Linux for Librarians Nishtha Anilkumar Librarian [email_address] Physical Research Laboratory Ahmedabad

Why Linux ? Most of the library system softwares like LibSys now run on Linux platform Digital Library Softwares like Greenstone and DSpace are available on Linux platform Open Source Integrated Library systems like Koha also run on Linux

Understanding Linux A story that goes back over 40 years to Bell Laboratories, where UNIX was born

A story that goes back over 40 years to Bell Laboratories, where UNIX

was born

Ken Thompson & Dennis Ritchie Thompson developed the first UNIX kernel Ritchie developed the a computer language ‘C’ Portability, Modularity, Flexibility made UNIX popular

Thompson developed the first

UNIX kernel

Ritchie developed the a

computer language ‘C’

Portability, Modularity, Flexibility

made UNIX popular

Richard M Stallman (RMS) ‏ Without Stallman’s contribution, Linux would have had a different quality Member of MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Laboratory Culture of the Lab. was one of extreme openness

Without Stallman’s contribution, Linux would have had a different quality

Member of MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Laboratory

Culture of the Lab. was one of extreme openness

Birth of GNU Mission of RMS : Creation of free UNIX like OS GNU stands for ‘GNU is Not Unix’ RMS’s formula for free software : Freedom to run the program Freedom to modify the program Freedom to distribute copies Freedom to redistribute the modified versions

Mission of RMS : Creation of free

UNIX like OS

GNU stands for ‘GNU is Not Unix’

RMS’s formula for free software :

Freedom to run the program

Freedom to modify the program

Freedom to distribute copies

Freedom to redistribute the modified versions

Free Software By 1991 ‘Minix ‘ was in circulation which was a variant of UNIX Linus Torvalds, a Finnish software engineer, reacting to the limitations of Minix, took a small bit of working code and Minix as a guideline to create a basic kernel

By 1991 ‘Minix ‘ was in circulation which

was a variant of UNIX

Linus Torvalds, a Finnish software engineer,

reacting to the limitations of Minix, took a

small bit of working code and Minix as a

guideline to create a basic kernel

Linus Torvalds Linus released it under the GPL (GNU Public Licence) originated by RMS and the Free Software foundation With very basic operating system built from Linus’s kernel and handful of GNU tools – Linux was born!

Linus released it under the GPL (GNU Public Licence) originated by RMS and the Free Software foundation

With very basic operating system built from Linus’s kernel and handful of GNU tools –

Linux was born!

Another facet of Linux culture One of the difficulties of getting a working Linux machine was downloading all the needed bits and compiling them Overcome by – Distribution or Distro However, the term free software was being taken as something of inferior quality

One of the difficulties of getting a working

Linux machine was downloading all the needed bits and compiling them

Overcome by – Distribution or Distro

However, the term free software was being taken as something of inferior quality

Eric S Raymond (ESR) ‏ Instrumental in removing this notion of “low quality or incomplete” Led the way to market the name ‘Open Source software’ (OSS) as a new way of thinking The Cathedral and the Bazaar - CatB

Instrumental in removing this notion of “low quality

or incomplete”

Led the way to market the name ‘Open Source software’ (OSS) as a new way of thinking

Current applications Networking and services in the beginning Today Linux has joined the desktop On the server side Stable and reliable platform providing database and trading service for companies First choice for firewall, proxy- and web servers

Networking and services in the beginning

Today Linux has joined the desktop

Other applications In large search engines, clusters are used to perform Internet searches Linux also runs on gadgets like PDAs Mobiles Experimental watches

In large search engines, clusters are used to perform Internet searches

Linux also runs on

gadgets like

PDAs

Mobiles

Experimental

watches

Challenges faced by organizations Reducing the costs Managing heterogeneous technology landscape Ensuring sufficient support Basic needs to be met - Performance, Security & Standardization

Reducing the costs

Managing heterogeneous technology landscape

Ensuring sufficient support

Basic needs to be met -

Performance, Security & Standardization

Linux pros and cons Free Portable Made to keep running Secure and versatile Scalable Short debug times There are far too many distributions Linux is confusing for beginners Is an Open Source product trustworthy ?

Free

Portable

Made to keep running

Secure and versatile

Scalable

Short debug times

There are far too many distributions

Linux is confusing for beginners

Is an Open Source product trustworthy ?

Direct benefits of adopting Linux Flexibility to choose vendors Alternative to costly proprietary OSs Ease of migration Security

Flexibility to choose vendors

Alternative to costly proprietary OSs

Ease of migration

Security

What is KDE, GNOME ? The K Desktop Environment (KDE) and GNOME Desktop Environment are two popular desktops available

The K Desktop

Environment (KDE)

and GNOME Desktop Environment are two

popular desktops

available

Distributions On top of an OS, there are many applications which provide complete environment e.g. Windows have tools like Word pad Most Linux distributions also comes bundled with many applications Examples – Red Hat, Debian, SUSE, Ubuntu, Fedora, Mandriva

On top of an OS, there are many applications which provide complete environment e.g. Windows have tools like Word pad

Most Linux distributions also comes bundled with many applications

Examples – Red Hat, Debian, SUSE, Ubuntu, Fedora, Mandriva

Choosing the right distribution 1) Purpose 2) Software update life 3) Feature Stability 4) Package Selection

1) Purpose

2) Software update life

3) Feature Stability

4) Package Selection

1. Purpose Desktop usage : ease of adjusting settings, age of software, range of GUI applications Server usage : software life, security

2. Software Update life How often you want to upgrade to a new distribution version ? Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), Centos, Debian or Ubuntu LTS are good choices for longer life distribution

How often you want to upgrade to a new

distribution version ?

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), Centos, Debian or Ubuntu LTS are good choices for longer life distribution

3. Feature Stability Many distros have a policy of not upgrading software in mid-release Instead distro maintainers will backport a security fix to a older release and rename it Reason – if they upgraded to a new version, the features or configuration might have changed

4. Package Selection Different distros have differing amount of softwares in their repositories Red Hat’s Enterprise Linux has a much smaller package offering than Debian

Choice of distribution For servers, RedHat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) For Desktop – Fedora or Ubuntu

Linux Users’ Group (LUG) LUG - a non-profit or not-for-profit organization that provides support and/or education for Linux users particularly for novices Online LUGs use mailing lists and bulletin boards for communication

Some interesting links http://www.reallylinux.com http://www.wikipedia.org http://www.redhat.com http://hardware4linux.info/

Thank you ! [email_address]