LinuxPresentation500kb

Free Software and Linux
What, Why and How?
March 13, 2013
Per Scholas, Bronx, NY

Ethics, Legal Philosophy
and Technology

Free Software Foundation’s
“General Public License”

Free Software can be defined
by the “Four Freedoms”
- Freedom 0: Freedom to run the program
for any purpose
- Freedom 1: Freedom to study and change
the program; access to underlying source
code
- Freedom 2: Freedom to share copies to
help your neighbor
- Freedom 3: Freedom to distribute copies
of modified versions for others

Quotes from Richard
Stallman, the founder of the
Free Software Foundation
Anything that prevents you from being friendly, a
good neighbour, is a terror tactic.”
“Free software is software that respects your
freedom and the social solidarity of your
community. So it's free as in freedom.”
“Control over the use of one's ideas really
constitutes control over other people's lives; and it
is usually used to make their lives more difficult.”

Linux: Over 300 distributions!

ClearOS Community
• Excellent for small business installations
• Directory Server (Samba/LDAP)
• Database Server (MySQL)
• Print Server
• File Server
• Web server (Apache)
• Firewall/DMZ
• DHCP/DNS Server
• Virtual Private Network (OpenVPN)
• Content filter/proxy/intrusion detection
• Windows Networking

Free Software for Windows
(also available on Linux)

Why Linux?
- Free for download; no licensing issues or
costs
- Freedom to share with your neighbor
- Impervious to viruses
- Full suite of software applications
- Low resource use on hardware side
- Ported to a large number of hardware
platforms: x86, x64, ARM, PowerPC, MIPS,
S/390, Super H, AMD x86-64, VAX
- Easy to use
- Available in almost any language
- Flexible: can be run on everything from
watches to supercomputers

The famous Linux post of 1991
From: torvalds@klaava.Helsinki.FI (Linus Benedict Torvalds)
Newsgroups: comp.os.minix
Subject: What would you like to see most in minix?
Summary: small poll for my new operating system
Message-ID: <1991Aug25.205708.9541@klaava.Helsinki.FI>
Date: 25 Aug 91 20:57:08 GMT
Organization: University of Helsinki
Hello everybody out there using minix -
I’m doing a (free) operating system (just a hobby, won’t be big and
professional like gnu) for 386(486) AT clones. This has been brewing
since april, and is starting to get ready. I’d like any feedback on
things people like/dislike in minix, as my OS resembles it somewhat
(same physical layout of the file-system (due to practical reasons)
among other things).
I’ve currently ported bash(1.08) and gcc(1.40), and things seem to work.

Full Linux System Diagram
Hardware
Kernel
Shell/CLI
X11 GUI
Desktop Environment
Applications

Linux Kernel
The heart of the system

Where is Linux?
Watches
Embedded
Devices Raspberry
Pi
Servers
Tablets
Desktops Supercomputer
Clusters Mainframes
PhonesLaptops

Outer Space!
STRAND-1 Satellite powered by a Nexus One
phone running Android Linux
Launched for the UK Space Agency by the
Indian Space Agency on Feb 25, 2013

The Top 10
Supercomputers in the
World Powered by Linux
Sequoia K Mira Juqueen Supermuc
Stampede Tianhe-1A Fermi Titan Power 775

The SAMBA Project
Can serve as an Active Directory
Domain Controller, Windows file
and print server

One Laptop Per Child Project (OLPC)
A low-cost, low-power Linux laptop
Geared for students around the
world
CPU: AMD LX-Geode CPU @ 700
Mhz
RAM: 256 MB
Hard drive: 1 GB flash
Screen: LCD monochrome/color
Wireless: Built-in
ROM: 1 MB LinuxBIOS/CoreBoot
Operating System: Sugar, based
on Fedora Core Linux

OLPC Experiement in Ethiopia
- In 2 remote villages, children had never previously seen books,
newspapers, road signs, or even packaging that had words on them.
Their villages had no schools or teachers.
- In early 2012, OLPC workers dropped off closed boxes containing
Motorola Xoom tablets with Android and OLPC applications, taped
shut, with no instructions or computer instructors.
- Within four minutes, one child opened the box, found the on-off
switch and powered it up
- Within five days, they were using 47 apps per child, per day
- Within two weeks, they were singing ABC songs in English
- Within five months, they had hacked Android
- “Some idiot…in the Media Lab had disabled the camera, and they
figured out the camera, and had hacked Android.” – Nicholas
Negroponte, Founder of OLPC
- Implications for education and the
ability of students to teach themselves
without a traditional educational
infrastructure

Is Linux profitable?
Show me the money!
March, 2012

IBM and HP have Linux-based
revenues in the billions

What situations can Linux be
deployed?
Schools: labs, administrative depts, instruction, on donated
computers
Business: desktop, server, guest terminals
Recovery: recover data, use live version for temporary system
Public use Internet terminals: in waiting rooms, lounges, and
breakrooms.
Privacy Paranoia: Using live versions of Linux leave no traces
on your hard drive to thwart the NSA surveillance

The Free Software World is a World
of Abundance
Massive Shift of Worldview

What are the implications of
Free Software and Linux?
- People in all fields are beginning to freely
share their knowledge
- New licenses/projects based on the GPL:
Creative Commons & Open Hardware
- Many industries that have a vested interest in
controlling and profiting from the restriction of
knowledge are very afraid of the implications;
ie: pharmeceutical

Join the Free Software Foundation
www.fsf.org

Project Proposal: Per Scholas
Linux Supercomputer Cluster
- Built, funded, operated and maintained entirely by Per
Scholas students and alumni
- To be used for non-military research purposes, ie:
molecular biology, cancer research, protein folding
- Each class will purchase parts and build a computer to
be a new node of the cluster
- Head node will be named “Frank”
- Proposed location: area across from Lab that is
currently not being used

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