Free to pay software for linux

DebtPayoff is an application which can help you pay off your debt a bit wiser if not quicker. I developed this tool out of a need myself to find out when, if ever, at the current rate, my credit card would be paid off.

I discovered that at the current rate it would take far longer to pay off my debt than I had expected. Since this program is written in Java, it will run on Windows (95, 98, NT, 2000, ME, XP), Linux, Mac, Solaris and a great many other Operating Systems.

With this program you can see:

How many years/months it will take you to pay off your credit card
The actual date the card will be paid off at the current rate
A payment by payment breakdown of what you will spend
How much will be spent on interest overall at that rate.
You can also use this for other loans. For instance, I use it for my college loan.

The hope is that by seeing how much overall you will save by paying an extra $10 or $20 per month, you will be greatly encouraged to pay the debt off that much faster. This application was written in 100% pure Java, so you will need to download suns Jave Runtime Environment(JRE).

SchoolTool project is a common information systems platform for school administration.

SchoolTool is a project to develop a common global school administration infrastructure that is freely available under an Open Source licence.

The vision is to create a platform that is equally compelling for schools and colleges in First and Third World countries, that supports best practices in school administration, and that is readily customized to comply with local regulatory requirements.

It is based primarily on Zope 3, with an HTML interface and a Web service interface in the REST architectural style.

Install step-by-step Instructions

OK, using the aforementioned shell script makes things easier, but there are still a few steps you need to pay attention to.

You need a C development environment (build-essential on Ubuntu) and Python development libraries (python-dev on Ubuntu).

You need the Python Imaging Library (python-imaging on Ubuntu) and the Python libxml2 bindings (python-libxml2 on Ubuntu).

You need a very up to date version of Python setuptools, which will probably require downloading a new version of ez_setup.py and running that script as root.

Now you can download alpha2-install.sh to whatever directory you like to use for testing software and do chmod +x alpha2-install.sh to make it executable and then ./alpha2-install.sh.

Hopefully it will then set up the rest of your environment and give you some final instructions when it is done. You will probably get one error message when it runs the tests. Please ignore it.

64 Studio is developing a collection of software for digital content creation on x86_64 hardware (thats AMDs 64-bit CPUs and Intels EM64T chips).
Its based on the pure 64 port of Debian GNU/Linux, but with a specialised package selection and lots of other customisations.
64 Studio has Debian Pure 64 with X.org, the Gnome desktop, kernel 2.6.12 with realtime preemption patches and a selection of creative applications. Please note that this release is provided for testing only, and comes with no warranty.
Problems in this release include useful packages missing or not installed by default, confusing Gnome menus and assorted warnings during installation. There are probably plenty of other things wrong with it as well, which is why were calling this an alpha release. But it does actually install and run on our Opteron and Athlon 64 test hardware.
Anyone who is interested in getting involved with the 64 Studio project would be most welcome. Our aim is to create a distribution with full (but completely optional) commercial support, which will generate revenue to pay free software developers.
Enhancements:
- 64 Studio 2.0 is designed to retain compatibility with Debian Etch, to create a long-lived and stable creative desktop. We combine the stability and quality of Etch with a specialised real-time preemption kernel and the latest creative tools demanded by multimedia artists. Our tweaks to Debian include simplified installation and default settings which help get production underway quickly. Its our target that users should be able to get from a blank hard disc to a fully hardware-optimised and usable creative desktop in just half an hour.

Paymaster is an open source free payroll and HR application designed for small to large organisations. Paymaster project works in batch process system for paying employees, using journal entries and a series of ledgers for storing the accounts.

A customisable backed calculates the results to help meet the diverse requirements of payroll. Complex tax laws, leave, varying pay rates, allowances, superannuation are some of the things the payroll system can handle. Paymaster is written for gnome and uses postgresql for its database backend.

Bodington is a free open source Virtual Learning Environment/Learning Management System in use at Universities and Colleges worldwide.

The Bodington project exists to provide an open source environment to support learning, teaching and research.

Bodington project is particularly suitable for complex, multi-disciplinary and large organisations and for inter institutional collaboration. It delivers controlled access using open standards.

Bodington can be used to support teaching and learning across the entire range of learning institutions in the UK and worldwide. Current installations include the Universities of Leeds, Oxford, Manchester; UHI Millennium Institute, Eton College, Yorkshire Coast College and St Andrews College Singapore.

Bodington enables users to upload lecture notes, host discussion fora, publish and manage external links, create interactive resources, e.g. customised logbooks, peer-reviewed reflective diaries/e-portfolios (for PDP), multiple choice tests (QTI), short-answer papers and online surveys. Students can also port work into secure pigeon-holes for marking.

Choose Bodington...

Put material on the web quickly and easily.
Control access to material quickly and easily.
Brand and customise for local look and feel.
Run servers on Microsoft, Linux, UNIX, or Mac OS X platforms.
Run a reliable and scalable service for end users.
Run services for tens of thousands of registered users.
Give access to users on any platform using standard browsers.
Be part of a growing, thriving development community.
Help shape future functionality.
Use software that is built specifically for Further and Higher Education.
Integrate access with partner organisations using built-in Shibboleth functionality.
Keep in line with the JISC e-learning framework.
Customise the source code to meet local needs.
Free up more funds to support staff development, customisation, help desk etc.

Choose other software...

Be tied down to a fixed pedagogy.
Fail in your obligation to support users with disabilities.
Pay an annual licence fee.
Pay for upgrades and support services.
Have little or no influence on future functionality

CdnPayroll is a collection of python functions which calculates Canadian payroll tax withholdings based on the most recent federal publication. Canadian Payroll is mostly for use by developers, but others use it with great success too.
Cdn Payroll is intended to be used primarily from another program or graphical user interface. This is because the numerous command line options necessary to fully implement the federal (and now provincial) tables become tedious very quickly.
Main features:
- Federal taxes for all of Canada
- TONI provincial tables
- Several output options
- Holiday Pay
- Advances
- Ability to save file
- Spreadsheet output
- Cross platform command line
- Graphical Interface (Linux)
- New web interface included
- Distributed free under the GPL
Enhancements:
- Changes due to 84th Edition t4127-jan-07e.pdf effective January 1st 2007.

Globe7 is a soft phone with integrated voice, video, IM, and real-time video streaming, powered by online advertising. The project allows you to make free calls from PC to PC (voice and video), PC to mobile, and PC to landline by watching videos in Globe7 TV.
Main features:
Phone
- Globe7 converts your laptop or desktop computer into a second telephone. You can make calls to any phone across the Globe. You can also receive unlimited free incoming calls from any landline or mobile phone. With Globe7, PC to PC calling is absolutely FREE
Globe7 TV
- Globe7 presents you incessant entertainment with free video streaming. You can watch video clips in different categories and you can also earn FREE talk time to your Globe7 account. Video on Demand and matured pay per view content are coming soon
Phone Book
- You can add your non Globe7 members to your phone book and make calls directly from the phone book
Search
- You can search the Web while making calls or chatting with your friends
My Earnings
- Check the details of amount earned by watching Globe7 TV
My channel
- You can upload your video files and share it among the friends up to a capacity of 1GB
Instant Messaging (Chat)
- You can send messages to your Globe7 friends who are online by using the Chat option
Follow Me Service
- With Follow Me Service facility, you can get your calls redirected to your landline or mobile when you are offline
SMS
- You can send SMS to any mobile across the Globe using the SMS feature available in Globe7
My calls
- You can view the list of incoming calls, outcalls and missed calls
View Channel
- For viewing the video content of your buddies you can choose this option

Data::SecsPack is a Perl module pack and unpack numbers in accordance with SEMI E5-94.

SYNOPSIS

#####
# Subroutine interface
#
use Data::SecsPack qw(bytes2int config float2binary
ifloat2binary int2bytes
pack_float pack_int pack_num
str2float str2int
unpack_float unpack_int unpack_num);

$big_integer = bytes2int( @bytes );

$old_value = config( $option );
$old_value = config( $option => $new_value);

($binary_magnitude, $binary_exponent) = float2binary($magnitude, $exponent, @options);

($binary_magnitude, $binary_exponent) = ifloat2binary($imagnitude, $iexponent, @options);

@bytes = int2bytes( $big_integer );

($format, $floats) = pack_float($format, @string_floats, [@options]);

($format, $integers) = pack_int($format, @string_integers, [@options]);

($format, $numbers, @string) = pack_num($format, @strings, [@options]);

$float = str2float($string, [@options]);
(@strings, @floats) = str2float(@strings, [@options]);

$integer = str2int($string, [@options]);
(@strings, @integers) = str2int(@strings, [@options]);

@ingegers = unpack_int($format, $integer_string, @options);

@floats = unpack_float($format, $float_string, @options);

@numbers = unpack_num($format, $number_string), @options;

#####
# Class, Object interface
#
# For class interface, use Data::SecsPack instead of $self
#
use Data::SecsPack;

$secspack = Data::SecsPack; # uses built-in config object

$secspack = new Data::SecsPack(@options);

$big_integer = bytes2int( @bytes );

($binary_magnitude, $binary_exponent) = $secspack->float2binary($magnitude, $exponent, @options);

($binary_magnitude, $binary_exponent) = $secspack->ifloat2binary($imagnitude, $iexponent, @options);

@bytes = $secspack->int2bytes( $big_integer );

($format, $floats) = $secspack->pack_float($format, @string_integers, [@options]);

($format, $integers) = $secspack->pack_int($format, @string_integers, [@options]);

($format, $numbers, @strings) = $secspack->pack_num($format, @strings, [@options]);

$integer = $secspack->str2int($string, [@options])
(@strings, @integers) = $secspack->str2int(@strings, [@options]);

$float = $secspack->str2float($string, [@options]);
(@strings, @floats) = $secspack->str2float(@strings, [@options]);

@ingegers = $secspack->unpack_int($format, $integer_string, @options);

@floats = $secspack->unpack_float($format, $float_string, @options);

@numbers = $secspack->unpack_num($format, $number_string, @options);

Generally, if a subroutine will process a list of options, @options, that subroutine will also process an array reference, @options, [@options], or hash reference, %options, {@options}. If a subroutine will process an array reference, @options, [@options], that subroutine will also process a hash reference, %options, {@options}. See the description for a subroutine for details and exceptions.

The subroutines in the Data::SecsPack module packs and unpacks numbers in accordance with SEMI E5-94. The E5-94 establishes the standard for communication between the equipment used to fabricate semiconductors and the host computer that controls the fabrication. The equipment in a semiconductor factory (fab) or any other fab contains every conceivable known microprocessor and operating system known to man. And there are a lot of specialize real-time embedded processors and speciallize real-time embedded operating systems in addition to the those in the PC world.

The communcication between host and equipment used packed nested list data structures that include arrays of characters, integers and floats. The standard has been in place and widely used in China, Germany, Korea, Japan, France, Italy and the most remote corners on this planent for decades. The basic data structure and packed data formats have not changed for decades.

This stands in direct contradiction to the common conceptions of many in the Perl community and most other communities. The following quote is taken from page 761, Programming Perl third edition, discussing the pack subroutine:

"Floating-point numbers are in the native machine format only. Because of the variety of floating format and lack of a standard "network" represenation, no facility for interchange has been made. This means that packed floating-point data written on one machine may not be readable on another. That is a problem even when both machines use IEEE floating-point arithmetic, because the endian-ness of memory representation is not part of the IEEE spec."

There are a lot of things that go over the net that have industry or military standards but no RFCs. So unless you dig them out, you will never know they exist. While RFC and military standards may be freely copyied, industry standards are usually copyrighted. This means if you want to read the standard, you have to pay whatever the market bears. ISO standards, SEMI stardards, American National Standards, IEEE standards beside being boring are expensive. In other words, you do not see them flying out the door at the local Barnes and Nobles. In fact, you will not even find them inside the door.

It very easy to run these non RFC standard protocols over the net. Out of 64,000 ports, pick a port of opportunity (hopefully not one of those low RFC preassigned ports) and configure the equipment and host to the same IP and port. Many times the software will allow a remote console that is watch only. The watch console may even be a web server on port 80. If there is a remote soft console, you can call up or e-mail the equipment manufacturers engineer in say Glouster, MA, USA and tell him the IP and port so he can watch his manchine mangle a cassette of wafers with a potential retail value of half million dollars.

SEMI E5-94 and their precessors do standardize the endian-ness of floating point, the packing of nested data, used in many programming languages, and much, much more. The endian-ness of SEMI E5-94 is the first MSB byte, floats sign bit first. Maybe this is because it makes it easy to spot numbers in a packed data structure.
The nested data has many performance advantages over the common SQL culture of viewing and representing data as tables. The automated fabs of the world make use of SEMI E5-94 nested data not only for real-time communication (TCP/IP RS-2332 etc) between machines but also for snail-time processing as such things as logs and performance data.

Does this standard communications protocol ensure that everything goes smoothly without any glitches with this wild mixture of hardware and software talking to each other in real time? Of course not. Bytes get reverse. Data gets jumbled from point A to point B. Machine time to test software is non-existance. Big ticket, multi-million dollar fab equipment has to work to earn its keep. And, then there is the everyday business of suiting up, with humblizing hair nets, going through air and other showers with your favorite or not so favorite co-worker just to get into the clean room. And make sure not to do anything that will scatch a wafer with a lot of Intel Pentiums on them. It is totally amazing that the product does get out the door.