Presented at the 5th Girl Geek Dinner Milano October 24th, 2008. An introduction to Open Source, the world of women and Open Source, and the Girl Geek and Open Source. * What is Open Source (OS) * Why Open Source * Open Source in the world * The Girl Geek and the Open Source World * How to Contribute * Appendix A: Some Open Source Alternatives for Proprietary Software

1. MILANO
October 2008
Sara Rosso
Open Source and the Girl Geeks
Girl Geek Dinners Milano
24 October, 2008
with the contribution of Bruna Gardella
and the support of the team GGD Milano
Sara Rosso

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October 2008
Sara Rosso
Open Source
• What is Open Source (OS)
• Why Open Source
• Open Source in the world
• The Girl Geek and the Open Source
World
• How to Contribute
• Appendix: Some Open Source
Alternatives for Proprietary Software

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What is Open Source?

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What is Open Source
• Free Software <> Open Source <> Free
The primary objective is not the (lack of)
cost of the software, but its survival!
• Free Software Foundation (Stallman, GPL)
• OSI (Netscape) and Free/Libre and Open Source
Software (F/LOSS) Community

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The Different Types of
Software
Proprietary:
Limits of use, distribution
and license, decided by the author
Public Domain:
No copyright
Open Source:
With copyright but free!
Can be redistributed.

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The Different Types of
Software
GPL (Gnu General Public License)
– We're at version 3.0…
– Copyleft : GPL applied also the
modifications made to the original
– LGPL : copyleft on the original source file,
not “contagious”
– Apache License : free with a note on
copyright, without copyleft.

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The Four Foundation
Rights of GPL
Rif. [12]

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Use it at your Discretion

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Study and Modify it
(even the source code)

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Distribute the Original
Software
(copy and share)

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Distribute the modified
software
(even the source code)

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Why Open Source
• It's everywhere, it's around us...we use it
and we don't even realize it.
• There are no barriers to entry:
– no expensive courses
– no expensive licenses
• Meritocracy

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Why Open Source…today?
Economic Crisis
Less Budget!
OS Skills in demand!!!

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Linux Administrator Demand Trend
JOB Market
Rif. [13]

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LAMP Demand Trend
JOB Market
Rif. [13]

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Open Source is
Growing!!!

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New Open Source Projects
Rif. [2]

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Total Open Source Projects
Rif. [2]

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Where are the Women?

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Presence of Women in
Proprietary Software
[Rif. 1]
72%
28%
Male
Female

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Presence of Women in
Open Source Software
[Rif. 1]
98.5%
1.5%
Male
Female

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There are Women…
Linux Chix
KDE Women
*elenco nell’appendice A

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And the Girl Geek?

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Navigates with
Reads RSS feeds with

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Transfers the photos
to her site via FTP with
Modifies images/photos with
Writes a post on her
blog with

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Uses OpenOffice to
write and manage her
important documents
Manages her
projects with
GANTTProject
Creates PDF with
pdfforge

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Condivide i video GGD
peer-to-peer con
Transmission
Chats with
her friends
with
Pidgin/Adium
Watches a film with VLC

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The world of Open Source is
close to the Girl Geek
Why not get Closer?

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How to Contribute

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Before Contributing...

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How to Start...
• Which software do you use?
• Is it Open Source?
• Change
• Try
• Get Informed about the Community
• And then? Contribute!

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While you're using...
• Identify cool or interesting features
• Note points for improvement or missing
features
• Identify improvements from a usability
point of view

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Now You're Ready!
You should Contribute!
There are many
ways to do it!

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Contribute: Q&A, Testing
• Testing and reporting bugs
• Recommend new desired features
• Feedback on usability
• Participate on the forums

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Contribute: Program
• Program!
• Create a plugin or
add-on
• Share your
modifications of the
software with the
community

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Contribuire: Usability
• Explore a paradigm of interaction
• Improve the learnability
• Plan the interfaces adaptable for new
evolutions
• “Where Open Source meets Usability”
– http://openusability.org/

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Contribute: Documentation
• Create or improve documents or manuals
• Contribute to support forums or mailing
lists
• Create a theme, logo or graphic for the
site or for the software

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Contribute: Altruism
• Donate money!!!

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Contribute: Advocacy
• Speak about it on the site,
with your online and
offline networks
• Show which OS software
you use in the software of
your site
• Link to donation sites and
participation in the
communities

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October 2008
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Contribute: Advocacy
• Become a
consultant who
promotes the use of
OS solutions with
your clients
• Create courses or
workshops (even
free) to teach the
use of OS software

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Contribute: Translate
• Speak more than one
language?
• Translate software
menus, manuals, web
sites, support
documents or forums

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Ready??

43. MILANO
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Sara Rosso
Sara Rosso
sara.rosso@sararosso.com

44. MILANO
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Want to Know More?
Bibliography
1. FLOSSPOLS: Gender: Integrated Report of Findings, Bernhard Krieger, James Leach
– http://www.flosspols.org/deliverables/FLOSSPOLS-D16-Gender_Integrated_Report_of_Findings.pdf
– http://flossproject.org/report/FLOSS_Final4.pdf
1. The Total Growth of Open Source, Amit Deshpande, Dirk Riehle, SAP Research, SAP Labs LLC
– http://www.riehle.org/2008/03/14/the-total-growth-of-open-source/
1. Women Open Source Free Software - Biblio
– http://www.linuxchix.org/women-open-source-free-software-bibliography.html
1. Women in Open Source Mini-conference
– http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/bsd-guru/women-in-open-source-miniconf-14404
1. Open-source needs more women developers
– http://www.computerworld.com/developmenttopics/development/story/0,10801,103777,00.html
1. Elenco di Programmi Open Source
– http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elenco_di_programmi_open_source
1. Un introduzione a Open Source In Italiano
– http://www.slideshare.net/archimedix/free-software-open-source-floss
1. Geek Feminism Wiki on Open Source
1. http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Open_Source_Software
• Top 5 Open Source Wiki Engines
– http://www.benh.org/techblog/2007/08/top-5-open-source-wiki-engines/
1. PDF Editing & Creation: 50+ open source/free alternatives to Adobe Acrobat
– http://www.cogniview.com/convert-pdf-to-excel/post/pdf-editing-creation-50-open-sourcefree-alternatives-to-adobe-acrobat/
1. Open Source slides from WebChick – presentati alla GGD Montreal, Gennaio 2008
– http://webchick.net/node/19
1. Intervista a Stallman
– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJi2rkHiNqg
1. IT Jobs Watch: Computing Careers
– http://www.itjobswatch.co.uk/jobs/uk/linux%20administrator.do

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Photo Credits
• Slide 3: http://www.flickr.com/photos/oberazzi/318947873/
• Slide 9: http://www.flickr.com/photos/silvertje/2620875254/
• Slide 10: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kool_skatkat/2277548303/
• Slide 11: http://www.flickr.com/photos/silvertje/2621932632/
• Slide 12: http://www.flickr.com/photos/chesire_cat/2616119267/
• Slide 17: Sara Rosso, www.sararosso.com
• Slide 28: http://www.flickr.com/photos/annetta/2610001681/
• Slide 31: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fahdad/1574112409/
• Slide 34: http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcioeugenio/2757948090/
• Slide 35: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cobalt/409924867/
• Slide 36: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alisdair/135306281/
• Slide 38: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bobeirasa/956242230/
• Slide 39: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blampert/2119535732/
• Slide 40: http://www.flickr.com/photos/notionscapital/2493066577/
• Slide 41: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gaspi/80538071/
• Slide 42: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tosaytheleast/2317331669/
• Slide 43: http://www.flickr.com/photos/naiadsspring/185867053/
**All the photos in this presentation have a Creative Commons license or the permission of the author.

46. MILANO
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Sara Rosso
Groups of Women in OS
• Debian Women http://women.debian.org/
• Linux Chix http://www.linuxchix.org/
• Fedora Women http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Women
• GNOME Women http://live.gnome.org/GnomeWomen
• KDE Women http://women.kde.org/
• Ubuntu Women http://www.ubuntu-women.org/
• PHP Women http://www.phpwomen.org/
• Drupalchix http://groups.drupal.org/drupalchix
• Apache Women http://mail-archives.apache.org/mod_
mbox/www-women/
• BSDChix http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/BSDChix/

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Appendix A:
Some Open Source
Alternatives
for Proprietary Software

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Operating System
Proprietary:
• Windows, Mac OS
Open Source:
• Linux (generale) http://www.linux.it
– Ubuntu http://www.ubuntu.com/
– Debian http://www.debian.org
– SUSE http://www.opensuse.org
• OpenSolaris http://www.opensolaris.org
• BSD http://www.bsd.org

49. MILANO
October 2008
Sara Rosso
Web Browser
Proprietary:
• Internet Explorer, Opera, Safari, Google
Chrome
Open Source:
• Firefox
– http://www.mozilla.com/firefox
• Flock
– http://www.flock.com/
• K-Meleon
– http://kmeleon.sourceforge.net/

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Sara Rosso
Presentations, Documents,
Spreadsheets
Proprietary:
• Microsoft Office, Lotus Suite
Open Source:
• OpenOffice.org
– http://www.openoffice.org
• GNOME Office
– http://live.gnome.org/GnomeOffice

51. MILANO
October 2008
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Wiki
Proprietary:
• Confluence, Google Sites, Wikispaces, PBWiki
Open Source
• MediaWiki
– http://www.mediawiki.org/
• Twiki
– http://www.twiki.org
• PMWiki
– http://www.pmwiki.org/

52. MILANO
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Web Sites and CMS
Proprietary:
• Dreamweaver, custom CMS
Open Source:
• Wordpress
– http://www.wordpress.org
• Drupal
– http://www.drupal.org
• Joomla
– http://www.joomla.org

53. MILANO
October 2008
Sara Rosso
Instant Messaging
Proprietary:
• GTalk, MSN Messenger, Skype, Yahoo
Open Source:
• Pidgin
– http://pidgin.im/
• Adium
– http://www.adiumx.com/
• aMSN
– http://www.amsn-project.net/

54. MILANO
October 2008
Sara Rosso
Create PDF
Proprietary:
• Adobe PDF Creator
Open Source:
• PDF Creator
– http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator
• PDF Forge
– http://www.pdfforge.org

55. MILANO
October 2008
Sara Rosso
FTP
Proprietary:
• Bulletproof, WinFTP
Open Source:
• FileZilla
– http://filezilla-project.org
• WinSCP
– http://winscp.net

56. MILANO
October 2008
Sara Rosso
Various Tools
• Web Statistics: AWStats
– http://awstats.sourceforge.net/
• Create Podcasts: Audacity
– http://audacity.sourceforge.net
• Manage Projects: GANTTProject
– http://ganttproject.biz
• Mind Map: Free Mind
– http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.
php/Main_Page

57. MILANO
October 2008
Sara Rosso
Various Tools
• Modify Images: GIMP
– http://www.gimp.org
• XAMPP – package of web server apps
installable on your PC
– http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp.html
• Delete files, forever: Inferno
– http://inferno.sourceforge.net/

58. MILANO
October 2008
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PC Backup
Proprietary:
• Genie Backup, Norton Ghost, Mozy
Open Source:
• Amanda
– http://amanda.zmanda.com/
• BackupPC
– http://backuppc.sourceforge.net/

59. MILANO
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Database
Proprietary:
• Access, MS SQL, IBM DB2, Oracle database
Open Source:
• MySQL
– http://www.mysql.com/products/database/
• GNOME-DB
– http://www.gnome-db.org/
• SQLite
– http://www.sqlite.org/
• InnoDB
– http://www.innodb.com/

60. MILANO
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Server Web & Mail
Proprietary:
• Microsoft IIS & Exchange
Open Source:
• Sendmail
– http://www.sendmail.org
• Apache web server
– http://www.apache.org

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Metaverse
Proprietary:
• SecondLife
Open Source:
• The OpenSource Metaverse Project
– http://metaverse.sourceforge.net/

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(Management) ERP/CRM
Proprietary:
• SAP, JD Edwards (Oracle)
Open Source:
• Compiere : ERP e CRM
– http://www.compiere.com/