Anthony V Guillen wrote: >I'm a newbie in Linux, before anything else, I am not a programmer, or anything, I'm >just curious in Linux. > >I just wanted to know why is it called as an open source code OS? If it so, what >programming language is use to compile the source code use in Linux? and another >thing, where can I find the source code use in Linux? > >Thanks... > >__________________________________ >www.edsamail.com > > >------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? >Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com > Well, open source means you can see the source code and modify it for your own use. There are some hair splitting differences between open source and free software. Free software requires that you can
1. Use the software 2. Modify it for your own use 3. Make and distribute copies 4. Distribute modified copies. With some restrictions: Namely, that you pass these rights on with the distribution you make. The requirements for free software imply the source is available. An example of open source that is not free software is downloader for X, which requires any modifications be submitted to the original author for consideration. An example of unprotected software is BSD which can be wholly incorporated into a proprietary package with only an integrated, reproduced copyright notice. There are linux distributions that are not free software (most) and there are distributions that are not completely open-source as well. Some have a per-seat license requirement, and others keep their own additions secret, though the rest is of course freely available. MandrakeLinux boxed sets add software that is not free.MandrakeLinux Download is free software beginning with 8.2. Previous versions included software with licensing restrictions (notably netscape and downloader for X). All Mandrake tools you will discover are available in source and are licensed under the GNU General Public License. See http://www.fsf.org for more information on the GPL and its derivatives. The GPL does NOT prohibit use of the software to write programs that will be licensed in other ways by their author. For example, Xbasic, a Visual Basic like compiler that predates VB and runs on X for linux and Windows, is licensed under the GPL and its libraries (which would have to be shipped with an application to make it able to run) are licensed under the Lesser GPL or LGPL. This makes creation of turnkey programs for commercial distribution in Xbasic very easy. So much for the FUD that says Free Software is communisitc... As Richard Stallman points out, free software advocates are more like environmentalists, seeking to remove the poisons from the way business is conducted and to promote healthy business growth. And where does closed source lead? Take a gander at some existing software patents: 1. Do you use a desktop theme? Then you may owe a royalty to Apple Computer. 2. Do you insert text between other text in a word processor? Kindly render tribute to Smith-Corona. 3. Do you ever surf the web or send hyperlinks to friends? Perhaps you should talk to British Telecommunications about a license so you can do that without infringing. 4. Did you ever post a picture to a web site in .gif format? Perhaps you used an unlicensed program for the LZW compression to create that .gif, but don't worry. Chances are your web host bought a license for a fee of $5000 to $7500 to insure against litigation in the event that one of the sites he hosts carries unlicensed .gifs. Unisys Corporation was very thoughtful in making such a protection program available. You can make your own decision about whether software patents and Intellectual Property Laws and armies of lawyers threatening to ruin your life are an enhancement to incentives for huge investment in software (as in pharmaceuticals) or a definite stumbling block to innovation and the public good (as in the electronics industry where cross-licensing is a matter of course and innovation does not in any way appear to relate to the protection of intellecual property). I know that, as a programmer, I have to be very careful about coding anything in the United States. In France, I was more able to program, because I did not have to worry about some inadvertant patent infringement going off under my feet like a land mine. Insofar as I can tell, the Intellectual Property concepts appear more than anything else to make employment for a surplus of attorneys. It also appears that if any small operator makes a big innovation, it will be stolen and the thief will get off with a court settlement and a gag rule (to cover his theft) some distant future time, _if_ the owner can support the suit against the thief. (If you want more information, look up court records about DRDOS.) So, I for one, and many others besides, have chosen to put our work where everyone can use it and none can exploit it, as free software. It is worthy of note that some software End User License Agreements now prohibit the use of the software on a computer also equipped with software licensed under the GNU General Public License or the Perl Language (which may at author/distributor's option be distributed under the GPL or the Artistic License). I have seen this in a networking kit for WindowsXP/Win2K. Now as to programming languages, linux is a mix. A little has to be assembler for the target architecture(yes linux runs on many types of computers, from the x86 to the ia64 to the Alpha, Sparc. 68000 and PPC/G3/G4). A lot is gcc (the gnu c compiler). Many scripts are used, from Perl, bash, and Python, and it would be difficult to put together a distro which does not use these to some extent. Alternatives exist for those who want to roll their own weird distributions, like Pike, ruby, tcl/Tk, Basic for X11, and others. Graphic User Interfaces or GUIs (gooeys) are usually programmed in several different languages using libraries that provide standard toolkits, like FLTK (fast light toolkit), Qt, gtk, gtk+, motif, lesstif, Tk, Pmw, Xbasic grids, and so on. There are a few drag-N-drop tools for GUI programming like glade (which generates C code ) and Xbasic (which generates functions to build grids from grids built by drag-N-drop). Civileme
Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
