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Introduction To FOSS
1. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real world
Introduction To Free Software
Arijit Mukherjee1
1 FSMWB Workshop, Jadavpur University, Kolkata
February 2011
Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 license
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
2. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real 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
3. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real world
Let’s define “software”
Technically a bunch of 0’s and 1’s, normally written in a more
human readable form which runs a computing machine
Examples -
Operating systems - Windows, Linux, Unix, OSX
Browser - Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera
Word Processing - Microsoft Office, Open Office, LTEX
A
Numerical Computing - MATLAB, R, Octave
Photo Editing - Adobe Photoshop, GIMP
Audio visual - QuickTime, Media Player, VLC
Database Systems - Oracle, MySQL, PostgreSQL
... and a host of others for different purposes
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
4. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real world
Let’s define “software”
Technically a bunch of 0’s and 1’s, normally written in a more
human readable form which runs a computing machine
Examples -
Operating systems - Windows, Linux, Unix, OSX
Browser - Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera
Word Processing - Microsoft Office, Open Office, LTEX
A
Numerical Computing - MATLAB, R, Octave
Photo Editing - Adobe Photoshop, GIMP
Audio visual - QuickTime, Media Player, VLC
Database Systems - Oracle, MySQL, PostgreSQL
... and a host of others for different purposes
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
5. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real world
Software Licensing
Most packages used by us are proprietary
means, you buy it or pay a license fee
and you are tied by an agreement
you can not share it with your friend or neighbour
it’s a black box to you - you never know what’s going on
and you are not allowed to modify or improve it, even if you
are capable
Is it really yours?
Can we do something else? Something better?
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
6. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real world
Software Licensing
Most packages used by us are proprietary
means, you buy it or pay a license fee
and you are tied by an agreement
you can not share it with your friend or neighbour
it’s a black box to you - you never know what’s going on
and you are not allowed to modify or improve it, even if you
are capable
Is it really yours?
Can we do something else? Something better?
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
7. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real world
Software Licensing
Most packages used by us are proprietary
means, you buy it or pay a license fee
and you are tied by an agreement
you can not share it with your friend or neighbour
it’s a black box to you - you never know what’s going on
and you are not allowed to modify or improve it, even if you
are capable
Is it really yours?
Can we do something else? Something better?
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
8. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real world
Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution
“This is our world now...the world of the electron and the switch, the beauty of the
baud. We make use of a service already existing without paying for what could be
dirt-cheap if it wasn’t run by profiteering gluttons, and you call us criminals. We
explore...and you call us criminals. We seek after knowledge...and you call us
criminals. We exist without skin color, without nationality, without religious bias...and
you call us criminals. You build atomic bombs, you wage wars, you murder, cheat, and
lie 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 toys
Academics knew the internals, modified the code, shared it
and helped each other
They were the original “hackers” - in labs at MIT, Carnegie
Mellon, Harvard...
Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution, Stephen Levy, New York:Penguin
Non Classics,1984
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
9. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real world
Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution
“This is our world now...the world of the electron and the switch, the beauty of the
baud. We make use of a service already existing without paying for what could be
dirt-cheap if it wasn’t run by profiteering gluttons, and you call us criminals. We
explore...and you call us criminals. We seek after knowledge...and you call us
criminals. We exist without skin color, without nationality, without religious bias...and
you call us criminals. You build atomic bombs, you wage wars, you murder, cheat, and
lie 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 toys
Academics knew the internals, modified the code, shared it
and helped each other
They were the original “hackers” - in labs at MIT, Carnegie
Mellon, Harvard...
Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution, Stephen Levy, New York:Penguin
Non Classics,1984
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
10. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real 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 the
Diamond vs Diehr case
A decade later, “In re Alappat” virtually sealed the application of patent
laws over software
1993 - State Street vs Signature Financials - the US Federal Circuit ruled
that if a mathematical algorithm produces “a useful, concrete and
tangible result”, it is patentable
Sounds familiar? GATT and TRIPS during the 90s?
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
11. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real 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 the
Diamond vs Diehr case
A decade later, “In re Alappat” virtually sealed the application of patent
laws over software
1993 - State Street vs Signature Financials - the US Federal Circuit ruled
that if a mathematical algorithm produces “a useful, concrete and
tangible result”, it is patentable
Sounds familiar? GATT and TRIPS during the 90s?
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
12. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real 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 the
Diamond vs Diehr case
A decade later, “In re Alappat” virtually sealed the application of patent
laws over software
1993 - State Street vs Signature Financials - the US Federal Circuit ruled
that if a mathematical algorithm produces “a useful, concrete and
tangible result”, it is patentable
Sounds familiar? GATT and TRIPS during the 90s?
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
13. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real 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
14. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real 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
15. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real world
We can use FOSS
FOSS stands for Free and Open Source Software
FREE = FREEDOM
Free as in “Free Speech”
Not “Free Icecream”
“Free software” is a matter of liberty, not price.
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
16. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real world
Brief History of FOSS
1983 - Richard Stallman founded the GNU Project
1985 - Stallman founded the Free Software
Foundation
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 the
recognized center-of-gravity for the Linux industry”
2000 - FSG was founded to specify and drive the
adoption of Open Standards
2003 - Linus Torvalds joined OSDL
2007 - FSG and OSDL merged to form The Linux
Foundation
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
17. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real 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 it
do what you wish (freedom 1). Access to the source code is a
precondition 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 chance
to benefit from your changes. Access to the source code is a precondition
for 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
18. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real world
The Cathedral and The Bazaar
Traditional software development - how cathedrals were built in ancient
times
small groups of skilled artisans carefully planned out the design in
isolation
everything was built in a single effort
once built, the cathedrals were complete and little or no further
modification was made
replace “skilled artisans” with “skilled programmers”
FOSS development is more akin to a bazaar, which grows organically
initial traders establish their own structures and begin business
more traders join in, establish their own structures and begin
business
the bazaar grows, apparently in a chaotic fashion
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
19. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real world
The Cathedral and The Bazaar
Traditional software development - how cathedrals were built in ancient
times
small groups of skilled artisans carefully planned out the design in
isolation
everything was built in a single effort
once built, the cathedrals were complete and little or no further
modification was made
replace “skilled artisans” with “skilled programmers”
FOSS development is more akin to a bazaar, which grows organically
initial traders establish their own structures and begin business
more traders join in, establish their own structures and begin
business
the bazaar grows, apparently in a chaotic fashion
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
20. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real world
So why the “Bazaar”?
The bazaar method of development has been proven over time
to have several advantages -
reduced duplication of effort
building upon the work of others
better quality control: “Given enough eyeballs, all bugs are
shallow”
reduced maintenance costs
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
21. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real world
Benefits of Open Source
When programmers on the Internet can read, redistribute, and
modify the source for a piece of software, it evolves
People improve it, people adapt it, people fix bugs. And this
can happen at a speed that, compared to conventional
software development, seems astonishing
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
22. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real world
Benefits of Open Source
When programmers on the Internet can read, redistribute, and
modify the source for a piece of software, it evolves
People improve it, people adapt it, people fix bugs. And this
can happen at a speed that, compared to conventional
software development, seems astonishing
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
23. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real world
Linux - one example
They ask: “Aap ke PC mein kaun rehta hai? Virus yah
QuickHeal?”
I say: “Thankfully, none of them. I’m safe from both.”
What do you say?
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
24. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real world
Linux - one example
They ask: “Aap ke PC mein kaun rehta hai? Virus yah
QuickHeal?”
I say: “Thankfully, none of them. I’m safe from both.”
What do you say?
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
25. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real world
Linux - one example
They ask: “Aap ke PC mein kaun rehta hai? Virus yah
QuickHeal?”
I say: “Thankfully, none of them. I’m safe from both.”
What do you say?
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
26. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real world
Why should we use Linux?
Cost
Linux comes for free
Performance
Linux performs better
Works rather well on older systems too
Security
Linux is highly secure
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
27. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real world
Linux - Where did it come from?
Created by Linus Torvalds
with assistance from programmers around the globe
first posted on the Internet in 1991
Linux 1.0 in 1994; 2.2 in 1999; 2.6 at present
Nearly 20 million users world-wide
with 1000’s of programmers enhancing it every day
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
28. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real 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
29. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real 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
30. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real world
Tools and Applications
Word processing - Open Office, L TEX
A
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 helps
search here: http://www.google.com/linux
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
31. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real world
Tools and Applications
Word processing - Open Office, L TEX
A
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 helps
search here: http://www.google.com/linux
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
32. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real 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 as
well
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
33. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real world
Common Myths about FOSS
It’s free
so it must be technologically inferior
what if I am stuck? No one will help me
it must be unreliable and insecure
performance must be poor and it won’t scale
It’s hard, not user friendly, only command line, meant for
geeks...
But in practice, it’s the other way round
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
34. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real world
Busting the Myths - 1
They say
it’s not user friendly
it’s hard
it’s all commands from a command prompt
it’s for geeks
it doesn’t look nice
We say
see for yourself
where the mind is without fear...
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
35. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real world
Let’s have a quick tour
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
36. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real world
Let’s have a quick tour
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
37. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real world
Let’s have a quick tour
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
38. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real world
Let’s have a quick tour
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
39. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real world
Let’s have a quick tour
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
40. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real world
Let’s have a quick tour
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
41. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real world
Let’s have a quick tour
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
42. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real world
Busting the Myths - 2
The Myth:
Malicious hackers try to break into the software with the largest
installed base
So, Windows is targeted most
Implies - Linux is no more secure than Windows
The Fact:
68% Web Servers are Apache
21% run on Microsoft IIS
Still IIS suffers most - 300,000 servers affected by Code Red worm
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
43. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real world
Busting the Myths - 2
The Myth:
Malicious hackers try to break into the software with the largest
installed base
So, Windows is targeted most
Implies - Linux is no more secure than Windows
The Fact:
68% Web Servers are Apache
21% run on Microsoft IIS
Still IIS suffers most - 300,000 servers affected by Code Red worm
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
44. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real 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
Monolithic
Evolved from a single-user model
Heavily dependent on RPC
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
45. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real 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
Monolithic
Evolved from a single-user model
Heavily dependent on RPC
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
46. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real 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
Monolithic
Evolved from a single-user model
Heavily dependent on RPC
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
47. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real world
Evidences
Linux acquires around 85.4 % of OS base for the Top500 list (as on
June’08)
Google processes 200 million searches per day, all on Linux. It
serves 4 billion Web pages per day, also on Linux
There are about 60,000 (and counting) viruses known for Windows
Survey reports show that GNU/Linux systems are relatively immune
from attacks from outsiders
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
48. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real world
Technical tidbits
Linux file permissions are a barrier for unwanted softwares – like
virus/malware
Doesn’t allow auto-execution of downloaded trojan/virus
I downloaded something malicious, but it can’t write to your home
space
Simple concept, enhanced security
Who needs QuickHeal then?
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
49. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real world
Technical tidbits
Linux file permissions are a barrier for unwanted softwares – like
virus/malware
Doesn’t allow auto-execution of downloaded trojan/virus
I downloaded something malicious, but it can’t write to your home
space
Simple concept, enhanced security
Who needs QuickHeal then?
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
50. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real world
Cost
It doesn’t matter if a product starts out cheaply if it costs you
more down the line
FOSS costs less to initially acquire
No monopoly, means upgrade/maintenance costs are typically
far less
No license management costs
Can effectively use older hardwares
As the number of servers increases, proprietary solutions
become increasingly costly
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
51. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real 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 reached
1000 EB
1 Exabyte = 1.1 million terabytes ~ 50,000 years of DVD quality video
166EB ~ 3 million * amount of information contained in all the books
ever 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
52. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real 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 reached
1000 EB
1 Exabyte = 1.1 million terabytes ~ 50,000 years of DVD quality video
166EB ~ 3 million * amount of information contained in all the books
ever 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
53. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real 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
54. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real 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
55. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real 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 and
informal community support.
Does proprietary software give users more legal rights than FOSS?
Essentially all proprietary software licenses also forbid lawsuits - so this
isn’t different at all!
Are FOSS program compatible with standards?
FOSS programs can implement standards, just like proprietary programs
can.
Will programmers starve because of FOSS?
No; increasingly FOSS is commercially developed and supported
Eric Raymond notes that 95% of all software is not developed for sale and
programmers get paid for these
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
56. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real 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 and
informal community support.
Does proprietary software give users more legal rights than FOSS?
Essentially all proprietary software licenses also forbid lawsuits - so this
isn’t different at all!
Are FOSS program compatible with standards?
FOSS programs can implement standards, just like proprietary programs
can.
Will programmers starve because of FOSS?
No; increasingly FOSS is commercially developed and supported
Eric Raymond notes that 95% of all software is not developed for sale and
programmers get paid for these
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
57. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real 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 and
informal community support.
Does proprietary software give users more legal rights than FOSS?
Essentially all proprietary software licenses also forbid lawsuits - so this
isn’t different at all!
Are FOSS program compatible with standards?
FOSS programs can implement standards, just like proprietary programs
can.
Will programmers starve because of FOSS?
No; increasingly FOSS is commercially developed and supported
Eric Raymond notes that 95% of all software is not developed for sale and
programmers get paid for these
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
58. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real 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 and
informal community support.
Does proprietary software give users more legal rights than FOSS?
Essentially all proprietary software licenses also forbid lawsuits - so this
isn’t different at all!
Are FOSS program compatible with standards?
FOSS programs can implement standards, just like proprietary programs
can.
Will programmers starve because of FOSS?
No; increasingly FOSS is commercially developed and supported
Eric Raymond notes that 95% of all software is not developed for sale and
programmers get paid for these
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
59. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real 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-reliant
in software technology
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
60. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real 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-reliant
in software technology
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
61. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real world
FOSS in India
New Delhi, 2005: Meeting on the status of the Open Source Initiative in
India, chaired by the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of
India.
Observations:
The Open Source Initiative is a pro-active measure to evolve local
solutions for the country’s Information Technology (IT) problems
This will facilitate not only usage but also build capabilities for
creating a knowledge base within the country
Operating costs of organizations will come down if India adopts
FOSS in a big way
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
62. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real world
Success Stories
Tamilnadu has adopted FOSS for its e-governance projects
Kerala has adopted FOSS in its schools
The Central Excise Department has moved to Linux
The government supercomputer arm, the C-DAC, has moved over
entirely to GNU/Linux
The Supreme Court has several pilot projects under way
CBSE board is currently considering introduction of FOSS at school
level
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software
63. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real 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
64. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real 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
65. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real 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
66. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real 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
67. Introduction
Historical perspective
The Alternative
Linux example
Myths and Reality
Real world
Thank You!
Arijit Mukherjee Introduction To Free Software