The Free Desk / About
About the desk
A reading site about free and open-source software. No downloads, no rankings, no vendors.
In one line
We explain the category and the licence, then point at the official project page.
The Free Desk exists because most of what is written about free software is written to make you click a download button. This is not that.
What this is
An independent guide to free and open-source software, written for ordinary computer users and the technically curious. It explains what the words mean, what the licences permit, how the categories of tool differ, and how to judge a program before you trust it with your machine.
What this is not
It is not a company, a shop, or a download portal. We host no files, mirror no installers and publish no serials, cracks or activators. Where a program is named, it is named as an example of its category, and any link goes to that project's own official page for reference only.
We do not rank vendors, publish “best of” lists, or invent version numbers, benchmarks and feature tables. Where we are unsure, we explain the category rather than assert a specification.
How the desk chooses subjects
By whether the answer will still be true in ten years. Anything that turns on this month's release notes belongs somewhere else. That is also why there are no dates on this site: a piece that was correct when it was written should read as correct now, or be corrected.
On money
The desk is supported by a small number of backers, listed on the homepage. Support buys a wordmark and a line of text. It does not buy a mention in the guides, and nothing here is a recommendation you can pay for.
Nothing on this site is legal advice. Licence summaries are explanations; the licence text itself governs.