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Frequently Asked Questions
What is the San Diego Open-Source Software
Organization (SDOSS/SDLUG)? Who are the People
Involved? Why become a Member? Past Speakers Include:
How do I Become a Member?
What Topics are
Discussed During Meetings ... ? Where and When are the Meetings Held?
Meetings are the first Wednesday (Usually!).
Please see the Events page for the
topic and speaker. What is an
Open-Source? The basis is Open-Standards, Open-Definitions, and fully disclosed interfaces. This is the opposite of 'Proprietary' Software where only the 'Company' knows how something works, and how to build additional applications. Or the 'Company' charges anyone a license fee for using their proprietary software. Many people and businesses embrace the concept that Open-Source should be the basis for computer infrastructure, and basic Information Technology. For example the power of the internet is the Open-Standards that allow you to read this message on your browser without paying licensing fees. This has long been the philosophy of mature technologies such as television, no one owns the Broadcast Standards, or pays a license to use the Broadcast Standards. It benefits all manufacturers and consumers that the Broadcast Standards are Open. Commercial Information Technology companies, such as IBM, Hewlett Packard, SUN, and many others, are major financial supporters of the Open-Source projects. They support Open-Source because the benefits of common and fully disclosed standards and software creates a common platform for technological growth. The basic idea behind open source is very
simple: When programmers can read, redistribute, and modify the source code
for a piece of software, the software evolves. People improve it, people
adapt it, people fix bugs. And this can happen at a speed that, if one is
used to the slow pace of conventional software development, seems
astonishing. What is Linux ... ? Linux is an operating system that was initially created as a hobby by a young student, Linus Torvalds, at the University of Helsinki in Finland. Linus had an interest in Minix, a small UNIX system, and decided to develop a system that exceeded the Minix standards. He began his work in 1991 when he released version 0.02 and worked steadily until 1994 when version 1.0 of the Linux Kernel was released. The current full-featured version is 2.2 (released January 25, 1999), and development continues. Linux is developed under the GNU General Public License and its source code is freely available to everyone. This however, doesn't mean that Linux and it's assorted distributions are free -- companies and developers may charge money for it as long as the source code remains available. Linux may be used for a wide variety of purposes including networking, software development, and as an end-user platform. Linux is often considered an excellent, low-cost alternative to other more expensive operating systems. Due to the very nature of Linux's functionality and availability, it has become quite popular worldwide and a vast number of software programmers have taken Linux's source code and adapted it to meet their individual needs. At this time, there are dozens of ongoing projects for porting Linux to various hardware configurations and purposes. Tux is the official Linux Penguin mascot. Tux was selected by Linus Torvalds to represent the image he associates with the operating system he created. Although many variations of the word Linux exist, it is most often pronounced with a short "i" and with the first syllable stressed, as in LIH-nucks
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Updated: 2006-11-08 |
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Copyright © 2002-2006 - San Diego Linux Users Group. All
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