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Slides for the talk on FOSS & Linux at FSMWB Workshop, Jadavpur University, February 2011
Citation preview
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
Introduction To Free Software
Arijit Mukherjee1
1FSMWB Workshop, Jadavpur University, KolkataFebruary 2011
Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 license
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
Outline
1 Introduction to FOSS
2 Historical Perspective
3 The Alternative
4 Linux as an example
5 Myths and Reality
6 FOSS in the real world
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
Let’s define “software”
Technically a bunch of 0’s and 1’s, normally written in a morehuman readable form which runs a computing machine
Examples -
Operating systems - Windows, Linux, Unix, OSXBrowser - Internet Explorer, Firefox, OperaWord Processing - Microsoft Office, Open Office, LATEXNumerical Computing - MATLAB, R, OctavePhoto Editing - Adobe Photoshop, GIMPAudio visual - QuickTime, Media Player, VLCDatabase Systems - Oracle, MySQL, PostgreSQL... and a host of others for different purposes
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
Let’s define “software”
Technically a bunch of 0’s and 1’s, normally written in a morehuman readable form which runs a computing machine
Examples -
Operating systems - Windows, Linux, Unix, OSXBrowser - Internet Explorer, Firefox, OperaWord Processing - Microsoft Office, Open Office, LATEXNumerical Computing - MATLAB, R, OctavePhoto Editing - Adobe Photoshop, GIMPAudio visual - QuickTime, Media Player, VLCDatabase Systems - Oracle, MySQL, PostgreSQL... and a host of others for different purposes
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
Software Licensing
Most packages used by us are proprietary
means, you buy it or pay a license feeand you are tied by an agreement
you can not share it with your friend or neighbourit’s a black box to you - you never know what’s going onand you are not allowed to modify or improve it, even if youare capable
Is it really yours?Can we do something else? Something better?
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
Software Licensing
Most packages used by us are proprietary
means, you buy it or pay a license feeand you are tied by an agreement
you can not share it with your friend or neighbourit’s a black box to you - you never know what’s going onand you are not allowed to modify or improve it, even if youare capable
Is it really yours?Can we do something else? Something better?
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
Software Licensing
Most packages used by us are proprietary
means, you buy it or pay a license feeand you are tied by an agreement
you can not share it with your friend or neighbourit’s a black box to you - you never know what’s going onand you are not allowed to modify or improve it, even if youare capable
Is it really yours?Can we do something else? Something better?
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution
“This is our world now...the world of the electron and the switch, the beauty of thebaud. We make use of a service already existing without paying for what could bedirt-cheap if it wasn’t run by profiteering gluttons, and you call us criminals. Weexplore...and you call us criminals. We seek after knowledge...and you call uscriminals. We exist without skin color, without nationality, without religious bias...andyou call us criminals. You build atomic bombs, you wage wars, you murder, cheat, andlie to us and try to make us believe it’s for our own good, yet we’re the criminals.”[The Hacker Manifesto]
In the early days, computers were exclusively academic toysAcademics knew the internals, modified the code, shared itand helped each otherThey were the original “hackers” - in labs at MIT, CarnegieMellon, Harvard...Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution, Stephen Levy, New York:PenguinNon Classics,1984
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution
“This is our world now...the world of the electron and the switch, the beauty of thebaud. We make use of a service already existing without paying for what could bedirt-cheap if it wasn’t run by profiteering gluttons, and you call us criminals. Weexplore...and you call us criminals. We seek after knowledge...and you call uscriminals. We exist without skin color, without nationality, without religious bias...andyou call us criminals. You build atomic bombs, you wage wars, you murder, cheat, andlie to us and try to make us believe it’s for our own good, yet we’re the criminals.”[The Hacker Manifesto]
In the early days, computers were exclusively academic toysAcademics knew the internals, modified the code, shared itand helped each otherThey were the original “hackers” - in labs at MIT, CarnegieMellon, Harvard...Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution, Stephen Levy, New York:PenguinNon Classics,1984
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
“Change” started during the 70s
Software industry started to grow
They brought in measures to make software proprietary
Users lost the freedom of knowledge
1980 - The US Supreme Court upheld a patent application in theDiamond vs Diehr case
A decade later, “In re Alappat” virtually sealed the application of patentlaws over software
1993 - State Street vs Signature Financials - the US Federal Circuit ruledthat if a mathematical algorithm produces “a useful, concrete andtangible result”, it is patentable
Sounds familiar? GATT and TRIPS during the 90s?
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
“Change” started during the 70s
Software industry started to grow
They brought in measures to make software proprietary
Users lost the freedom of knowledge
1980 - The US Supreme Court upheld a patent application in theDiamond vs Diehr case
A decade later, “In re Alappat” virtually sealed the application of patentlaws over software
1993 - State Street vs Signature Financials - the US Federal Circuit ruledthat if a mathematical algorithm produces “a useful, concrete andtangible result”, it is patentable
Sounds familiar? GATT and TRIPS during the 90s?
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
“Change” started during the 70s
Software industry started to grow
They brought in measures to make software proprietary
Users lost the freedom of knowledge
1980 - The US Supreme Court upheld a patent application in theDiamond vs Diehr case
A decade later, “In re Alappat” virtually sealed the application of patentlaws over software
1993 - State Street vs Signature Financials - the US Federal Circuit ruledthat if a mathematical algorithm produces “a useful, concrete andtangible result”, it is patentable
Sounds familiar? GATT and TRIPS during the 90s?
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
Can we do something better?
Is the software really yours?Can we do something else? Something better?
“Yes, We Can!”
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
Can we do something better?
Is the software really yours?Can we do something else? Something better?
“Yes, We Can!”
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
We can use FOSS
FOSS stands for Free and Open Source SoftwareFREE = FREEDOMFree as in “Free Speech”Not “Free Icecream”“Free software” is a matter of liberty, not price.
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
Brief History of FOSS
1983 - Richard Stallman founded the GNU Project
1985 - Stallman founded the Free SoftwareFoundation
Many GNU tools were developed - like gcc, gdb, flex,bison etc.
GNU and FSF popularized the Copyleft ideology
1991 - Linux was first released by Linus Torvalds
2000 - OSDL was founded with the goal “to be therecognized center-of-gravity for the Linux industry”
2000 - FSG was founded to specify and drive theadoption of Open Standards
2003 - Linus Torvalds joined OSDL
2007 - FSG and OSDL merged to form The LinuxFoundation
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
So what exactly is FOSS?
Free software is a matter of the users’ freedom to run, copy, distribute, study,change and improve the software.
More precisely:
The freedom to run the program, for any purpose (freedom 0).The freedom to study how the program works, and change it to make itdo what you wish (freedom 1). Access to the source code is aprecondition for this.The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor(freedom 2).The freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to others(freedom 3). By doing this you can give the whole community a chanceto benefit from your changes. Access to the source code is a preconditionfor this.
The FSF philosophy: http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html
All such software are commonly referred as “Free/Libre Open Source Software” -FLOSS, F/OSS, FOSS
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
The Cathedral and The Bazaar
Traditional software development - how cathedrals were built in ancienttimes
small groups of skilled artisans carefully planned out the design inisolationeverything was built in a single effortonce built, the cathedrals were complete and little or no furthermodification was madereplace “skilled artisans” with “skilled programmers”
FOSS development is more akin to a bazaar, which grows organically
initial traders establish their own structures and begin businessmore traders join in, establish their own structures and beginbusinessthe bazaar grows, apparently in a chaotic fashion
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
The Cathedral and The Bazaar
Traditional software development - how cathedrals were built in ancienttimes
small groups of skilled artisans carefully planned out the design inisolationeverything was built in a single effortonce built, the cathedrals were complete and little or no furthermodification was madereplace “skilled artisans” with “skilled programmers”
FOSS development is more akin to a bazaar, which grows organically
initial traders establish their own structures and begin businessmore traders join in, establish their own structures and beginbusinessthe bazaar grows, apparently in a chaotic fashion
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
So why the “Bazaar”?
The bazaar method of development has been proven over timeto have several advantages -
reduced duplication of effortbuilding upon the work of othersbetter quality control: “Given enough eyeballs, all bugs areshallow”reduced maintenance costs
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
Benefits of Open Source
When programmers on the Internet can read, redistribute, andmodify the source for a piece of software, it evolves
People improve it, people adapt it, people fix bugs. And thiscan happen at a speed that, compared to conventionalsoftware development, seems astonishing
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
Benefits of Open Source
When programmers on the Internet can read, redistribute, andmodify the source for a piece of software, it evolves
People improve it, people adapt it, people fix bugs. And thiscan happen at a speed that, compared to conventionalsoftware development, seems astonishing
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
Linux - one example
They ask: “Aap ke PC mein kaun rehta hai? Virus yahQuickHeal?”
I say: “Thankfully, none of them. I’m safe from both.”
What do you say?
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
Linux - one example
They ask: “Aap ke PC mein kaun rehta hai? Virus yahQuickHeal?”
I say: “Thankfully, none of them. I’m safe from both.”
What do you say?
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
Linux - one example
They ask: “Aap ke PC mein kaun rehta hai? Virus yahQuickHeal?”
I say: “Thankfully, none of them. I’m safe from both.”
What do you say?
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
Why should we use Linux?
Cost
Linux comes for free
Performance
Linux performs betterWorks rather well on older systems too
Security
Linux is highly secure
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
Linux - Where did it come from?
Created by Linus Torvalds
with assistance from programmers around the globefirst posted on the Internet in 1991
Linux 1.0 in 1994; 2.2 in 1999; 2.6 at presentNearly 20 million users world-wide
with 1000’s of programmers enhancing it every day
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
It works for everyone
What are you?
Photographer, editing photos?A music lover, listening to Beatles?A movie freak?Or a geek programmer?Or just a social networker?...
Hundreds of application for all types of users
Find it, get it, use it, share it
In fact, linux may find and install it for you...
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
It works for everyone
What are you?
Photographer, editing photos?A music lover, listening to Beatles?A movie freak?Or a geek programmer?Or just a social networker?...
Hundreds of application for all types of users
Find it, get it, use it, share it
In fact, linux may find and install it for you...
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
Tools and Applications
Word processing - Open Office, LATEX
Internet/Email - Firefox, Mozilla, Thunderbird, Evolution
Graphics - GIMP, Shotwell Photo Manager, Xfig
Sound and video - Brasero, MPlayer, VLC Media Player, Audacity
Programming - Netbeans, Eclipse, IntelliJ
Database Systems - MySQL, PostgreSQL
Chat - Pidgin, Empathy
Torrent - Transmission, BitTorrent
Scientific - Octave (a Matlab equivalent)
Google helpssearch here: http://www.google.com/linux
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
Tools and Applications
Word processing - Open Office, LATEX
Internet/Email - Firefox, Mozilla, Thunderbird, Evolution
Graphics - GIMP, Shotwell Photo Manager, Xfig
Sound and video - Brasero, MPlayer, VLC Media Player, Audacity
Programming - Netbeans, Eclipse, IntelliJ
Database Systems - MySQL, PostgreSQL
Chat - Pidgin, Empathy
Torrent - Transmission, BitTorrent
Scientific - Octave (a Matlab equivalent)
Google helpssearch here: http://www.google.com/linux
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
FOSS Licenses
Copyleft agreement
“Left” is the inverse of “right”
GPL, LGPL, Apache, Creative Commons etc.A general method for making a program or other work free
All modified and extended versions of the program are free aswell
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
Common Myths about FOSS
It’s free
so it must be technologically inferiorwhat if I am stuck? No one will help meit must be unreliable and insecureperformance must be poor and it won’t scale
It’s hard, not user friendly, only command line, meant forgeeks...But in practice, it’s the other way round
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
Busting the Myths - 1
They say
it’s not user friendlyit’s hardit’s all commands from a command promptit’s for geeksit doesn’t look nice
We say
see for yourselfwhere the mind is without fear...
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
Let’s have a quick tour
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
Let’s have a quick tour
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
Let’s have a quick tour
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
Let’s have a quick tour
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
Let’s have a quick tour
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
Let’s have a quick tour
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
Let’s have a quick tour
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
Busting the Myths - 2
The Myth:Malicious hackers try to break into the software with the largestinstalled baseSo, Windows is targeted mostImplies - Linux is no more secure than Windows
The Fact:68% Web Servers are Apache21% run on Microsoft IISStill IIS suffers most - 300,000 servers affected by Code Red worm
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
Busting the Myths - 2
The Myth:Malicious hackers try to break into the software with the largestinstalled baseSo, Windows is targeted mostImplies - Linux is no more secure than Windows
The Fact:68% Web Servers are Apache21% run on Microsoft IISStill IIS suffers most - 300,000 servers affected by Code Red worm
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
Busting the Myths - 3
The Myth:
Open source code is vulnerable
Because hackers can find loopholes from the source code
The Fact:
Evidence begs to differ, Apache is an example
Loopholes are closed by the community
The Bottomline:
Windows vulnerability is a design issue
MonolithicEvolved from a single-user modelHeavily dependent on RPC
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
Busting the Myths - 3
The Myth:
Open source code is vulnerable
Because hackers can find loopholes from the source code
The Fact:
Evidence begs to differ, Apache is an example
Loopholes are closed by the community
The Bottomline:
Windows vulnerability is a design issue
MonolithicEvolved from a single-user modelHeavily dependent on RPC
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
Busting the Myths - 3
The Myth:
Open source code is vulnerable
Because hackers can find loopholes from the source code
The Fact:
Evidence begs to differ, Apache is an example
Loopholes are closed by the community
The Bottomline:
Windows vulnerability is a design issue
MonolithicEvolved from a single-user modelHeavily dependent on RPC
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
Evidences
Linux acquires around 85.4 % of OS base for the Top500 list (as onJune’08)Google processes 200 million searches per day, all on Linux. Itserves 4 billion Web pages per day, also on LinuxThere are about 60,000 (and counting) viruses known for WindowsSurvey reports show that GNU/Linux systems are relatively immunefrom attacks from outsiders
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
Technical tidbits
Linux file permissions are a barrier for unwanted softwares – likevirus/malwareDoesn’t allow auto-execution of downloaded trojan/virusI downloaded something malicious, but it can’t write to your homespace
Simple concept, enhanced securityWho needs QuickHeal then?
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
Technical tidbits
Linux file permissions are a barrier for unwanted softwares – likevirus/malwareDoesn’t allow auto-execution of downloaded trojan/virusI downloaded something malicious, but it can’t write to your homespace
Simple concept, enhanced securityWho needs QuickHeal then?
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
Cost
It doesn’t matter if a product starts out cheaply if it costs youmore down the line
FOSS costs less to initially acquireNo monopoly, means upgrade/maintenance costs are typicallyfar lessNo license management costsCan effectively use older hardwaresAs the number of servers increases, proprietary solutionsbecome increasingly costly
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
Big data, bigger cost
Real world data volume
YouTube serves 100 million videos every day
Chevron accumulates 2TB of data every day
2006: total data on the Internet was approx. 166 Exabytes. 2010: it reached1000 EB
1 Exabyte = 1.1 million terabytes ~ 50,000 years of DVD quality video166EB ~ 3 million * amount of information contained in all the booksever written
Avataar required 1 petabyte storage ~ a 32 yr long MP3
1998: 253 million email accounts, 2010: close to 2 billion
Oracle anyone?
How many servers you might need to process such data?
And remember, Oracle charges per CPU core
Google didn’t do Oracle; Facebook doesn’t too
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
Big data, bigger cost
Real world data volume
YouTube serves 100 million videos every day
Chevron accumulates 2TB of data every day
2006: total data on the Internet was approx. 166 Exabytes. 2010: it reached1000 EB
1 Exabyte = 1.1 million terabytes ~ 50,000 years of DVD quality video166EB ~ 3 million * amount of information contained in all the booksever written
Avataar required 1 petabyte storage ~ a 32 yr long MP3
1998: 253 million email accounts, 2010: close to 2 billion
Oracle anyone?
How many servers you might need to process such data?
And remember, Oracle charges per CPU core
Google didn’t do Oracle; Facebook doesn’t too
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
How do I use FOSS
What do do?
Study reviews
Check if the forums, IRC channels, mailing lists are active
Check for the features, requirements, training, maintenance etc.
If the decision is critical, evaluate thoroughly
Where to get it from?
Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_free_and_open_source_software_packages
Free Software Directory (FSF and UNESCO) - http://directory.fsf.org
Linux App Finder - http://linuxappfinder.com
Linux Applications - http://www.linux.org/apps
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
How do I use FOSS
What do do?
Study reviews
Check if the forums, IRC channels, mailing lists are active
Check for the features, requirements, training, maintenance etc.
If the decision is critical, evaluate thoroughly
Where to get it from?
Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_free_and_open_source_software_packages
Free Software Directory (FSF and UNESCO) - http://directory.fsf.org
Linux App Finder - http://linuxappfinder.com
Linux Applications - http://www.linux.org/apps
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
Where the mind is without fear
Is proprietary software fundamentally better supported than FOSS?
No. Two kinds of support exit for FOSS: traditional paid-for support andinformal community support.
Does proprietary software give users more legal rights than FOSS?
Essentially all proprietary software licenses also forbid lawsuits - so thisisn’t different at all!
Are FOSS program compatible with standards?
FOSS programs can implement standards, just like proprietary programscan.
Will programmers starve because of FOSS?
No; increasingly FOSS is commercially developed and supportedEric Raymond notes that 95% of all software is not developed for sale andprogrammers get paid for these
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
Where the mind is without fear
Is proprietary software fundamentally better supported than FOSS?
No. Two kinds of support exit for FOSS: traditional paid-for support andinformal community support.
Does proprietary software give users more legal rights than FOSS?
Essentially all proprietary software licenses also forbid lawsuits - so thisisn’t different at all!
Are FOSS program compatible with standards?
FOSS programs can implement standards, just like proprietary programscan.
Will programmers starve because of FOSS?
No; increasingly FOSS is commercially developed and supportedEric Raymond notes that 95% of all software is not developed for sale andprogrammers get paid for these
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
Where the mind is without fear
Is proprietary software fundamentally better supported than FOSS?
No. Two kinds of support exit for FOSS: traditional paid-for support andinformal community support.
Does proprietary software give users more legal rights than FOSS?
Essentially all proprietary software licenses also forbid lawsuits - so thisisn’t different at all!
Are FOSS program compatible with standards?
FOSS programs can implement standards, just like proprietary programscan.
Will programmers starve because of FOSS?
No; increasingly FOSS is commercially developed and supportedEric Raymond notes that 95% of all software is not developed for sale andprogrammers get paid for these
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
Where the mind is without fear
Is proprietary software fundamentally better supported than FOSS?
No. Two kinds of support exit for FOSS: traditional paid-for support andinformal community support.
Does proprietary software give users more legal rights than FOSS?
Essentially all proprietary software licenses also forbid lawsuits - so thisisn’t different at all!
Are FOSS program compatible with standards?
FOSS programs can implement standards, just like proprietary programscan.
Will programmers starve because of FOSS?
No; increasingly FOSS is commercially developed and supportedEric Raymond notes that 95% of all software is not developed for sale andprogrammers get paid for these
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
FOSS and Software Business
Big Software companies don’t care for SMEs
Your bug and feature requests remain unattended
FOSS community cares
Even if they don’t, you can fix it yourself or hire someone to fix it
You can also make contributions to a software and give something back
May even ask for a price for the new improvement
Thus, you can promote small businesses
With your contribution the country will become self-reliantin software technology
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
FOSS and Software Business
Big Software companies don’t care for SMEs
Your bug and feature requests remain unattended
FOSS community cares
Even if they don’t, you can fix it yourself or hire someone to fix it
You can also make contributions to a software and give something back
May even ask for a price for the new improvement
Thus, you can promote small businesses
With your contribution the country will become self-reliantin software technology
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
FOSS in India
New Delhi, 2005: Meeting on the status of the Open Source Initiative inIndia, chaired by the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government ofIndia.
Observations:
The Open Source Initiative is a pro-active measure to evolve localsolutions for the country’s Information Technology (IT) problemsThis will facilitate not only usage but also build capabilities forcreating a knowledge base within the countryOperating costs of organizations will come down if India adoptsFOSS in a big way
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
Success Stories
Tamilnadu has adopted FOSS for its e-governance projectsKerala has adopted FOSS in its schoolsThe Central Excise Department has moved to LinuxThe government supercomputer arm, the C-DAC, has moved overentirely to GNU/LinuxThe Supreme Court has several pilot projects under wayCBSE board is currently considering introduction of FOSS at schoollevel
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
The Barrier
The biggest obstacle for widespread FOSS useage is the mindset
especially, the mindset of computer literate people
even more, for software professionals
because of a conditioning effect for too long
We’ve already busted the myths
Linux is no less user-friendly than windows
It’s more secure
It’s low cost
And there are plenty to choose from
The Bottomline:
We just need to change the mindset
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
The Barrier
The biggest obstacle for widespread FOSS useage is the mindset
especially, the mindset of computer literate people
even more, for software professionals
because of a conditioning effect for too long
We’ve already busted the myths
Linux is no less user-friendly than windows
It’s more secure
It’s low cost
And there are plenty to choose from
The Bottomline:
We just need to change the mindset
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
The Barrier
The biggest obstacle for widespread FOSS useage is the mindset
especially, the mindset of computer literate people
even more, for software professionals
because of a conditioning effect for too long
We’ve already busted the myths
Linux is no less user-friendly than windows
It’s more secure
It’s low cost
And there are plenty to choose from
The Bottomline:
We just need to change the mindset
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
Truth Happens!
First they ignore you...
Then they laugh at you...
Then they fight you...
Then, you WIN!
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
IntroductionHistorical perspective
The AlternativeLinux example
Myths and RealityReal world
Thank You!
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software