www.thefreecountry.com

Because free is very awesome.

There are a lot of open-source/freeware software out there that can almost, if not, replace commercial products. I personally use open source/freeware software for most of the applications I need.

Gimp > Image Editor > Photoshop
Infrarecorder > Media Creation > Nero
Inkscape > Vector Graphic Editor > Illustrator
Foxit > PDF Viewer > Adobe Reader
AutoMKV > Video Encoder > TMPGenc*
Audacity > Audio Editor > Goldwave*
CutePDF > PDF Printer > Adobe PDF Maker
7Zip > File/Folder Compression > WinZip, WinRar

Are any of the aforementioned programs superior to their commercial counterparts? Well, I'd have to say the Foxit (small, no bloat), Infrarecorder (small, no bloat, portable), and 7Zip (small, no bloat, many compression types supported) are. Photoshop, Illustrator, Goldwave, TMPGenc are clearly superior, but their open-source counterparts are usually more that adequate for most users needs. http://www.thefreecountry.com/ contains a treasure trove of open-source/free software. I highly recommend it.

later

*these are very good programs and would recommend their purchase if the need arises.