Free Software for Users
Mozilla, OpenOffice.org and other Free software
applications are a very sensible choice in terms of
simplicity, features, usability and freedom.
The GNU/linux operating system, although very easy
to use and increasingly easy to install and upgrade,
requires more curiosity.
A short introduction, pros and cons, and resources.
http://labor-liber.org
Last significant update : 2 July 2004
1 Free Software for any operating system
2 The Case for Free Software
Prior reading of Free Software: an Overview is recommended.
Software infrastructure (operating systems, networking and middleware
software) is increasingly Free / Open Source, but most software users
still believe they are stuck with proprietary software. They are not.
Many pieces of Free software are available for Microsoft Windows and
Apple MacOS as well as GNU/Linux and UNIXes, and they are a very sensible
choice in terms of simplicity, features and usability as well as freedom:
- The Mozilla project offers the best Web browser out there.
- Mozilla Thunderbird is an excellent email (and newsgroups) client.
- OpenOffice.org is a full-featured office productivity suite compatible
with all major file formats (including Microsoft's).
- Many other Free software applications can be used with proprietary
operating systems.
Using Free software is the first step towards migration to a Free
operating system. Installing Mozilla and OpenOffice.org will only take
a few minutes of your time. You won't regret it.
You deserve Free software.
3 Mozilla
Internet Application Suite. Two applications are also distributed
separately:
- Browser (Firefox),
- e-mail and newsgroups client, adressbook (Thunderbird),
- IRC chat client,
- HTML editor.
The best choice:
- Portability (Windows, GNU/Linux, MacOS X),
- The best standards compliance,
- Innovations, usability and many extensions/plugins.
4 Mozilla Firefox
- Simplified User Interface
- Extensible: many quality extensions
- Tab-Browsing
- Popup Blocking
- Annoyance Eliminator
- Best Accessibility
- Simplified Privacy
- Better Bookmarks and History
- Customizable Toolbars and full screen mode
- More Responsive
- Personalizable With Themes
5 Mozilla Thunderbird
- Simple User Interface
- Extensible: many quality extensions
- Smartest Way to Stop Junk Mail
- Built-in Spell Checking
- Safe and Secure
- Integrated News Reader
- Personalizable with Themes
6 OpenOffice.org
Sun Microsystems bought StarDivision in 1999.
On 13 October 2000, Sun open sources StarOffice 6.0.
On 14 October 2000, the OpenOffice.org project begins
(OpenOffice was already a registered trademark).
It is a full-featured office productivity suite:
- Writer: word processor,
- Calc: spreadsheet,
- Impress: presentation manager,
- Draw: drawing program,
- Database with ODBC or JDBC,
- Integrated documentation.
Good read/write compatibily with Microsoft Office file formats
(better than Office itself for older versions), and a similar interface.
Macros are not lost (they are commented out), but must be rewritten
to be used in OpenOffice.org.
OpenOffice.org file extensions
| Application |
Extension |
| Writer |
.sxw |
| Writer Models |
.stw |
| Calc |
.sxc |
| Calc Models |
.stc |
| Impress |
.sxi |
| Impress Models |
.sti |
| Draw |
.sxd |
| Draw Models |
.std |
| Math |
.sxm |
| Master Documents |
.sxg |
Compressed (zip) XML files, with at least:
- manifest.xml
- settings.xml
- meta.xml
- styles.xml
- content.xml
Therefore, the whole range of XML tools can be used.
For instance, OpenOffice.org 1.1 offers imports/exports from/to
the DocBook format.
8 Free Software for Microsoft Windows
GNUWin II is a free software compilation for Windows.
Lots of software, in many categories:
- 3D Games,
- Computer Security,
- Desktop Environments,
- Development,
- Education,
- Engineering,
- Games,
- Graphics,
- Internet and communications,
- Multimedia,
- Office,
- Operating systems,
- Other,
- Sciences and Math,
- Servers and database,
- Utilities.
9 A Short Introduction to GNU/Linux
10 Linux Kernel
An operating system is a complex system,
made up of a large number of components, or software layers.
Ideally, these components are independant from each other, so
that the large complex system becomes a set of smaller and more
simple components.
The kernel of an operating system is its core component ;
or its bottom layer, the interface with hardware.
The Linux kernel:
- Manages hardware drivers.
- Manages the system's fundamental services: memory, filesystem,
network, processes, permissions.
Version numbers:
- Stable releases: Even minor version number (2.6.x)
- Development releases: Odd minor version number (2.7.x)
11 Shell
Text mode / command line (instructions are given line by line)
user interface:
- Command interpreter
- To launch an application, type its name,
and press Enter.
- Many commands (small programs) to browse and edit files,
control program execution, display system information, etc.
- Programmable.
The shell is much more flexible and powerful than a graphical user
interface.
12 X Window System
The X Window system, or X, or X11:
- Manages some hardware:
- graphics/video cards,
- keyboard and mouse.
X enables text copy&paste with the mouse:
select text using the left button, and copy it
elsewhere with the middle button.
- Manages the display of applications in windows.
Client Server system: a X server on a machine can display a
client application running on another machine.
An application server can run a client application for
many machines with an X server (e.g. OpenOffice.org).
13 Window Managers and Desktop Environments
Window Manager
- Manipulation and decoration of windows.
- Generally provides additional elements (menu, taskbar, ...).
Desktop Environment
- Coherence of applications (menus, drag&drop).
- Full-featured file manager (integrated with Web browser).
There is no clear distinction between desktop environments and window
managers.
The freedesktop.org project
works on interoperability and shared technology for desktop environments
for the X Window System.
14 The Gnome and KDE Desktop Environments
Desktop environments like Gnome and KDE provide a platform
for software applications development, and a large and increasing
number of applications with a common look and feel.
GNU Network Object Model Environment (GNOME)
- GTK+ Library: http://gtk.org/.
- The name of applications generally begins with "
g"
or "gnome-".
K Desktop Environment (KDE)
15 GNU/Linux Screenshots
16 Gimp, XMMS
17 FluxBox, MPlayer
18 XFce
20 Gnome
21 GNU/Linux Distributions
22 What is a Distribution?
While Windows and MacOS have a single distributor, GNU/Linux
can be built from scratch, and is available from various vendors.
Distribution =
- GNU/Linux operating system itself,
- many software,
= a set of packages (software components) including an
installation and update system.
There are many distributions, suited fo various uses.
23 Debian GNU/Linux
THE free distribution.
- It is maintained by its users.
- Unparalleled support.
- The best packaging system in the world.
- Incredible amounts of software.
- Packages well integrated.
- Easy upgrades.
- Supports a dozen hardware architectures.
Debian has an exemplary social contract, and the Debian
Free Software Guidelines have been used as a model for the
Open Source Definition
Debian has been growing and improving since 1993.
24 Other Distributions
Try GNU/Linux without installing it!
- Knoppix and its derivatives, based on Debian.
Boots on from a CD or a DVD.
Mainstream distributions:
- Fedora,
the Red Hat community distribution.
- Mandrakelinux,
from France, a very good choice for the average user.
- Red Hat,
from the United States (IBM, Intel), useful for the certification
of some proprietary software.
- SUSE,
from Germany (Novell).
Other distributions:
- Gentoo, which enables easy
installation and update from sources.
- UserLinux, basée sur Debian.
- ...
25 Migration to GNU/Linux
26 Reasons not to use GNU/Linux
- Hardware support may be a problem:
- Hardware which is not installed out of the box requires knowledge.
- Very recent hardware may not be supported.
- Requires curiosity from people used to another software environment.
- Tends to require more knowledge.
- Too much freedom of choice, sometimes between multiple applications
which lack some desired feature.
- Some applications which don't have a free equivalent only run on
proprietary operating systems.
27 Reasons to use GNU/Linux
28 Where to Start
- Try one of the live CD distributions.
- Hardware may be an issue for very old machines
(depending on the distribution) or for the latest technologies
because of a lack of drivers.
http://www.google.com/linux surely has an answer.
- Choose a distribution. You may use the same as the "guru"
next door, or find the closest GNU/Linux Users Group.
- Learn from others and share your knowledge.
Some vendors sell computers with GNU/Linux installed.
29 Resources: Software
Dorectories:
Lists of applications:
30 Resources
Documentation:
News:
