Transcript Moylan, Chris

Open Source Software.
Chris Moylan
Group 5 ...I think
Definition.
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Software is made up of lines of code
Commercial software is “closed-source”
Code is considered a trade secret
It is not freely available
Open Source software allows users to view and
alter source code, and then redistribute the
software with their modifications.
Example of source code
History – UNIX.
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Originally, computer companies
only sold hardware.
Users had to write their own
programs.
The number of computer
programmers was small and
they shared their programs with
one another.
History – UNIX.
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1965 – Bell Labs develops Multics
1969 – Bell Labs abandons Multics
Ken Thompson begins work on UNIX
Thanks to Anti-Trust laws, AT&T is unable to
profit from non-telephone business, so Bell
Labs freely distributes UNIX to anyone who
wants it.
History – Creation of GNU.
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1971 – Richard Stallman
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Becomes a programmer at MIT
Admires the college atmosphere of cooperation
1983 – Discouraged, Stallman creates the GNU
Project, whose goal is to create a free Unix-like
operating system.
“GNU's Not Unix”
GNU project struggles with kernel.
... pictures
History – Linux.
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1991 – Linus Torvalds
begins work on a Unix-like
operating system.
GNU Project had
developed many
components of an OS, but
not the kernel itself.
GNU picks up “Linux” and
uses it as their kernel.
Philosophy.
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“Free Software” should be thought of as “free
speech” and not “free beer”
Software should be used for any purpose.
You should be free to study it, and learn how it
works.
You should be free to distribute copies, to help
others.
You should be free to improve the program and
re release it so that everyone benefits.
Philosophy.
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Software is more like an idea, than a physical
product.
“Given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow.”
Open-source Licenses.
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Developers license their software, saying who
can use it and how it can be used.
Many open-source licenses.
GNU General Public License.
GNU GPL.
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Grants user free use of a software product, for
whatever purpose.
Allows the user to view, modify and redistribute
the source code.
“Copyleft” uses Copyright law to restrict user
from releasing software, except under the GPL.
Therefore, GPL software will always be opensource.
Commercial Model.
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What?!
Companies like Red Hat and Novell sell Linux
distributions as bundles.
They don't actually sell Linux, they sell other
services (tech support) with Linux.
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Red Hat - $278 million
Novell - $1.2 billion
Why should you care?
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Open-source software is just as useful as
closed-source.
You can be cooler than your friends.
You can stick it to “the man.”
IT'S FREE!!!!
..........and legal.
Examples – Firefox.
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1998 – Netscape releases
source code under GPL.
Mozilla foundation was formed.
Mozilla releases a suite of web applications.
2003 – Dave Hyatt and Black Ross scale down
“bloated” Mozilla browser.
2004 – Firefox is released.
Advantages over IE.
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Extensions
Themes
Integrated popup blocking
Tabs
More security
Disadvantages.
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Takes a little longer to start up.
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Because it isn't integrated into the operating
system.
This is a good thing.
Some websites do not show up right.
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Mainly ones that don't follow W3C guidelines.
These websites are bad anyway.
Examples – Open Office.
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mid-1980s – StarDivision founded in Germany.
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1999 – Sun Microsystems buys StarDivsion
2000 – Sun releases source code of StarOffice.
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Release StarOffice as commercial software.
Sun organizes a project to create an open-source
office suite.
Later than year, OpenOffice 1.0 is released.
2005 – OpenOffice 2.0 is released.
Advantages.
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Cross-platform.
More logical organization that MS Office.
Frequent updates and patches.
File formats don't matter as much as MS Office.
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Uses OpenDocument format
Compatible with MS Office.
Disadvantages.
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Slightly slower.
Not 100% compatable with MS Office.
User interface is slightly different than MS
Office, but arranged more logically.
Examples – Linux.
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The free operating system.
Holy Grail of the open-source world.
Many different distributions – called 'distros'
Advantages.
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Security
Runs on a wide range of hardware
Constant updates/patches
Tons of Linux software.
Never have to restart
Disadvantages.
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Poor hardware support
Most Windows software will not easily run on
Linux
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Windows emulators like Wine HQ
Virtual machines
Dual booting
Why you should use Open Source.
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You probably already use Firefox.
Open Office is very similar to M$ Office.
You don't feel like shelling out $400 for Vista
Ultimate.
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Although I have found copies for $180.
But $180 > FREE.
Conclusion.
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Digital Divide.
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Open-source offers a way to close the gap.
Vista Home Basic = $180. (or $89)
Hardware to run Vista = $400 - $600
MS Office 2007 = $130 - $150
Total = $619 minimum
Sources
“13 reasons to used firefox over IE”
http://www.flexbeta.net/main/articles.php?action=show&id=32
Introduction to Open Source: Firefox Section
http://www.uweb.ucsb.edu/~mguidry/firefox
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_office
http://about.openoffice.org/index.html#history
http://www.uweb.ucsb.edu/~mguidry/openoffice
Multics
http://www.vaxman.de/historic_computers/multics/multics.html
AT&T
http://www.corp.att.com/history/history4.html
Philosophy
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html
Red Hat
htp://www.redhat.com/about/whysubscriptions/
The entire Wikipedia site