[Edu-sig] linux essay

[Conrad Koziol]

Hey here is the rough draft for my essay. I was hoping you could read it
over and give me advice. The main compliant I got was that people don't
know about anything. Like they don't know what O.S. stands for or what
even is Linux. That was the main reason for not making an essay for
python. I think I will overcome that barrier with a glossary. The main
advice I need is what to include and what not to include and more stuff,
as well as anything else. Try to have fun andthink like noobs. :) Btw
this is for a freshman class in  a high school which calls itself Tech
High. But uses everything windows :( and disables command prompt and
gets kids in trouble for making bat files or linking folders between
accounts. I thought after the essay I might push for at least 1
Linuxbox.


	Linux should be used as the primary software by everyone. Formaly known
as GNU/Linux it was started by Linus Torvalds in 1991. It began when his
professor created an O.S. Called Minnix to teach his students the unner
workings of an O.S. Dissapointed by the lack of a free O.S. and the
weakness of Minix, Torvalds created Linux with a losse net of about
hackers. Today it is used by approxatimely 7.5-11 million people.

Being released under the GPL((?)(GNU public licsence) ahh can someone
help me here), Linux has the advanteges of being an Open Source product.
This means that anyone can look at the code and so anything with it.
This is different from what Microsoft labels as 'open source' which is
properly called free since you dont have acces to the code, an example
would be Internet Explorer. Windows itself is proprietary software, or
software you must pay for. There are many open-source licsences such as
BSD, and Lesser GPL, each with different constraints or freedoms of what
you can do to the software. Such as the terms of the GPL which states
that you must report the changes of the code you made back to the author
and if you choose to distribute it or any program using it you must
provide the source code for free. These licsences ensure the author is
given due credit and that the authors wishes are carried out. This also
ensures that no one tries to sell the product without providing the
source code for free. This makes it possible for authors who wish to
distribute the program for free ensure it stays free. Most programs for
Linux are licsenced this way.(people commented they dont understand why
it matters that linux is released under a free licsence, any help??)

Linux can be run on any computer from a lowly 300 MGH pentuim 1 to a 11
teraflop 1000 + node supercomputer. On any system Linux easily
outmatches Windows in everything and can go toe to toe with a higher end
system Windows machine. This is due to the contributions of hundreds of
thousands people's code, which is constantly being reviewed and
improved. Linux can also be customized for you exact system by building
from source. It's philosophy of one computer, multiple users, makes it
ideal for networking. It's windowing system is run at the user level so
you can have hundreds of users remotely log in to a computer and access
all the drives on it without overly taxing it since all the windowing
and GUI(graphical user interface) is handled on the computer you are on.
This also allows for text-only mode if you only need to use that.

Linux is more powerful and flexible than Windows because of it's build.
In linux you have complete control of everything due to it's licsencing.
You can control what applications start when you log in or when the
computer starts, you can make your own firewall or modify the current
one, decide what the screen shows when you turn on the computer, or make
it sing a song when you log in. It's up to you. Though there is a GUI
for a lot of things, it is restricted by it's lack of useability and
total control, so the optimal way to do things is the command
prompt(called shell, DOS in windows). There is a learning curve for all
of this, but it is not overwhelming. To help you there are several
websites and books, as well as tons of friendly users on IRC or mailing
lists.

In using Open-Source software, you have an abundance of choices to
choose from. There are several distros(versions, distrubutions) of
Linux. Each distro uses the exactly same kernal(core or backbone of the
linux O.S.), what seperates them is the services and goals behind them.
For example, Redhat Linux specializes in stability, Mandrake promotes
ease of use, and Gentoo offers supreme customizibility and performance.
Usually there are several products for Linux which do the same thing but
add there own bells and whistles, such as web browsers. Currently there
are 4-5 different browsers offered for Linux (all with Windows ports),
each of them is compliant with the standards, the thing that seperates
them is the principles they hold when the develop them such as speed or
ease of use. Each product is also compatible with each other since they
use open formats to save everything. It is up to you too decide which
one is best for you, though any will do unless your looking for
something specialized. You can find anything you need for linux on the
web through sites like SourceForge, Freshmeat, and through individual
developers. SourceForge and Freshmeat are sites that provide a place for
developers to meet and organize projects, and then gives them hostingand
a place to offer there programs. Having lots of options develops
diversity and forces programmers to think of more ways to seperate there
program from the rest of the crowd. This results in better code and
programs. Installing programs is a breeze by using you distro's version
of rpms. If you want complete customibilty right from the start you can
use Source Code which can is compatible with all distros of linux.

Linux is the perfect operating system that prometes user control. Though
there is a learning cureve it easily makes itself up it the money you
save, and the thought that you can do anything with your computer. Linux
brings bac k the fun in computing.