An Introduction to Open Source software

By :- sahil jindal(13mcmc05) University Of Hyderabad

What is Source?

• Source code is the version of software as it is originally written by a human in plain text.

• The term software refers to all operating systems, application and utility programs.

• Source code can be written in any of the programming languages (C, C++, Cobol, Fortran, Java, Perl, PHP, Python and..)

• To be usable by a computer source code must be compiled.

compile

What is Open Source Software?

promotes free redistribution and access to a products design or ideas and implementation details.

Open -> Collaboration is Open Source -> Source is freely available

ShareAdapt

ModifyCollaborate!

Is it Free? No!

• Free here is freedom not free in terms of price. • Every free software is not Open Source. • Every Open Source software is not free. • Some software are Open Source as well as free.

Creation of Open Source Software

• Created by large community of people who collaborate via the internet.

• These people are programmers or designers or testers who have common interest in particular type of software.

www.Sourceforge.net

Creation continued..

• Initiation-Person who usually started the project usually decides the language and platform on which the code will be created and manner in which it will be distributed and what licence policy they will follow and also specifications of project.

• This allows those who join later to participate in the project whose ultimate goals are specified in advance.

• The design is setteled by exchanging email and messages and by jointly working on specifications.

• Participants submit their codes to review and test.• Otheres may join the project to privide assistance with testing ,

documentation ,revisions and extentions.

Who creates open source software and why?

• Some programmers and devlopers work on open source to satisfy a personal itch.

• May work on open source software to create an alternative to proprietary software.

• For many young developers ,students and starting professionals , participating in open source projects in a way of showing off their skills.

• Many professionals work on open source projects as their companies have an interest in those particular projects.

Open Source Software History• In the 1950s and 1960s,

– software and compilers were delivered as a part of hardware purchases without separate fees

– At this time, source code, the human-readable form of software, was generally distributed with the software providing the ability to fix bugs or add new functionality

– Many of the modifications developed by universities were openly shared in keeping with the academic principles of sharing knowledge

• In the 1970s– “unbundling” of software from hardware [IBM]

• In the 1980s– Richard Stallman, formerly a programmer at the MITAI Lab launched the GNU

Project – Computer Science Research Group (CSRG) of the University of California at

Berkeley working on BSD UNIX system

Open Source Software History Cont’d

• In the 1990s– In Finland, LinusTorvalds, a student of computer science was implementing

the first versions of the Linux kernel. – GNU/Linux – 386BSD – GNU/Linux and 386BSD were reasonably stable platforms.– BSD based operating systems (NetBSD, FreeBSD, and OpenBSD) – GNU/Linux distributions (Slackware, Debian, Red Hat, Suse, Mandrake,..) – Apache (web server) – Perl– GNOME and KDE (Desktop environment) – Mozilla (funded by Netscape to build a web browser) – Open Source Initiative (OSI)

Linux

• A Linux distribution has thousands of software Free!

• Linux is a complete, stable and reliable operating system

• Linux is powerful • Linux has a complete development environment • Linux is an ideal environment for servers • It is easily upgradable • It has lots of documentation • More than 90% of current Linux source code is

written by other developers • Even Microsoft Contributes to Linux Kernel

Development

LinuxRuns on Linux-based Server

Runs on Linux-based Server

Runs on Linux-based Server

Runs on Linux-based Server

Runs on Linux-based Server

Runs on Linux-based Server

but why?

• Stability • Security • Cost • Freedom

• Apache, Linux’s leading Web server application • MySQL, the most prominent database

application • PHP, the most popular scripting language

Apache• Developed and maintained by an open community of developers

under the auspices of the Apache Software Foundation • The most popular web server on the internet since 1996 • 54.2% of all active websites (June 2013) • is a collaborative software development • Apache can run on almost any OS• Simple and powerful • It is free • It is Open Source

MySQL

• 1994 – Development starts on MySQL • MySQL is the world's most popular open source database • Relational database management system (RDBMS); • Facebook and Wikipedia use MySQL • It is Open Source • It is Free

Android• Android is a mobile operating system (OS) based on the Linux kernel and

currently developed by Google.• Android is designed primarily for touchscreen • Source code is released by Google under open source licenses • Initially developed by Android, Inc., which Google bought in 2005 ($50

million) • was developed as a platform for digital cameras but the makers later

changed their focus to smart phones• Free!

Other popular softwares

References

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_software

• http://sourceforge.net• Managing information systems in

Business,government and society- Rahul De

Thankyou