft Windows Ten
* Microsoft Windows Eleven
There are quite a few more Microsoft Windows operating system software that I did not include. For example the many different Microsoft Windows server operating systems. Another point of contention is that you can almost always donate money to a software developer under the free model.
If you feel that that free software you are using is reliable, you can donate money to the developer. I do not believe that just because you pay money for software from the beginning that it is anymore reliable than free software. Also, free software is not always reliable and any more reliable than paid for software.
Telling your audience you must never use free software because it is not reliable is a very ignorant stance. Also, it sounds more like a statement a control freak would make. Although this is a most common computer problems blog and not a psychology blog.
I have used free software for decades. Also, many of them were reliable. Some of them were reliable until they started having too many problems.
You could argue the same notion with content management system plugins. Fundamentally, it is the endusers decision to use free software or not. If it is not broke, do not fix it.
If that free software is reliable enough for you to complete the job and or tasks, then by all means you should be able to use that software. Not all software is created equal. Also, another facet of free software is the sector, niche, etcetera.
Certain types of free software maybe more reliable than others. That is where you pull out your wallet and spend some fake federal reserve notes on paid for software.
How do you know if that free software is reliable or not. As I alluded to earlier, you could perform some in depth research into that free software you are interested in. Also, just how important is that software reliability?
A free video game software package may not be as important to you as free accounting software. You could search for and read reviews specifically about that software. There may be video reviews on Youtube, Bitchute, Odysee, etcetera.
You really will not know until you install that software and begin using it. Another type of website you may want to use is alternative.to. This website lists software, their rating, score, and similar software.
You can look to see how many people took the time to mark this software as liked. I would highly recommend browsing to the software developer website and find out as much information about that free software as possible. Does that software developer provide updates to their free software?
Instead do they charge money for updates? Also, how often do they update their software? Some software developers provide a change log.
A change log is an apropos title. This type of software log, provides information on the software version, whether it is beta, development, production, etcetera. Also, change logs often times include details pertaining to the actual changes provided in an update to the software.
Instead of wasting valuable time and frustration installing free software, you can find out as much information about it as possible. Also, you can search for alternative software that is free and you are able to find more information. Hopefully, you are able to find multiple free software programs that you can research, install, and test.
I have used countless free software programs over decades as a computer technician. Thunderbird email client is another free software program that I would consider as reliable. I still use it to this day and really have not had that many problems with it.
Is free software reliable is almost an absurd question, when you think about it. Think of all the free software you are using right now or have been using in the past. Most if not all the major web browsers are free.
However, most web browsers to me have major problems. I still think you could find at least one web browser that is free and is classified as reliable. I tend to play merry go round when it comes to web browsers.
I use one particular web browser, until too many problems occur. Then I research on the Internet for alternative web browser. Another tactic I use is after a few years, I will actually check out a software program I may have used at one time and see if perhaps, the software developer released a major upgrade and or that software is getting better reviews.
Another thing you could try is to keep an arsenal of free software. That is not to say to install every piece of free software you find. For example when it comes to installing web browser software, I tend to horde this type of software program. What that means is that a reliable web browser is extremely important to me, since I use it in order to earn fake federal reserve notes.
As of now I have three major web browsers installed on my Linux desktop computer. Brave web browser, Vivaldi web browser, and Mozilla Firefox web browser. I actually despise Mozilla Firefox web browser.
However, I keep it installed as a backup to my backup web browser. Also, I do not have any extensions, plugins, passwords saved, bookmarks, etcetera. in that web browser. The absolute basic default Mozilla Firefox web browser is my backup to my backup.
Also, many websites do not function well with both Brave web browser and Vivaldi web browser. I found both Brave web browser and Vivaldi web browser using the tips and tricks I alluded to earlier about trying to find reliable free software. Whenever Brave starts to suck after an update or what not, I then start using Vivaldi again.
When Vivaldi web browser starts to suck after a software update, then I turn to Brave web browser. I surf the Internet in isolated incidences with Mozilla Firefox web browser. If I absolutley must use a specific website, then I turn to Mozilla Firefox.
You could use this method to answer that question, is free software reliable? These tips and tricks were written primary for Microsoft Windows operating systems. However, you could use the same tactics with Apple Macintosh, Linux, and other operating systems.