How to Find Out More

A number of resources can help to locate applications that run under one or more variants of UNIX. These cover commercial software that you must pay for as well as software that is either free or requires some minimal contribution for use.

Commercial Software Lists

One of the best sources for finding commercial UNIX software is this annual guide published on a CD-ROM, called the Open Systems Products Directory, available to members of UniForum. You can become a member by going to http://www.uniforum.org/. The directory lists a wide range of applications for UNIX variants by application type.

Books on UNIX Open-Source Software

Several books describe open-source UNIX software, and some tell where to obtain it.

• Fogel, Karl Franz. Producing Open Source Software: How to Run a Successful Free Software Project. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly Media, 2005.

• Keogh, James, and Remon Lapid. Open Computing’s Guide to the Best Free UNIX Utilities. Berkeley, CA: McGraw-Hill/Osborne, 1994.

• Kretschmer, Bernd, and Jay S. Hill. Migration to Linux Guide: Better and Less Expensive IT with Free Software. San Diego, CA: Academic Press (Elsevier), 2006.

• Leete, Mary. Free Software for Dummies. Indianapolis, IN: For Dummies (Wiley), 2005.

• St. Laurent, Andrew M. Understanding Open Source and Free Software Licensing. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly, 2004.

Journals Regarding UNIX Software

The list that follows is a list of UNIX online publications (mostly Linux-centered) that cover reviews of both commercial and open-source software.

• http://www.linuxjournal.com/

• http://www.linux-mag.com/

• http://linux-magazine.com/

• http://www.linuxtoday.com/

• http://www.linuxworld.com/

• http://www.networkcomputing.com/unixworld/unixhome.html (formerly UnixWorld)

Web Sites for Software Information and Downloads

One of the premier web sites for finding UNIX open-source software is the SourceForge web site, http://www.sourceforge.net/. There are many thousands of software and application packages categorized by type of software or application that you can download from this site. You can even join the community and contribute software projects of your own.

Another good source for open-source software is Softpedia. You can obtain a number of software packages for Linux variants by going to http://linux.softpedia.com/get/.

A good place to look for public-domain software that runs on HP-UX platforms is the Software Porting and Archive Centre for HP-UX at http://hpux.cs.utah.edu. The HP Software Depot at http://www.software.hp.com/ is another good site to check.

A great place for information on Solaris applications is the Software Information page at the Solaris Central web site, http://www.solariscentral.org/.

You can learn about open-source AIX software available from both IBM and other sources, including download information, at http://www.bullfreeware.com/.

Perhaps the best resource on the net for finding UNIX (especially Linux) cross-platform software and tools is at http://freshmeat.net/. This site is the web’s largest and most complete repository for open-source applications, tools, themes (e.g., wallpaper), and “eye-candy”

A good place to look for reviews of games and game downloads for Linux is http://www.happypenguin.org/.

For audio-related software from the SMM (Shareware Music Machine), go to http://www.hitscquad.com/smm/. There are downloads for CD/DVD burners, rippers, sequencers, plug-ins, codecs, and drivers, as well as many other audio tools here.

For a list of commercial vendors that provide applications and applications support for FreeBSD, try the web page at http://www.freebsd.org/commercial/software_bycat.html.

The Open Directory Project provides a selection of UNIX open-source software at http://dmoz.org/Computers/Software/Operating_Systems/Unix/Software/. The site also lists a few links to other sites with similar offers. One such site is the Acme Labs software site, http://www.acme.com/software/. You can find some extremely useful tools on this page.

The Hong Kong University of Technology provides a list of UNIX software that is downloadable from its Information Technology Services Center at its web pages at http://www.ust.hk/itsc/unix/sw/. Many of the software packages discussed in this chapter are available at this site.

For information and white papers on VoIP (Voice over IP) technology, see the web page at http://www.voip-news.com/ipteleapp.htm.

The Gartner Group web page provides industry analysis of a number of issues in the information technology arena. You can find information about UNIX applications in the industry at http://www.gartner.com/Init/.