Hands On Linux for
Windows Users
Professional Development Conference 18 June07
Ed Crowley and Cheryl Willis
University of Houston
Todays Topics
The Problem
Solution Attributes
Freedom and
Empowerment
Selected Open Standards
Free and Open Source
Software (FOSS)
One Part of the Solution
Appearance
K Desktop Environment
Open Office and GIMP
Linux and Linux
Distributions
Open Source Licenses
Live Linux CDs
Quickest way to FOSS
FOSS Applications
A Sample Blogging
Assignment
Conclusions
The Problem
Because it possess several problematic attributes,
proprietary software utilization can constrain educational
activities.
Specific proprietary software problem attributes include :
Cost
Availability
Commitments required
Time (budget cycle)
Resources (support)
Also, proprietary file formats and interfaces can create
vendor lock in
The reality is that each day each of us utilize open
computer standards.
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Selected Open Standards
Networking Hardware
Networking and O/S Software
Ethernet (Developed 82, first IEEE standard 92)
TCP/IP (IETF RFC 1180, 91)
Apache (Apache License, 94)
HTML (IETF RFC 1866, 95)
CSS (W3C, 96)
GNU (FSF, began 83)
SQL (ANSI, began 86)
Linux (GNU GPL, 91)
XML (W3C, 98)
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Software Trends
Increasing Modularization
Client/Server architecture frees the client from hardware and
software dependencies
Increased Independence (layers)
Computer System (Hardware)
Network
Operating System
Applications, Web Servers, Data Bases, Etc.
Open File Formats
Internet Centric Application Servers
Googles Blogger is independent of:
Hardware
Operating system
Client software
Client/Server Architecture
Note that client is just
a web browser.
Could be a computer.
Could be a phone.
Could be something
else.
Complete client side
hardware and O/S
independence.
Note that server side
also exclusively uses
open standards to
communicate
between layers.
HTTP, XML, SQL
Complete serve side
hardware and O/S
independence!
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One Part of the Solution
Free and Open Source Software (FOSS)
based educational activities
Activities can utilize a variety FOSS desktop,
networking, and O/S software tools.
For example, Open Office, Ethereal (WireShark), net cat,
and Apache.
Modern Linux uses a graphical interface analogous
to that used by Microsoft Windows and Mac OSX.
Available for Linux and Windows.
The graphical interface is so similar to what our students
are accustomed to that virtually no transition was required.
What does Linux look like?
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What does Linux (Knoppix) Look Like?
K Desktop Environment
While you can use a variety
of window managers, here
we will focus on the K
desktop environment
(KDE).
KDE is similar to Macintosh
and Microsoft Windows
environments. KDE offers:
Stability
Scalability
Openness
KDE Attributes
Over 800 contributors.
Widely distributed
More than 17 official WWW mirrors (12 countries).
More than 106 official FTP mirrors (39 countries).
KDE source code repository currently holds
over 4.0 million lines of code.
Linux kernel version 2.5.71 consists of about 3.7
million lines of code.
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Open Office
Opens, reads,
and writes
Microsoft Word,
Powerpoint, and
related Office
Files
Transparent to
user. Just select
and click.
Open Office can
also save in PDF
format.
Note, PDF is an example of a free, but not open source tool.
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Open Office and the GNU Image
Manipulation Program (GIMP)
GIMP: the GNU Image Manipulation Program. Features
include:
Photo retouching
Screen captures (like you see here.)
Image Creation
Often used as a free replacement for Adobe Photoshop
Available on many different operating systems
Using the Portable version, the GIMP can be carried on
a thumb drive and used on any computer.
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What is Linux?
Linux is the kernel of a Unix-like operating
system
Originally created by Linus Torvalds et al (1991).
Each Linux distribution packages related utilities
and applications along with the kernel.
Many utilities and applications were developed under
the GNU program and general public license (GPL).
Most Linux software is compatible across all major
distributions.
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What is a Linux Distribution?
Typical Linux distributions include:
Linux kernel
GNU tools and libraries
Additional software
Windows manager and desktop environment
Applications and utilities
Documentation
Diverse Linux distributions target different user groups.
Some distros may fully-featured desktops whereas some may be
server focused
The same, but different...
All distributions share a common kernel
Different distributions combine different tools, windows
managers, and software.
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Linux distributions may be:
Released under a variety of Open Source
Licenses.
Open Source
Free as in speech, not necessarily free as in beer.
GNUs, GPL is one popular license
Some distributions may contain free, but not
open source, software as well.
Philosophical differences can impact specific
distributions.
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LiveCDs: Easiest Path to Linux
Live Linux CD are a specific group of
distributions that distinguish themselves by
being complete and able to run from a CD or
similar media.
CD
USB
DVD
Typically, can also be installed on a HD
Or can be run under a virtual machine on
Windows
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LiveCd Advantages
Lab set up is passing out the Live CDs.
CDs contain many applications.
Open Office
Graphics including screen capture
Many, many, networking and system tools.
No license tracking.
Our first effort, it took seven minutes from CD distribution to
having everyone booted up
Students can reproduce and distribute the O/S.
Trouble shooting is turn the computer off, turn the
computer on.
Immune from virus, worm, and spyware infection.
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LiveCD Distributions
There are a variety of Live CD
distributions.
Choose the one that offers the
optimum potential for your
situation.
For us that distribution was
Knoppix.
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Three Knoppix Design Goals
1.
2.
3.
Desktop replacement
Rescue disk
Linux demonstration disk
Knoppix the first widely
distributed Live Linux CD.
Knoppix documentation is widely
available.
In addition to downloading and
burning Knoppix, it comes with
several trade books.
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Knoppix Documentation
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Conclusions
Antidotal student response has been enthusiastic.
Because the labs are open source and LiveCD
based, students can repeat and/or verify their labs
at home or at work.
Students can freely distribute lab software.
Software is free consequently budget discussions
are irrelevant.
I can burn the software myself not subject to
purchasing inertia.
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Questions?
Thanks for attending!
[email protected]24
