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

Pidgin instant messaging client

Pidgin (formerly known as Gaim), is a multi-platform instant messaging client. The software supports many commonly used instant messaging protocols, allowing the user to log into various different services from one application. 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.

http://www.pidgin.im/

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 .