Free Software For Dummies
暫譯: 免費軟體入門指南

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.