Intro to open_source

Introduction to Open Source

Shiwang Kalkhanda © Copyright 2013
http://tosl.wordpress.com
Shiwang Kalkhanda
Corrections, suggestions, contributions and translations are welcome (shiwangkalkhanda@gmail.com)
The presentation is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 license

WHAT IS OPEN SOURCE …...
?

OPEN SOURCE – A KEY TO FUTURE

● Overview

● What is Open Source ?
● Why should you care ?
● How to get involved ?

3

WHAT IS OPEN SOURCE ?

● OPEN SOURCE HISTORY --While the term open source has been coined only recently in 1998,
the core concept behind it has been existent ever since the advent of software.In the ‘50s and ‘60s,
when computers and software were confined to academic and specialised industrial environments,
almost all software was essentially open source. Software was not viewed as a commodity and the
source code for most programs were as freely available as the programs themselves.
● However, by the late 1960s with the evolution of high level languages and operating
systems,software development costs were increasing. While most earlier software had been
bundled with the hardware it was meant to be used on, there was software in the market that was
exclusively for sale only. Some programs such as Unix were given free of cost to academia and
related users by AT&T, but in the absence of the permission to modify and redistribute, this was
hardly open source. Soon, by the 1970s, there were exclusive software-only companies selling
software with licences that forbade modification and redistribution through patents, copyrights and
trademarks. By the 1980s, nothing was left of free software as known till then. Even Unix was
marketed commercially, and open source was dead.
● In 1983, Richard Stallman of MIT was annoyed at Symbolics Inc. for not allowing modifications to
updates on its LISP machines based on MIT’s code and started the GNU project. The GNU project
aimed at creating a UNIX-like open source operating system free from regulations preventing it 4
from being modified and redistributed.
●

OPEN SOURCE Continue............

● The GNU project is also aimed at creating open source development tools such as compilers and
libraries. This is the beginning of modern open source as we know it, though the term ‘open source’
wouldn’t come into existence for another 15 years. Around the same time, Stallman also founded
the free software foundation that coined the free software definition – a precursor to the open
source definition. The GNU operating system kernel called the GNU Hurd, was continuously
delayed, but most of the remaining objectives of GNU had been achieved by 1991.
● With the release of the Linux kernel along with its source code by Linus Torvalds under the GNU
General Public License (GPL) in 1992, the remaining GNU tools were modified to run on Linux and
the initial objectives of GNU were considered complete. A brief naming controversy ensued that
continues even today wherein the open source community is divided on whether to call it Linux or
GNU/Linux. Since 1993, numerous operating systems based on GNU, Linux and other open source
software have been released. The most popular among this was most probably Debian GNU/Linux.
● The birth of modern open source as we know it was in 1998, when Netscape Communications
Corporation decided to release the source code of its then popular Netscape Navigator programme
(this code is now found in Mozilla Firefox, among others) to the public as free software. This act
prompted the free software community to rethink its philosophy to try and make free software 5
attractive to commercial software firms.(OPEN SOURCE INITIATIVE)
●

OPEN SOURCE Continue.......

● OPEN SOURCE LICENSE – (GNU GPL) These licenses, with the famous tagline “Free as in
Freedom” maintain that any derivative work/modification must be kept open source and are known
as copyleft licenses.
● FREEWARE (ZERO PRICE) means which is license distributed free of cost in compiled form,
source code of software is not give with the software and it is not allowed to be modified or
redistributed. Example – Adobe Flash Player , Microsoft Internet Explorer, Oracle Java
● FOSS – (FREE & OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE) or FLOSS – (FREE/LIBRE/OPEN SOURCE
SOFTWARE) is software that is both free software and open source. It is liberally licensed to grant
users the right to use, copy, study, change, and improve its design through the availability of its
source code.(WITH FEW OR NO RESTRICTIONS)
● Today Open Source term has been extended to the following –
– OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE
– OPEN HARDWARE
– OPEN CONTENT 6

OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE

● OPEN SOURCE – definition requires the following
– Free re-distribution of software
– Availability of source code with software
– Derived works allowed
– Integrity of author's source code be maintained
– No discrimination against persons or groups
– No discrimination against fields of endeavor
– Distribution of license
– License must not be specific to product
– License must not restrict other software
– License must be technology-neutral

7

OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE

● In the context of free and open-source software, free refers to the freedom to copy and re-use the
software, rather than to the price of the software. The free software model, suggests that, to
understand the concept, one should "think of free as in free speech, not as in free beer"
– Some eg. Of Open Source Project which we use are – Apache web server, Firefox browser,
Google Chrome OS, Libre Office, Open Office, PHP, Ruby, MySQL etc.
– Full details can be found at http://opensource.org/docs/osd
● Open source software was coined in 1998 and became popular among those who wanted to focus
on the software source code being available and compliant with the OSD.
● The OSD is protected and promoted by the Open Source Initiative (OSI).

8

OPEN SOURCE AFFILIATES

9

OPEN HARDWARE

● Open Hardware is hardware whose design is made publicly available so that anybody can study,
modify and redistribute, make and sell the design based on that design.
● Example –Arduino was created in 2005 to create
a low-cost micro-controller prototype system for
students.

10

OPEN CONTENT

● Open content describes any kind of creative work or content, published under a license that
explicitly allows copying and modifying information by anyone.
● Example – Wikimedia Foundation , Wikipedia , Project Gutenberg, Source Forge, Git Hub etc.
●

11

Why should You
care?

12

SOME STATISTICS

● More than 50% of leading IT organizations are using open source.
● 30% of software at these companies is open source, up from 10% five years ago.
● 4 out of 5 developers use open source for development, application deployment, or both.
● 1 out of 4 developers target Linux as their primary platform for development.
● 1 out of 5 developers contribute to at least one open source project .
● 80% of front line IT people say they use open source in some way.
● US adoption is closing the gap with Europe

13

WHO USES - SOFTWARE

● Zappos
● Department of Defense
● Proctor & Gamble
● Google
● Twitter
● BMW
● Southwest Airlines
● BlueCross BlueShield SC, Medical University of South Carolina, Research & Statistics

14

LOCAL & INTERNATIONAL JOBS

● Lead Developer – PHP, Javascript, Ruby on Rails, Hadoop (distributed storage), breathes
technology, leads change & innovation
● Programmer – Clojure, Ruby on Rails, Apache SOLR, jRuby
● PHP/Java Developer, Apache
● LAMP stack (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP)
● HotLinuxJobs.com, OpenPros.net

15

NEVER ASKED FOR RESUME

● When it comes to hiring, I'll take a Github commit log over a resume any day --John Resig
● Eligibility createria – should have history of open source contribution or a desire to write open
source code

16

CASE STUDY

● IT budget drives the effort
● Technology
– Java
– Eclipse IDE
– Apache web server
– ANT
– CVS
● Use Linux: OpenSUSE and Ubuntu or CentOS
● LibreOffice used for document creation

17

OPEN SOURCE

● How Do You Get Involved …?

● Contribute (to existing projects)
● Create (your own projects and make them open source)

18

WHAT CAN YOU CONTRIBUTE

● Testing/Bug reports
● Writing/Documentation
● Support
● Tutorials
● Start a group
● Share
● Remix
● Graphics/Design
● Programming

19

WHERE TO LOOK (PROGRAMMING)
● openhatch.org
● So ware communities
– Github
– Bitbucket
– Google Code
– Source Forge
● Hardware communities
– openhardwarehub.com
– opendesignengine.net
● Content communities
– Wikimedia Commons
– Open Photo Project
– KahnAcademy
– Curriki
– OER Commons 20
● Whatever you're already using!

WHO TO GO TO

● Maintainers who manage the project you're interested in
● Websites for the project may have a "get involved" section
● Professors may let you make your projects open source and guide you in getting involved
● Employers Open Source team experience IS 21st century employment

21

HOW DO YOU GET PAID ..?

● Summer-of-Code
– Google SOC
– Ruby SOC
– New Zealand SOC
● Internships at OS-friendly companies (Red Hat, Mozilla, Untangle, Canonical, etc.)
● Kickstarter
● Join (or start!) a company that uses open source

23

CREATE (your own projects and make them open source)

● Ques : How Does some thing become Open Source ?
● Ans : Attach a license and Share it with other.

24

SOFTWARE LICENSES

● Lots of licenses to choose from....
– GPL → is now and will forever be free
– BSD → Is free, but new versions dont have to be free too
– APACHE → Similar to BSD
Lots and Lots more : IBM, Intel, MIT, Mozilla, Python, Microsoft, SunMicrosystem

25

CONTENT SHARING

Creative Commons is a
nonprofit organization
that enables the
sharing and use of
creativity and
knowledge through free
legal tools.

http://creativecommons.org

WHO ELSE IS USING IT
GOOGLE, WIKIPEDIA,
FLICKR

26

STUFFS YOU MAY NEED (Might not be taught at school or colleges)

● Language: whatever the project is written in.
● Build Process: Make, Cmake , autotools, Ant, Jam, Rake
● Version control: git, CVS, svn, Bazaar, Darcs, Mercurial
● Bug Trackers: Bugzilla, Trac, Mantis, Launchpad
● Communication: Forums, Wikis, IRC
● Source Code Communities: github, Bitbucket, Launchpad, Gitorious, Google Code,
SourceForge
● Play nice in other people's sandbox !
● You may not learn it all in school or at Colleges !

27

IN SHORT , WHAT YOU NEED TO DO IS ….......?

● Contribute or create, do documentation or development, share
whatever you do wherever you go, but just

Get Involved !

28

SUMMARY

● Open Source Opportunity

● Open Source Employment

● Open Source Involvement

29

WEBSITES FOR ALTERNATIVE APPLICATIONS :

Suggested Web Sites For Applications
– http://www.osalt.com
“open source software alternatives to well-known commercial software”
– http://www.linuxalt.com
“Windows software and the Linux equivalents and alternatives”
– http://alternativeto.net
“Tell us what application you want to replace and we give you great
alternatives”

Lots of others – Consult the Google !

30

REFERENCES:

● https://www.google.com
● http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
● https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html
● http://opensource.org/docs/osd
● http://open-it-lab.com/
● http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/31717/what-do-the-phrases-free-speech-vs.-free-
beer-really-mean/

31

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