An Introduction to CFS
by Graham Pockett
(founder, editor & all round good guy)
Welcome to CFS, an exclusive freeware club where we pride ourselves on delivering the freshest freeware on the Net.
The CFS site was started in May 1996 as part of my personal homepage. When I initially created that homepage I posted a "My Interests" section on it (as many people do). I had been collecting freeware from local BBSs so included a list of 6 or 8 favorite programs under the descriptive sub-heading of "Completely Free Software".
I had no comprehension at the time that this small listing, and that rather cumbersome sub-heading, would grow into one of the largest and most respected freeware sites in the world!
My hobby of collecting freeware (see Confessions Of A Software Pirate) and my new Internet connection (even with a slow 14.4k modem) ensured that the list continued to grow. It did not take long until that small list ceased to be a "sub heading" and became an entity with a page of its own. Within a couple of months, it had grown into multiple pages and was starting to get serious attention from the general public – and the press.
the press discovers CFS…
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I believe the first time CFS was reported upon by the press was in the Australian magazine, "MegaGuide to the Internet" published early in 1997. CFS was featured in "The Best 1001 Websites" section.
Most listings in that magazine (including those of huge sites like Yahoo and Intel) were simply a couple of lines of text, but CFS commanded nearly a quarter of a page! (Click on the image to the see the listing.)
Even though this magazine was only available in Australia, the number of visitors to the site increased enormously and Australians were obviously quick to tell their Internet friends about this "best kept secret on the Net" because visitors from overseas – specially from the US – began to flock to the site. The trickle of visitors became a veritable flood during this period and I was amazed at the growing visitor stats.
Since then most of the major computer and Internet magazines throughout the world have honored CFS. For example, the prestigious PC User magazine (March 2004 edition) did a feature on Internet freebies (written by award-winning computer journalist, Rose Vines). The following is a quote from that article:
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"Probably the best two freeware sites on the Internet are Completely Free Software (www.completelyfreesoftware.com) and NoNags (www.nonags.com). In what may seem like a contradiction, the best features of these sites are reserved for paid-up members.
"Why pay for access to free software? For starters, you get access to genuinely free software, rather than a mix of shareware and freeware. Completely Free Software (CFS), in particular, is rigorous in screening out faux freeware. CFS also reviews and rates each program on its site. It eliminates broken links to download sites and includes many freeware programs not listed by other freeware services. NoNags offers a similar bundle of services to subscribers. Best of all, both offer a bargain-priced lifetime membership option: $US35 for CFS and $US52 for NoNags."
weekly newsletter & domain name…
In an attempt to create a community of freeware collectors, the CFS Weekly Newsletter started in mid 1997 and you can still read the first edition online (check it out, you will also see what the site looked like back then – some of the links even go to pages like "interest3.html" that reflects the "My Interests" heritage of the site). A précised version (just the software reviews) of every single newsletter can be read on-line.
In April 1998 the CFS domain name was created (completelyFREEsoftware.com) though initially it was hosted in Australia and the connection was painfully slow. We quickly moved the site to the US and a fast connection for everyone. From that time forward we could dispense with cumbersome addresses like http://www.terrigal.net.au/~grahamp/interest.html#software (our original address, later mirrored on OzEmail, GeoCities and Tripod).
Since getting our own domain name we have resisted the temptation to have other sites mirror CFS. Even though there have been many offers, I decided to retain 100% control of what is published under the CFS banner.
freeware CDs & facelifts…
Later that year (1998) we started the first of a series of freeware CDs, ultimately producing 14 numbered "Master Freeware Collection" CDs and one special "Games Fun Pak" CD. Unfortunately, those CDs are no longer available.
The site went through a major facelift in May 1999, and another in April 2004. Minor changes are made constantly but I do not like to make too many major changes. I believe this helps keep our regular visitors feeling "at home" with the site – like putting on a pair of comfortable old shoes. My policy has always been to offer the simplest possible design so that new visitors do not have too much trouble learning how to navigate the site. I consider speed and easy access more important than fancy eye candy.
income – advertising & CD sales…
Since it started, the site had survived through advertising – initially just enough to pay for the Internet connection and site hosting, but later enough to pay a small stipend (no one ever gets rich listing free software!). As a freelance journalist (most recently writing software reviews for a major Australian newspaper) I felt qualified to conduct the software reviews for CFS, but this freeware hobby (as it was back in 1996) was now consuming all of my time. I ceased doing freelance software reviews for other people and concentrated on running CFS.
In its peak as an advertiser supported, free access site, CFS was receiving well over 15,000 unique visitors each day – about half a million every month – and we were delivering more than 60,000 pages of information every day to those visitors. At that time advertising revenue was paying the bills, but the Dot.Com bubble burst in 2001 and our income steadily declined. During this period of low income the number of daily visitors was at its peak and the cost for the bandwidth was crippling us financially. We had a dedicated server in the USA that was a big drain on our meagre income.
Sales of the freeware CDs was the only thing keeping the site from closing, but that too started to wane during 2002 as people became cautious about spending money over the Internet due to the bad press it was receiving at that time. Also at that time was the upsurgence of global terrorism which was commanding everyone's attention. While people are watching the unfolding news on television they are not visiting Internet sites!
the decision to become a members-only site…
Finally, after 6 months of uncertainty and debate, I made the hard decision to convert the site from free access to members-only. This was never about anyone becoming rich, or about cashing in on the goodwill the site had created over the previous 6 years, but about survival. The site requires a certain level income to survive and, if we could not get that income, it would have to close. I did not want that to happen because it would mean the loss of 6 year's hard work. Our extensive database of freeware programs was, and still is, unique.
So, in late December 2002, CFS was converted to a members-only site and, even though the final decision had been mine, it was not what I had ever envisioned for the site. I decided that everyone who became a member would get the very best service I could give them. In fact, I want to ensure that every single member receives the level of service I would insist upon for myself. Nothing less is acceptable to me.
re-opening the site to everybody…
In May 2008 we undertook a bold experiment – to re-open the site to the general public but keep software downloads from our server available only to members. There were a number of reasons for this but the main one was that, when the CFS was members-only, vistors could not really get to see what the entire site was like, they only saw a small part of it. This way everyone gets a chance to see the entire site and judge for themselves.
We believe that we will have even more people joining because now they will be able to see precisely what they will be getting. They will be able to see all 1,900 plus downloads available from the CFS server, as well as read the reviews of these members-only programs, see the screenshots, etc and so make up their own mind if membership would be valuable for them. Of course, they will also have access to the thousands of other listings on the site and to follow through by visiting the author's site and downloading the program from there.
CFS hosts many hundreds of programs which are available nowhere else, and others are only available from very slow servers (specially in Eastern Europe) or from free hosting sites with very restrictive daily download limits. We can offer these programs from a very fast, US-based server and the few dollars per month for membership (and even less for longer term membership) is worth the lack of hassle.
CFS does not host a program just to restrict its access to our members. We host programs only for one of the following reasons:
- Lost Program – the author's site has disappeared (we check all links every month);
- Status Change – the program has changed its status from freeware to shareware (we can often host our archived copy of the free version); or
- Tandem Download – there are problems downloading from the author's site (the site is not in English, the site is extremely slow, we receive complaints that the hosting service has blocked downloads, etc), or we can offer an ad-free version not now available from the author.
With the last point (3) we usually retain the author's link and host a copy of the program in tandem – our visitors still have a choice to get it from the author, if they can, instead of having to join CFS to get it. You will often see the following icon and the text link 
CFS download at the end of a program's description, indicating that the author's link is still available and we have just added a CFS download link.
Above: An example of a tandem link
the future…
Since 1996 we have seen many, many freeware sites come and go, but CFS just coninues to grow, and grow, and grow. While we can keep on getting good quality freeware we intend to keep on keeping on. CFS is here for the long haul.
Since becoming a members site in 2002, CFS has gone from strength to strength. Our members report that they are pleased with the level of service they receive from CFS, but I would like to improve on that service even more if I can. Constructive comments are always welcome.
CFS receives many, many submissions from program authors each week, but lists less than 10% of them. To paraphrase an old John West TV advertisment, "it is the programs CFS rejects that makes CFS best". I would prefer to only list one good program than 10 mediocre ones. If you agree with this philosophy then please join us. I would love to welcome you as a member. You can get all membership information from our member's page.
If you are not already a member I would love to have you join us in this exclusive freeware club. I do ask that all prospective members read the Membership FAQs before joining.
If you are still unsure, check out the entire site. Every time you see this icon you will know that this program is only available to our members because it is hosted on the CFS server.
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Mah-Jongg v5.01 |  | |
Very addictive Chinese boardgame; features 4 tilesets, 6 layouts, displays elapsed time & possible moves, optional background image, sound effects, high scores, choice of user (stats are displayed for each user), etc. Requires VB4 runtime files.
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Review/screenshot |
2.80MB |
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Above: An example of a CFS hosted program
I also suggest you join for just one month so you can check out the site. If you get good value from your membership then you can join for a longer period of time, maybe even become a CFS "lifer". Don't forget, members-only programs are being added every month so your membership will continue to grow in value.
Whether you join or not, I hope you continue to keep smilin' – life is much to short to frown.
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Graham Pockett, Founder & Editor
Completely FREE Software | |  |
Hardware and software used by CFS
Please note that this list will change from time to time. We shall endeavor to keep it as up-to-date as possible.
Hardware on the main CFS test computer includes...
- GigaByte (S-Series) GA-P35-DS3 motherboard
- Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8GHz CPU
- 2GB 333MHz (DDR2 667) RAM
- Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 (ST3250820AS) SATA 250GB internal hard drive
- Western Digital "My Book Essential Edition" 1TB USB external hard drive (bulk storage)
- Acer AL2216W 22-inch widescreen (8:5 ratio set at 1440x900) LCD monitor
- GeForce 7300 GS 256MB (GigaByte GV-NX73G256D-RH) PCI Express x16 videocard
- Multimedia 101-key US keyboard
- A4Tech RFSOP-48 cordless mouse
- Netgear DG834G Wireless-G ADSL2+ modem router
- LG GH20NS10 Super Multi double-layer 20x DVD/CD Rewriter (SATA)
- Samsung SH-S223F Super Writemaster double-layer 22x DVD/CD Rewriter (SATA)
- SmartTV LE card (TV tuner & video capture)
- EasyCAP (Syntek STK1160) USB analog to digital video capture (with audio)
- Firewire PCI card
- Logitech R-10 desktop speakers
- Verbatim 1GB USB flash drive (for backups)
Software we use includes...
Internet services
- 20000/1000 kbps ADSL2+ service from People ADSL Broadband, Sydney, Australia
- 56 kbitsps dial-up service from IDX.net, Sydney, Australia (backup)
- the CFS site is hosted in the USA with APlus.Net with a Celeron 2.8 GHz dedicated server with 1GB RAM using Linux 2.6 (Fedora 8) through a Plesk 8.6 control panel
Desktop Utils
