Networking Software

Networking
Software

• PuTTY:
   This is the preferred SSH client for Windows.  It is free, easy to use
  and well maintained for both security and bug issues.
   (As with everything, it is only "maintained" if you regularly check
  for updated versions!)
   Please note that most other SSH clients for Windows are NOT free for
  use on government computers or in the pursuit of lab business, though
  they might function just fine without payment.

• WinSCP:  This is a fine graphical SFTP and SCP client utility with some additional features built in.

• X servers (no, Exceed doesn't make the cut because of the high monetary cost):

  • Cygwin:  Please look at the separate Cygwin page for information on installing and configuring the Cygwin X server.

  • Xmanager:  I
    recommend that you use the Cygwin X server, but if you find something
    that it can't handle, then this is the recommended alternative. 
    It isn't free (but it does have fully functional time-limited
    evaluation license if you want to try it out.) 
    It is much cheaper than Exceed and seemingly just as capable, but
    without quite as much overhead. 
    I'm particularly interested in hearing about X Server alternatives, so
    let me know if you have a favorite!

• Alternatives to Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Outlook Express:

   As
  the leading web browser and mail client, these two apps are the target
  of prolific viruses, trojans, malware and other nasties. 
  In addition to avoiding many of these, you may also like some of the
  features available in the alternatives (eg. tabbed browsing is a
  popular feature unavailable in IE). 
  Four alternatives are in common use (three of them share much of the
  same code-base -- Mozilla, Netscape Navigator and Firefox). 
   This review
  might help sort you out the differences.
   As with anything, your preference is yours to decide (and also, as
  with everything else here, feature and security updates are released
  quite often, so you might try to check for new versions regularly): 
  They are listed here from highest recommendation to lowest:

  1. Firefox/Thunderbird: 
     Though frequently mentioned as a pair, Firefox and Thunderbird are
     stand-alone applications. 
     Firefox is a web browser, and Thunderbird is an email client. 
     "Stand alone" here means that these can be installed separately from
     each other. 
     You can configure them to work with alternative software as you wish
     (eg. use Firefox for surfing, but set Outlook as your default mail
     client). Actually, you can generally mix and match pieces from all of
     these alternatives, but most of them start out with defaults tied to
     their suite companions. 
     Slight thumbs up to Firefox over the other alternatives because it has
     almost every feature found in the corresponding Mozilla suite, plus
     additional add-ons. 
     Vast numbers of independently produced add-ons and customizations are
     available as well.
  2. Mozilla Suite: 
     A suite that includes the big three:  a browser, email client and HTML
     editor. 
     This is a fine alternative, but as a browser alternative, this author
     gives the bigger thumbs up to its sibling, Firefox, listed above.
  3. Opera. 
     It is available in a free version with a "branding" bar that contains
     advertisements, or you can buy the product to remove this minor
     annoyance.  (Branding/non-branding examples.)
  4. Netscape: 
     The Netscape suite includes a browser (Navigator), email client (Mail),
     HTML editor (Composer) and other tidbits. 
     Of the three Mozilla-based browsers, this is probably the least used
     and has the most extraneous stuff thrown in, which is one of several
     reasons it gets last place in this list.
       It is good enough to recommend, but just not quite as highly as the
     others.

• Java, WebStart, JRE, J2RE, JSDK,
  Microsoft VM and all that Jazz...: The author of this segment finds
  this to be very puzzling and sometimes frustrating stuff to understand,
  keep up with, and especially to try to explain clearly and succinctly. 
  <Melodrama> Imagine Sun, IBM and Microsoft all walked into a bar
  and had a few drinks. Heck, let Netscape walk in a few minutes later
  for good measure. 
  Fifty states' attorneys general plus the US AG and DOJ are to act as a
  referee. 
  Now imagine that you, a mere passerby on the street were harangued into
  cleaning up the inevitable bar fight, complete with broken bottles,
  flying bar stools and blood everywhere all while it is still going on. 
  That's not even close to how awful it is...</Melodrama>   Details
  to be filled in here!

• OpenAFS, MIT Kerberos, Wake and Leash: Details to be filled in here!

• Google Toolbar :
  This is a very convenient interface to initiate Google searches, plus a
  decent pop-up blocker. Unfortunately, it is only available for Internet
  Explorer (though other browsers may support similar features natively).

Please send comments, corrections and suggestions to Wayne Betts: wbetts {at} bnl.gov