Detractors of free and open source software te­nd to classify it as ‘seco­nd rate’. The truth is, ju­st like anything else in this universe, there does exist a fair share of pretty ghastly free applicatio­ns. Just like there are unbelievably po­or commercial programmes that you could hardly believe anyone would pay for, there is also bad freeware.

But that is a separate issue. Mostly, freeware is just awesome, and this week, we focus on five truly amazing applications that will not cost you even a paisa. The selection and order are random, and it barely skims the tip of the free apps iceberg.

Aviary

Phoenix, Raven, Peaco­ck, Falcon, Myna, Roc.... Aviary is more than just a pack of birds; it is a set of powerful web-based tools for image and sound editing, collaboration and sharing. There are no downloads, no installs and there is no sign-up either. Just point your browser to Aviary.com and you’re good to go.

Still under development, Aviary us­es Adobe Flex, Flash and HTML 5 for its various applications. Choose betwe­en the ‘simple’ photo editor or opt for the ‘advanced’ suite, which includes an image editor, vector editor, effects editor, image markup, music creator, au­dio editor and screen capture utility. Each Aviary tool has a striking and re­sponsive interface, and is guaranteed to win over anyone who ever had reservations about using cloud-based applic­ations. Also, anyone wanting to learn ab­out image editing has only to open up their selection of awesome samples to see how it was created.

Blender

‘If you've ever thought about making professional-quality animations but decided not to because of the cost of the software, your excuse just got up and walked out of the door.’ That is what CNET has to say about Blender, the open source 3D animation tool, while giving it a perfect set of five stars.

A full-featured 3D content creation suite, Blender is available for Windows, Mac OS, Linux and FreeBSD. Download it from Blender.org. With features such as 3D modelling, sequence editing, rigging, shading, animation, compositing, UV unwrapping, video editing and more, Blender is for the serious animator. There is also a game creation engine with a logic editor to create interactive content. In short, Blender is your answer if you’re looking for a 3D production suite, but not keen to bust your bank procuring it.

CentOS

CentOS is the free answer to RedHat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). RHEL is the commercial enterprise-level operating system based on Linux, packaged and marketed by RedHat for, of course, enterprises. Even though it comes at a cost, the source code is free, out of which CentOS was created, to provide a free enterprise-class operating system without the costs of a commercial application. At present CentOS accounts for 30 per cent of all web servers running on Linux, making it the most popular Linux distribution for web servers. Interested? Head to CentOS.org.

FlightGear

You’d imagine that a good flight simulator would be beyond the ability of most of us to afford. How does the price tag of FREE sound? FlightGear is an open source flight simulator, available on the Windows, Mac and Linux platforms, and generally accepted as being one of the best in the business. Created for use in research, academic and training fields, it also works great as a fun desktop flight sim, though it would be wrong to classify it as a game. It features extensive and accurate scenery, including over 20,000 real airports from around the world, correct runway and approach markings, accurate time of day modelling, and a vast selection of aircraft to fly. Land at FlightGear.org to know more.

Payal Dhar is a freelance technology writer