If anyone is interested, I’ve uploaded the slides from my talk on Free Software for Students which I was intending to present. They probably don’t make much sense without me talking over the top, and there are a few applications I would like to have mentioned but cut out for timing reasons, so I’ll try to write up a blog post on the topic.

The aim was to cover the types of software I find helpful, for example personal wikis and to do checklists that other students might not make use of yet, as well as suggesting open source alternatives for common applications such as Office. The one thing I really struggled to find was a good referencing tool – everything I tested was either limited to one platform, hard to use, or so difficult to get hold of and install that I wouldn’t have felt comfortable recommending it to anyone else. If you have any suggestions on that front, I’d love to hear it.

Anyway, apologies again for missing the day; I hope that everyone that took part had a really great time.

Photo thanks to AGoK on flickr.

The event, which takes place on Saturday the 19th of September in the Hannah Maclure Center, will feature a range of talks and ongoing demonstrations and is a great opportunity to celebrate and learn more about software freedom.

Personally, I’ll be talking about software for students – discussing the benefits of choosing free software and sharing some great organisation, study and entertainment packages.

If you’re in Dundee, please stop by and say hello!

Software Freedom Day Dundee Homepage (there’s also a swish information hotline if you call 01382 848 950)

SFD Dundee Twitter Feed

Software Freedom Day Homepage

That’s right, Ubuntu cola. Although it isn’t related to the Linux distribution it is the first fair trade cola available in the Uk.
 

How does it taste? Really good actually. It’s very sweet, but smooth with virtually no aftertaste.
 
Has anyone else seen or tried it?

Why run Linux in particular?

1. Get experience with a different operating system.

Whilst you can set up Linux to look almost exactly like Windows or Mac, when you get down to the details it is a fundamentally different operating system. Whether or not you prefer using Linux, it’s important to realise that there are alternative ways of doing things. Besides, some experience with Linux or a Unix based OS is vital because…

 

2. It’s used in many areas of computing.

Although you may see relatively few desktops running Linux, you’ll find considerably more servers which do. Linux is used behind the scenes all over the place: embedded devices, ultra-portable laptops, multiplayer game servers, cloud computing and high performace computing to name but a few. If you want to work in any of these areas, some previous experience with Linux can only help you.

 

3. You can tweak your system to exactly the way you want it.

Linux is open source, so nothing about your operating system is hidden from you. From the way you want your desktop to appear, to whether you want Blowfish support built into your kernel or compiled as a loadable module, Linux is all about choice.

 

4. It’s easy to stay up to date and secure.

Linux comes in a multitude of flavours, or distributions, each one with different features, and in many cases a different package manager. Package management is a new concept to a lot of Windows users. Basically, imagine how easy it would be if thousands of pieces of software could be installed, tracked and updated through one central location. No more trawling the web to find a decent CD Burner. No trying to find out which of your applications have newer versions available, and whether you need other software in order to install them. Well, Linux package managers handle all that for you. With a few clicks (or commands if you prefer), you can manage the software you want installed, keeping you up to date and secure.

 

5. It can be a challenge.

These days, user-friendly distributions like Ubuntu make it easy for even a novice to get a desktop installation up and running smoothly. However, try to get an unusual piece of hardware working, or use a less stable distribution or piece of software, and you’ll probably face a few “challenges”. Now, someone who just want to do some word processing might refer to these as “problems” or “reasons to go back to Windows”, however, I personally find them one of the most exciting features of the operating system. Every time I have a problem, it takes some work and liberal use of everyone’s best friend Google to get over it, but each time I learn a little more about the software I’m using.

 

6. It runs on a range of hardware.

If you have an older PC lying around, or a laptop that isn’t quite as Vista capable as the shiney sticker on the box made out, Linux can let you get far more out of the hardware. Linux isn’t limited to desktops either, you can try it out on a range of devices from smart phones to games consoles.

 

7. You don’t even have to install to your harddrive.

If you’re not quite ready to take the step of installing Linux to your harddisk, there are still ways you can try it out. LiveCDs offer you a bootable environment on a CD or DVD so you can try out the OS without making any changes to your computer. You can download LiveCD images of various distributions from their homepages or via bittorrent, or if using the internet is an issue for you, you can order a free Ubuntu CD. Linux magazines also often come with dvds with images of the latest distro releases on them.
If you prefer, you can also install Linux to a USB flash drive or external harddrive to give you a portable version, without re-partitioning your internal harddrive.

 

8. You don’t have to lose Windows.

If Windows is necessary for some of your work, or you just can’t bear to part with it, you don’t have to give up on installing Linux. It’s easy to set up an environment, either with virtualisation or a native dual-boot install, where you can use either operating system on the same computer.

 

Over to you…

Do you run Linux? What benefits does it have?

“Linux has a less than 2% market share – why would you be surprised about how few people use it?”

Well, for the general public I wouldn’t be. Be we’re talking about computing students in particular – people who could get a lot of benefit from using Open Source software and running the Linux operating system.

Why Care About Open Source Software?

1. It gives you access to hundreds of free applications.

If you’re a student, software probably isn’t something you’ll want to spend limited funds on. Although open source software can be sold, many applications are completely free. Most people have probably heard of the big names in the open source world – the likes of Open Office, The Gimp and Firefox, but if you care to search you’ll find there is much more on offer. Whilst there are plenty of open source applications you can run under Windows and Mac, if you choose to install Linux there’s even more on offer and getting hold of them is easy too.

2. More contributers mean better software.

Since the source code of applications is available for other developers to review and modify, programs tend to become secure and high quality. Whilst some may be buggy, software tends to be updated regularly and fixes quickly become available. You can help by reporting bugs to the application’s maintainer if you come across them, or helping to fix them.
As Eric S. Raymond said in his highly recommended book The Cathedral and The Bazaar:

“Given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow.”

3. Find out how things work.

With a proprietary program, if you want to make a change or see why the application works, you’re out of luck. With a piece of open source software the source code is always available to you, and you’re free to modify it.

4. You can afford to contribute for free.

As a student, you’re in a great position which you might never be in again in your lifetime – you have found a way to get to university or college and hopefully have funding for the next few years. Whether you have scholarships, work part time, or have taken out a loan, you probably aren’t working full time and can afford to do something for free. If that something also helps you with the subject you are studying – all the better. While you are a student is a great time to develop for and contribute to a relevant open source project, and perhaps even apply to Google Summer of Code.

5. You can boost your coursework.

Depending on your course and your lecturer, you might be able to integrate open source software to boost your coursework. Obviously I’m not talking about plagiarism or using someone elses work as your own, but if you are allowed and declare them properly in your references, open source software and libraries can save you re-writing a working piece of code, and let you focus on more exciting parts of your project. If you can contribute and give something back in the process, even better.

6. Get experience of working with other people.

Whether you are simply getting an application working, submitting bug reports, or actually helping develop it, you’re going to have to work with other people. When much of your time at university will be spent working on your own, contributing to a project can be a great way to get some experience of developing software as part of a group. As well as aiding your communication skills and letting you learn from more experienced developers, you’ll also gain an understanding of the importance of vital resources such as source code repositories.

7. Become part of the community.

Open source has a huge community surrounding it, from end users to developers. Communicating with other people though forums, mailing lists and IRC channels is easy, letting you share help and support with others. It can also give you some great recommendations for other software to try, and aid you in finding some inspiration for your next project.

Over to you…

To what extent do you make use of open source software?
Do you have any other reasons why it’s great, or perhaps a tip for computing students (including myself)?
Check back in the next few days or subscribe to the site RSS feed to learn why computing students should consider running Linux, and for a list of recommened open source software.

Forums

There are hundreds of Open Source related forums all over the internet, some for a specific program or Linux distribution, others aimed at new users and yet more dealing with anything and everything. If there is something relating to Linux you want to discuss, there will be a forum out there where you can talk about it.

The best part is, all you need to do is sign up and immediately you can read through a whole lot of useful information, get help, and talk with other Linux users.

Some Popular Forums:

1. Linux Forums
2. Linux Questions
3. Ubuntu Forums

Mailing Lists

Mailing lists tend to be more specific than forums, dealing with only a particular geographical area or an application. Users communicate through email, with every one you send being shared with every other person in the group. Writing to one can be a great way to meet people and get support.

Some Mailing Lists:

1. A List of Lists
2. Ubuntu Mailing Lists

Linux User Groups

User groups can be a good way to meet other Linux users in person, or talk to people near you through a mailing list. Meeting other new users can really help you see that you are not alone with your problems, and get some tips from more experienced users.

Some User Group Sites

1. A List of User Groups by Country
2. UK User Groups
3. Dundee and Tayside Linux User Group and Abertay Linux Society.

 
I hope that this post will help some newer users become part of the vast and active Open Source community. If you’ve joined a group and are now looking for technical help, I’ll be following this up with a guide to finding solutions and asking questions in the next couple of days.

If you have any other tips and links you’d like to share, please share them in the comments.

My previous post on abandoning my own project in favour of a more popular and complete one got me thinking. If everyone was to do the same, surely open source software would be even more successful… or perhaps die entirely. Here are my thoughts on the consequences of such action.

More Contributors

Of course, almost all pieces of open source software will be built by and contributed to by many people, sometimes hundreds or even possibly thousands. If everyone was to give up on their personal projects to work on something that was already successful, surely each project could only become stronger, and more useful to everyone.

…But No Innovation

However most projects won’t know right at the start whether they are destined to be big… so many potentially great ideas could be given up in favour of software that exists already. Every project has to start somewhere.

More Complete Software

Of course, having more people working on software means more perspective, more ideas for where it could be taken. If all the effort spent on several projects was combined into one, surely it would offer more features and be useful to more people.

…But No Choice

Choice is commonly regarded as the foundation of the open source community. For example, I choose to use Gentoo Linux, because its package manager suits my needs. If I wanted something more use friendly, I might choose Ubuntu Linux or Fedora. No matter how great a piece of software is, it’s unlikely to be able to cater to everyone – focusing on particular key pieces of software would lose this diversity.

More Expert Opinions

Experienced developers working on software for their own use could benefit everyone if instead the contributed to a bigger project.

…But No Enthusiasm

Few developers would start a personal project unless it was an idea they liked and wanted to work on. Feeling forced to contribute to someone else’s project for the greater good of the community rather than because they liked it themselves could never be as productive or fulfilling.So at the end of the day, I think starting new, small projects is hugely important, it’s when you start repeating work done by someone else that you should stop and think about whether it’s necessary. It’s vital that a lot of people contribute to existing projects, but it’s just as necessary for there to be new, innovative and different projects to compete. As with everything, balance is key.

What do you think?
Have you given up on your own project to contribute to something bigger, or do you enjoy the satisfaction of working on your own idea?