Riverland Linux User Group

What is Linux?

Linux (pronounced Lih’Nuks) is a computer operating system. It was originally created by a Finnish student called Linus Torvalds, and has received contributions from many others.

Linux is strictly speaking just the software at the heart of the operating system, called the kernel. The rest of the software required to make the computer useful is provided by the Linux Distribution. Software and skills are readily transferable between Linux Distributions. Many Linux Distributions specialise in particular areas and there is no single best Linux Distribution.

What is a LUG?

A LUG is a Linux User Group. Linux User Groups exist in most cities and major regional centres across the world. They are not part of an organised structure. They are started by computer users who wish to share their knowledge and learn from others.

Can I use Linux in my business?

Probably, yes. Most businesses already use Linux in some form. Whether it is when they are ordering from a suppliers web site or searching the internet. Linux is heavily used in public infrastructure such as in telecommunications, internet services and email systems.

Many businesses also use Linux internally. It is commonly used for serving files, email and databases. A few businesses also use Linux on their users desktops in place of Windows, but this is still relatively uncommon.

Linux is also embedded into many appliances. Which means your ADSL firewall, NAS server, PABX, PDA, or mobile phone might be running Linux and you might not be aware of it.

Can I use Linux at home?

Probably, yes. Some manufacturers do not release technical information to the Linux developers so their hardware may not work with Linux - examples include many cheaper printers and modems. Also some software, particularly commonly used Windows accounting software and games are not available for Linux. Often substitute software is available.

While it is possible to use Linux very productively as a home user, there may be issues from time to time, as there usually are with computers. Which is one of the reasons Linux User Groups exist.

I use Windows - can I run Linux software?

You can set up your computer so that it will dual boot. When your computer starts it will offer a choice between Windows and Linux.

A lot of Open Source software is also available to run under Windows. Examples include OpenOffice(word processing, spreadsheet, presentation), Firefox(browser), Thunderbird(email), Gimp(graphics), Blender(3d and animtions). It is possible to have Linux and Windows computers side by side and running the same programs so that people hardly notice the difference.

What is Free Software and what is Open Source Software?

Free Software is software that is free as in Liberty. It has an idealogical background. Free Software was originated by Richard Stallman in response to his frustrations trying to fix a problem. Source code, the instructions used to create a computer program, are often kept secret by their creators to stop others stealing and profiting from their ideas. Unfortunately this stops other programmers fixing problems with the software and adapting it to their needs, and gives the owners of the software an enourmous amount of control over their users. Stallman and his group, the Free Software Foundation, believe in free and open access to source code. They created a new software license called the Gnu Proprietry License (GPL) to allow authors to protect their code so that it remains open to inspection by others.

The Open Source movement uses the GPL and other similar licenses. They promote the benefits of Open Source to business users.

Linux is licensed under the GPL and is Free Software and it is also Open Source software. Software created by the Free Software Foundation forms an important core of all Linux Distributions, and so it is sometimes called GNU/Linux out of respect to the FSF.

While the FSF is vitally important intellectually to Open Source, it is the Open Source movement that is behind most of the commercialisation and marketing of Linux and other Open Source Software. The two groups have a good working relationship.

I work in IT or am studying IT. Should I learn Linux?

Yes. Many fundamental computing concepts have become very difficult to teach using closed source systems. As a result the national TAFE curriculum is being changed to include Open Source. It is especially useful for teaching network security and network protocols. The Adelaide TAFE make extensive use of Linux in their training.

Also it is another tool in your toolbox. Even if you don’t have any immediate need, it will help on your resume, and will often provide insight into your work on other systems.

Many companies currently are dealing in Open Source solutions. There is a national industry body (OSIA) and also a state one (OSBN-SA).

What other Open Source software exists?

Apart from Linux there are thouands of other usefull Open Source programs. Apache is the worlds number one web server. OpenOffice is an excellent office application. Linux isn’t the only Open Source operating system either. There is BSD which is every bit as good a Linux for most purposes.

The Linux User Group probably should be called the Free and Open Source Software Group. Linux is really just a focal point. A lot of really great Open Source Software runs under Windows. The easiest way to find out what software exists, is to come to a meeting and ask.

Everyone uses Windows. Name a big company that uses Linux?

Google has over 10,000 linux servers. Amazon runs on Linux. When Microsoft had problems with Windows Update, they went to Akamai - a company that provides distributed access to web sites. Akamai run entirely on Linux. Apache, the Open Source web server runs the majority of the worlds web sites, having nearly twice the market share of its nearest competitor, Microsoft.

The Extremadura region of Spain chose Linux for all their school computers. They have installed 80,000 or more. The use is spreading into government and private use.

Several local governments around the world are using Linux desktops. Many more such as the Gawler city council have it running their database applications

HP and IBM make a lot of money (over a billions dollars a year) from selling Linux services. Novell, a major computer company is converting all its desktops to Linux. Oracle, the worlds top database company also uses Linux extensively internally.

Many of the worlds fastest super computers run Linux. As do many large databases. Most of the worlds ticket purchases are processed through databases running on Linux systems.

Every public school student in South Australia has their email and web content filtering done by Open Source servers. So do most home internet users.

Motorola now sells mobile phones that run on Linux. There are PDAs such as the Zaurus that run Linux. The worlds top television time shifting device, the Tivo runs Linux.

Apple is one of the worlds top sellers of personal computers. They built their Macintosh operating system, OS X, on an fusion of proprietry Apple software and Open Source software. Their OS kernel is based on Open Source BSD and Mach. They also supply many useful Open Source programs with their systems including the FSF’s GCC compiler, the Apache webserver and the CUPS print server. Their web browser, Safari, uses rendering technology from KDE, one of the two major Linux desktop environments.