Basic Tech Funda (Technology concepts and facts)
Jumat, 20 September 2013
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Recently communicating with my friends i came across certain concepts where all of us were a bit confused and not sure regarding certain tech concepts. So i decided to find about it and share with youll.
Here goes the Question Answer round.
2. What is meant by OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE?
Open source software refers to those types for softwares of which the source code if freely available. You can see the source code and understand how the software works. Open source software is not always a FREE one. There are some software which releases their source code. You can compile them for your use by changing the code is not allowed. These types of software fall under NON-FREE software category even though they may be available free of charge. Thus all FREE softwares are OPEN SOURCE but the reverse is not true.
3.Is Linux an Operating System or just the Kernel?
Strictly speaking Linux is just the kernel. Linus Torvalds-who wrote the kernel called it Linux. The proper name for the Operating System is GNU/Linux. GNU movement started in 1984 and was started by Richard Stallman for developing a completely FREE (mark the word FREE) operating system. By 1991 the GNU project created a lot of stuffs and excellent tools and softwares, but the kernel was missing, this gap was bridged by Linus Torvalds, a Finnish student at the University of Helsinki aged 21. So we should properly call this Operating System GNU/Linux to pay some acknowledgement to Richard Stallman-The founder of GNU Project.
4.What is a kernel by the way?
Literary speaking a kernel is a heart. In GNU/Linux the core of the Operating system is the kernel. It is the work of the kernel to communicate with the hardware. Think it as an interface between the software and hardware. You know computer is dumb enough to understand even English.
Linus Torvalds first designed a monolithic kernel in Sep 1991 as a small project and put it up on FTP servers with the source code of course. Soon people liked and its popularity rose. Though he got some stiff resistant from some people like Andy Tanenbaum, the noted Professor for Networks, Operating Systems and the creator of Operating System MINIX. Linus damn cared about this and went ahead to achieve his mission.
5.What is GCC? Is it better than my Turbo Compiler?
GCC is the C compiler developed by the GNU project. It was developed by Richard Stallman with the help of his community members. It is the most robust and reliable C compiler till date. It strictly compiles with the ANSI and C standards. If you have heard the name g++, it’s the GNU C++ compiler. The GNU C and C++ compiler are better than Turbo Compiler, though some people might not agree.
6.Can I know about the history of GNU/Linux? What led to its creation?
Earlier when computers were not so widespread, Operating systems we not as user-friendly at all as it’s nowadays. At that time computers users had to be programmers themselves. All the software’s source codes were included with the shipment. That was the era of Open Source softwares. At that time computers hardware were very costly, and softwares were bundled by default.
As the time advanced, the price of hardware dropped significantly. Now manufactures saw a scope of profit in software itself. They started unbundling the source code of the softwares and drivers with the system.
UNIX was developed by AT&T at the famous Bell Labs, initially it was free to be used and taught in the universities and its source was also open for everyone. When AT&T started facing bad days, it looked up at its creation UNIX to survive, it forced universities to sign a non-disclosure agreement. Thus UNIX turned into a so called proprietary OS. And GNU/Linus is a clone of UNIX but written entirely from scratch by Linus.
7.What is GNU? Why was it started?
Richard Stallman was not very much impressed by the happenings there at AT&T. He wanted that the source code should be freely available. His movement was called GNU which is a recursive acronym for GNU Not Unix. His movement brought radical changes there in the computer world.
Stallman was working in MIT. The printer provided to him by Xerox Corporation through MIT frequently jammed. He wanted to have the source code to improve the driver so as to improve the performance. He contacted Xerox for the same which was refused. This annoyed him a lot. Closed source and proprietary softwares and drivers were hindering the development and advancement of technology. This led to the GNU movement.
8.Now youll would think that can I get some examples where Open Source and Free Software have succeeded?
Surely! We can point out a lot of examples.
1) Take for example GNU/Linux. According to a rough estimate around 80% of the web servers run on Linux, this is all due to reliability, robustness and security for which Linux is known for.
2) Second example is Apache web server. This is an excellent piece of software used to run web servers. It is extremely light, robust and highly reliable. 80% of the websites run on Apache web server.
3) Third Example is Mozilla Firefox, this award winning, lightweight and loved by all Web browser has won acclaims of people all over the world. It came as a rescue to people from the sick Microsoft Internet Explorer. Millions of copy of this browser was downloaded. People liked it and got attached to it with their heart.
4) Fourth example is VLC Media Player. Sick of downloading codecs again and again only to find that your video clip doesn’t play because some codec is missing. VLC Media Player gives you the solution. I never had to download another codec desperately after I got VLC. It plays all audio and video formats. Not a single audio and video format I have come to know which it does not play! Amazing enough!!!
Can’t we end the explanation here? Otherwise the list would be too long.
9.What is this Mozilla Firefox! Is it really great?
Mozilla Firefox is an award winning Web Browser known a lot for its features. In such a short time span it has become the most acclaimed web browser. Most people there out use Internet Explorer not because they like it but due to the fact that it comes packed by default with every version of Windows. All those who tried out Firefox properly with open minds would surely like it.
The Source code of Firefox is open. If you have great programming skills you are invited to see the code, modify and pass it on. This is the faith of Free Software.
You might have usually experienced many times your Internet Explorer (IE) behaving strangely. This is usually due to spyware and malwares. If IE can’t protect itself from malwares how dumb browser would it be? Just think! In contrast Firefox is a very intelligent browser. Its anti-phishing features are really marvelous. It had introduced tabbed browsing even before it was implemented in IE7! (Microsoft acted too swiftly).
These were few questions which generally people have in thier mind.
I hope youll found it useful.
Here goes the Question Answer round.
- What is meant by FREE software?
2. What is meant by OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE?
Open source software refers to those types for softwares of which the source code if freely available. You can see the source code and understand how the software works. Open source software is not always a FREE one. There are some software which releases their source code. You can compile them for your use by changing the code is not allowed. These types of software fall under NON-FREE software category even though they may be available free of charge. Thus all FREE softwares are OPEN SOURCE but the reverse is not true.
3.Is Linux an Operating System or just the Kernel?
Strictly speaking Linux is just the kernel. Linus Torvalds-who wrote the kernel called it Linux. The proper name for the Operating System is GNU/Linux. GNU movement started in 1984 and was started by Richard Stallman for developing a completely FREE (mark the word FREE) operating system. By 1991 the GNU project created a lot of stuffs and excellent tools and softwares, but the kernel was missing, this gap was bridged by Linus Torvalds, a Finnish student at the University of Helsinki aged 21. So we should properly call this Operating System GNU/Linux to pay some acknowledgement to Richard Stallman-The founder of GNU Project.
4.What is a kernel by the way?
Literary speaking a kernel is a heart. In GNU/Linux the core of the Operating system is the kernel. It is the work of the kernel to communicate with the hardware. Think it as an interface between the software and hardware. You know computer is dumb enough to understand even English.
Linus Torvalds first designed a monolithic kernel in Sep 1991 as a small project and put it up on FTP servers with the source code of course. Soon people liked and its popularity rose. Though he got some stiff resistant from some people like Andy Tanenbaum, the noted Professor for Networks, Operating Systems and the creator of Operating System MINIX. Linus damn cared about this and went ahead to achieve his mission.
5.What is GCC? Is it better than my Turbo Compiler?
GCC is the C compiler developed by the GNU project. It was developed by Richard Stallman with the help of his community members. It is the most robust and reliable C compiler till date. It strictly compiles with the ANSI and C standards. If you have heard the name g++, it’s the GNU C++ compiler. The GNU C and C++ compiler are better than Turbo Compiler, though some people might not agree.
6.Can I know about the history of GNU/Linux? What led to its creation?
Earlier when computers were not so widespread, Operating systems we not as user-friendly at all as it’s nowadays. At that time computers users had to be programmers themselves. All the software’s source codes were included with the shipment. That was the era of Open Source softwares. At that time computers hardware were very costly, and softwares were bundled by default.
As the time advanced, the price of hardware dropped significantly. Now manufactures saw a scope of profit in software itself. They started unbundling the source code of the softwares and drivers with the system.
UNIX was developed by AT&T at the famous Bell Labs, initially it was free to be used and taught in the universities and its source was also open for everyone. When AT&T started facing bad days, it looked up at its creation UNIX to survive, it forced universities to sign a non-disclosure agreement. Thus UNIX turned into a so called proprietary OS. And GNU/Linus is a clone of UNIX but written entirely from scratch by Linus.
7.What is GNU? Why was it started?
Richard Stallman was not very much impressed by the happenings there at AT&T. He wanted that the source code should be freely available. His movement was called GNU which is a recursive acronym for GNU Not Unix. His movement brought radical changes there in the computer world.
Stallman was working in MIT. The printer provided to him by Xerox Corporation through MIT frequently jammed. He wanted to have the source code to improve the driver so as to improve the performance. He contacted Xerox for the same which was refused. This annoyed him a lot. Closed source and proprietary softwares and drivers were hindering the development and advancement of technology. This led to the GNU movement.
8.Now youll would think that can I get some examples where Open Source and Free Software have succeeded?
Surely! We can point out a lot of examples.
1) Take for example GNU/Linux. According to a rough estimate around 80% of the web servers run on Linux, this is all due to reliability, robustness and security for which Linux is known for.
2) Second example is Apache web server. This is an excellent piece of software used to run web servers. It is extremely light, robust and highly reliable. 80% of the websites run on Apache web server.
3) Third Example is Mozilla Firefox, this award winning, lightweight and loved by all Web browser has won acclaims of people all over the world. It came as a rescue to people from the sick Microsoft Internet Explorer. Millions of copy of this browser was downloaded. People liked it and got attached to it with their heart.
4) Fourth example is VLC Media Player. Sick of downloading codecs again and again only to find that your video clip doesn’t play because some codec is missing. VLC Media Player gives you the solution. I never had to download another codec desperately after I got VLC. It plays all audio and video formats. Not a single audio and video format I have come to know which it does not play! Amazing enough!!!
Can’t we end the explanation here? Otherwise the list would be too long.
9.What is this Mozilla Firefox! Is it really great?
Mozilla Firefox is an award winning Web Browser known a lot for its features. In such a short time span it has become the most acclaimed web browser. Most people there out use Internet Explorer not because they like it but due to the fact that it comes packed by default with every version of Windows. All those who tried out Firefox properly with open minds would surely like it.
The Source code of Firefox is open. If you have great programming skills you are invited to see the code, modify and pass it on. This is the faith of Free Software.
You might have usually experienced many times your Internet Explorer (IE) behaving strangely. This is usually due to spyware and malwares. If IE can’t protect itself from malwares how dumb browser would it be? Just think! In contrast Firefox is a very intelligent browser. Its anti-phishing features are really marvelous. It had introduced tabbed browsing even before it was implemented in IE7! (Microsoft acted too swiftly).
These were few questions which generally people have in thier mind.
I hope youll found it useful.
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Judul: Basic Tech Funda (Technology concepts and facts)
Ditulis oleh Unknown
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