converting mov files to animated gifs

Basic question: how-to convert MOV files to animated GIF files. I have been searching for free/opensource/shareware to do this but so far no program I found could do this.

I'd love someone to answer, definitively, about free/opensource/shareware, but my hopes are down.

So, I ask what MAC program (even if I have to buy it) will let me convert MOV files to animated GIFs or MOV frames to seperate images (is that at all possible?).

Secondly, does anyone have experience with software that does this?

Thanks in advance.