Shared Wisdom: Top-Notch Free Software

No matter what your organization's cause or how large its budget, the word "free" is certain to make your ears perk up. And although you may have no choice but to spend money to upgrade your server or to hire a technology consultant, the abundance of freeware out there means that you don't always have to drop a lot (or any) cash on the software you need.

Yet with so much free software to choose from, figuring out which applications to test and deploy - and which to pass up - can be overwhelming. In this second installment of our ongoing Shared Wisdom series, a handful of nonprofit techies help you navigate the options by sharing their favorite free programs and how they have benefited from them.

Check out the freeware nonprofits like yours are putting to good use in the real world; you might even find something that drastically improves the way your organization operates. If you want more advice concerning free applications or would like to endorse free software your nonprofit has used, visit this thread in TechSoup's Software forum

RealVNC

My IT staff supports 13 YMCAs that are spread out over a 10-county area, the most remote of which is over 60 miles away. RealVNC lets our IT staff view the desktop of any workstation on our network, including those of remote staff logged on via a virtual private network (VPN). As long as we have a working communication line to the location, we can use this tool to help our staff with any computer issues they may have. RealVNC gives us a full view of a computer's desktop and the interactive ability to remotely control its mouse and keyboard. It has been a huge time-saver, spared us lots of travel expenses, and reduced risks as well.

We came very close to purchasing a proprietary Laplink product to provide this type of functionality. Our network consultant recommended RealVNC instead, and we are very glad that he did!

- Liesien Benet
Director of Information Technology, YMCA Of Greater San Antonio

CentOS

Since we run two servers on it, I would say that CentOS - a free Linux distribution based on the popular Red Hat Enterprise Linux - is our nonprofit's top piece of free software.

Our nonprofit has several departments, all of which use a variety of Windows servers and canned systems. My department, however, used Macs since 1987, running AppleShare on two older servers.

When it came time to upgrade, my goal was to improve cross-platform compatibility, keep costs down, and maintain the trouble-free security we had with the Mac servers. I decided to switch to Linux servers using Windows networking, knowing that the Mac OS X desktops would be fine on Windows networks. The initial Linux distribution, which we purchased with our Dell server, was Red Hat Enterprise 3, but we could not afford to upgrade to the much-improved version 4.

CentOS is a free alternative that incorporates just about everything a server needs. It supports Samba, so our organization can share folders between Windows and Mac computers, and works with the Apache Web server, a MySQL database, and the PHP scripting language - the components of the popular Web environment known as LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP). Using the LAMP software platform, we run an intra-agency wiki and are developing centralized Web-based applications to replace our ancient FoxBASE database. We have also been intrigued by PHP applications such as eGroupWare and PHPSurveyor.

I will say that Linux's software development and advanced networking features are not exactly for the "accidental techie," but with a bit of work, Linux servers and intranet Web applications like eGroupWare or PHPSurveyor are a possibility for many organizations.

- Larry Todd Anderson
Technical Specialist, Human Resources Council

Skype

It's an exciting time to be using Skype. Although the free communications system is still in its early days as far as use in the developing world goes, its potential to connect people - one of Never Again International's main missions - is truly remarkable.

In Rwanda, a country with the most Never Again members and the fewest communication resources, people are beginning to use Skype to connect. Previously, friends in Rwanda would "flash" each other - phone and then hang up - as a way to stay in touch without paying a calling free. Now, those with free broadband (mainly the elite classes, but access is growing) can talk to friends in London or New York free of charge. Thanks to Skype, our African members can now participate more freely in Never Again discussions, saving all involved the time it once took communicate via email.

Recently, Never Again organized a conversation between 20 people in five different countries. The result was a "jigsaw" discussion involving several people trying to connect and work within the constraints of Skype's five-participant conference call limit. It was good, but our group spent 40 minutes fruitlessly calling out to each other before splitting into even smaller groups. I recently discovered that Skype has started offering unlimited calls, so we'll soon see how many people we can include on one call.

Never Again also uses Skype's instant-messaging service, to share files and notes during conference calls (especially with those who are listening in but not participating); communicate in larger groups (which before was only possible in person); and clarify elements of a discussion for those speaking in their second or third language.

Skype should be a standard for projects that bring computers and the Web to rural areas.

- Clare-Marie White
Communications Coordinator, Never Again International

LogMeIn Free

I am an independent computer consultant who specializes in building custom Microsoft Access applications for nonprofits. I have been using LogMeIn Free - remote-control software that allows me to access clients' computers from afar - for more than a year with about a dozen nonprofits, and it has yielded excellent results.

I typically set up LogMeIn Free by talking my client through the installation process over the phone. When a client needs my help, he or she calls me and manually enables LogMeIn Free; I then log in to my account, which allows me to take control over the client's PC. The client sees a message on his or her screen that it is being remote controlled, and can watch everything I do as I help to resolve the problem.

I should note that I normally set up LogMeIn so that it is not enabled by default, preventing the risk that a computer could be hacked into. Also, since the free version does not provide support-file transfers, I use my Gmail or Yahoo accounts to send and receive files as attachments.

- Bob Alston
Independent Computer Consultant

By conducting your own research and using a bit of advice from other nonprofit techies, tracking down the free software that suits your organization's needs might be a whole lot easier than you think. So before you invest a substantial chunk of your budget buying an expensive software solution, be sure to do your homework; after all, the money you save can be used to finance more important projects that will help your organization make the world a better place.