OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE (OSS)
Introduction
How the general idea come about
After seeing the pressure of license and proprietary software users where a lot of money is needed to make sure the software is in good condition, up to date and fulfils their need from time to time
OSS Characteristics
Software can be upgraded and modified by user easily and freely. Programmers can read, redistribute, and modify the source codes. The software development will be speed up
Software Categories
Cost
Freeware
(Internet Explorer, Linux) Shareware (WinZip) Commercial (Word, Windows) Private
Permission to modify
Free/Open
Source Software (Linux) Proprietary (Internet Explorer, WinZip, Word)
Freeware vs. OSS
Freeware :
OSS :
proprietary software given away without cost does not provide any right to user to examine, modify or redistribute the source code
License give users the freedom to run the program for any purpose Study and modify the program To redistribute copies of either the original or modified program (no royalty payment)
The impact of OSS
Within 5 years, 50% of the volume of the software infrastructure market could be taken by OSS OSS position in large server will grow OSS reduce the dominance of Windows application OSS will rapidly become the market leader in consumer computing devices OSS play a role as a significant player in market of consumer computing devices (eg: smart mobile phone) Middleware will move gradually from proprietary products towards OSS
Based Operating System
What it does
Provides an open source (observable, modifiable, redistributable) And low-cost (free) Alternative to proprietary operating systems (e.g. Windows, Mac OS) Runs on many hardware platforms, from conventional PCs to mobile phones to specialpurpose boards for embedded systems
Linux Distribution
Wikipedia lists around 160 different distributions of Linux
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Linux_distributions)
Wikipedia also provides a comparison of different distributions
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Linux_distributions)
Various Linux distributions
Debia Ubuntu Fedora SuSe Mandriva RedHat
Desktop Simplicity
1.
2.
3. 4. 5. 6.
Default Application OpenOffice Safe & easy web browsing Personal Information Management Music, video, pictures & their devices Help & support
Linux Ubuntu desktop
1) Application Menu
Ubuntu contains a selection of useful applications. In the Applications menu you will find OpenOffice 2.0 for word processing, spreadsheets and presentation, Gimp for image editing and more
2) OpenOffice
A complete office suite for:
Word processor Writer Spreadsheet Calc Presentation Impress Database Base
3) Safe & Easy Web Browsing
Powerful and standard compliant Mozilla Firefox web browser.
4) Personal Information Management
For integrated email, calendar and many more, Evolution is there Simple check email, create a calendar or search for contact Able to connect to a Microsoft Exchange or other mail server.
5) Help and Support
Documentation is available in the desktop help browser and on-line help at
help.ubuntu.com
6) Plug & Play
Music, video, pictures & devices
Plug in camera and import picture Organize & burn photo Play, rip and mix your CDs with Rhythmbox Media Player or play video on Totem USB thumb drive pop in and drag, drop files
Gaim instant messaging client
Gaim is a free and open source instant messaging client that can be used to communicate with users of AOL,MSN, Yahoo, ICQ, Gadu Gadu and Jabber instant messaging networks simultaneously. Using gaim you can chat with all your friends using one easy to use program.
GIMP (Gnu Image Manipulation Program)
GNU stands for "GNU's Not Unix The GIMP lets you draw, paint, edit images, and much more. The GIMP is installed in Ubuntu by default, and can be started by choosing Applications>Graphics> GIMP Image Editor .
