Gaslamp Computers

Would you like to use your computer to help with cancer research?  solve complex math problems?  or look for life on other planets?  You can.

The technology that allows this is called grid computing.    Many research projects generate enormous amounts of raw data that they are simply unable to process themselves.  Grid computing combines the computing power of personal computers across the world to make a virtual supercomputer.   Since purchasing time on an actual supercomputer costs money, grid computing significantly lowers the cost of reasearch for projects that would otherwise be extremely expensive.

Here's how it works:

1. You decide what project(s) you want to be attached to.
2. That project sends a job to your computer over the internet.
3. Your computer uses its idle resources to work on the job.
4. Once completed, the job is sent back to the project and a new job is sent.

The great thing about the software is that it runs in the background without any interaction from you, the user.  You probably won't even know it's running.

Warning:  Running GridRepublic or any grid computing client can cause your computer to run hotter than normal.  If your computer has cooling issues, please do not run this software.

Note:  Your computer will consume slightly more power while running this software.  For a detailed explanation heat and energy considerations please see this page.

Software:

GridRepublic

Free and open source software (FOSS)  is released under a specific type of license that allows a user to use, change, improve, and redistribute it freely.  One of the essential requirements of such licenses is that users have access to the source code.  Its roots are based in both a philosophy and a development model. 

'Free' in free and open source software refers to freedom, not necessarily price.  Think free as in "free speech" and not "free beer".  Although much of the available FOSS has zero cost, it is the right that the user has the freedom to adapt the software to his/her needs that makes it free software.

'Open source' is a development model.   There is no restriction on who may develop open source software.  It can be developed by a large company, government, community, group, or a single individual.  Since all users have access to the source code  they can become co-developers.   Technical users can contribute to the actual code, while non-technical users are encouraged to submit bug reports, write documentation, or simply donate to the project.  This is how open source projects are able to mature and grow so fast without the funding of a large corporation.

At Gaslamp Computers, we maintain a list of high quality open source software that we use on a daily basis.  We believe there is no reason for most consumers to pay for expensive commercial software when there is almost always a free and open source alternative.  In many cases the open source alternative is better than commercial software.

I see this problem a lot in my professional life.  A user wants a program that performs some function.  For example, converting an MP3 to a WAV file. 

Being a resourceful member of the internet they google something like "convert mp3 to wav" and download the first program that pops up.  If it doesn't work, they download the next program.

After doing this every time they need a new program, their computer starts crashing, running slower, and has a ton of pop-up advertisements.  This is because a lot of freeware applications are poorly built and come bundled with various forms of malware (spyware, adware, or nuisance apps).   These programs are typically called junkware.

Resources for reliable open source software.

SourceForge

OSalt

Cracked software is software that has been modified so that it can be freely distributed even though it was released under a proprietary license.  Cracking software is illegal.  Using cracked software is illegal, dangerous, and unnecessary.

There is almost always an open source alternative.

Can't find an open source alternative to your favorite software?  Ask me!

Open source software (OSS) is  software that anyone can use, share, and modify freely with respect to price, as in "free beer", and licensing restrictions, as in "free speech".

In almost every segment of the software market there is an OSS alternative to commercial software.  For the home user, open source software will often be faster, more stable, and more secure than commercial alternatives.  In every case it will be cheaper because it's free!