I am starting a list of super awesome programs that people have created that actually demonstrate what smart software is supposed to do. This list will have programs on it that do amazing things and do them well, but are also built in a way that shows an ingenuity and flair that most programs lack these days. Special note: No Microsoft programs are likely to make this list (you do realize using Microsoft technology is like teaching a pig to vacuum right?)
Anyways, I have two programs so far on the list, but feel free to let me know of more and I'll update them. I might even put a special section on the site for it.
1.)
DOSBox - DOSBox is a program used to emulate the old DOS OS and run programs designed for it right in a window on your desktop. I love old DOS games. Those games made me want to learn about game programming. So, they sort of made me who I am. As of right now, you can almost use any DOS program inside of it. I think you can even install Windows 3.1 on it. It's main use is for the games that are no longer supported on Windows XP and above, as Microsoft felt that you should have to buy newer software rather then them having to support their own technology. DOSBox is free and runs on Linux, Mac OSX, and Windows.
2.)
ffmpeg - ffmpeg is a tool that converts almost any video, music, and image format to another. You can even multiplex streams together. It'll also take the audio layer out of a video file and put it into a separate audio file. You can take a video and capture one or all frames to image files, or vice-versa to make a video out of images. This thing is so amazing for changing your media files that I'm questioning why someone would use something else. Well, besides that fact that it has no GUI for user interaction and is completely command line driven. It comes as a source distribution and can be compiled into an executable for any platform. I have noticed it's tough to compile on Windows, but it's not Windows fault. It's just because of the compiler I have to try it on isn't well supported.
If you have an interest in these things, try out the programs and support their amazing efforts.
