DISCUSSION OF OPEN SOURCE AND A PARTICULAR LINUX DISTRIBUTION FLAVOR:

According to Webopedia, Open source refers to a program or software in which

the source code (the form of the program when a programmer writes a program in a particular
programming language) is available to the general public for use and/or modification from its
original design free of charge. Furthermore, How stuff works defines Open source as a software
that is at the opposite end of the spectrum. The source code is included with the compiled
version and modification or customization is actually encouraged. The software developers who
support the open source concept believe that by allowing anyone who's interested to modify the
source code, the application will be more useful and error-free over the long term.
To be considered as open source software by the software development industry,
certain criteria must be met:
The program must be freely distributed
Source code must be included.
Anyone must be allowed to modify the source code.
Modified versions can be redistributed.
The license must not require the exclusion of other software or interfere with the operation of
other software.

To be specific, I have chosen Ubuntu as my flavor of Linux. This is because Ubuntu
comes installed with a wide range of software that
includes LibreOffice, Firefox, Thunderbird, Empathy, Transmission, and several lightweight
games (such as Sudoku and chess). Additional software that is not installed by default
(including software that used to be in the default installation such as Evolution, GIMP, Pidgin,
and Synaptic) can be downloaded and installed using the Ubuntu Software Center or
other apt based package management tools. Programs in the Software Center are mostly free,
but there are a small number of paid for games and applications.
Moreover, Ubuntu is a computer operating system based on the Debian Linux
distribution and distributed as free and open source software, using its own desktop
environment. It is named after the Southern African philosophy of ubuntu ("humanity towards
others"). Ubuntu is designed primarily for use on personal computers, although a server edition
also exists.
Ubuntu is sponsored by the UK-based company Canonical Ltd., owned by South African
entrepreneur Mark Shuttle worth. Canonical generates revenue by selling technical support and
services related to Ubuntu, while the operating system itself is entirely free of charge. The
Ubuntu project is committed to the principles of free software development; people are
encouraged to use free software, improve it, and pass it on. (Wikipedia)

HOW TO CREATE A BOOTABLE OPERATING SYSTEM (OS) ON A USB STICK:
Things you will need:
Desktop computer or Laptop
An empty Flash Drive for storage purposes
Internet access to download the files needed
Downloading Procedure:
1. Download an Open Source Operating System (OS), e.g. Ubuntu, from The LiveCD List
website (www.livecdlist.com).

2. Click on it (Ubuntu), and you will be redirected to a website. And click on the website
where you can download the OS.

3. After doing the above procedure, click on the download button for the desktop.

4. Then, you will be redirected to another website where you can choose the flavor you
want. In my case, I have chosen the 32-bit of Ubuntu 12.04 LTS. Click the start
download button and it will automatically be downloaded after such period of time.

5. Next to be downloaded is an application that would allow you to create bootable Live
USB drives for an open source OS, such as Ubuntu, Fedora, and other Linux
distributions without burning a CD. And UNetbootin is the perfect one for this.
First, go to the UNetbootins website (unetbootin.sourceforge.net), then choose any of
the download buttons that corresponds to your current OS. In my case, Ive chosen the
one for Windows.
Installation Procedure:
6. First, you must run the application, UNetbootin. Then, click on the radio button of
Diskimage. Beside it, you must choose ISO. The OS should be saved in a USB stick so
the type is USB Drive. But, if you want to save it in your hard disk, you may do so. And,
in my case, its in drive F.

7. After selecting your .iso file, click OK.

8. Wait, until all the four (4) steps are done.

9. Then, click the Reboot Now button.

10. After you have done the above procedure, your computer will restart. After rebooting,
keep pressing the appropriate button (usually F1, F2, F12, ESC, or backspace)[ in my
case, its F12 because I am using a Lenovo laptop], until the BIOS menu shows up and

select your USB drive as the startup target and change the startup order to boot USB by
default.
Then, after some time, you can now enjoy using your new bootable OS.
MY EXPERIENCE IN USING THIS BOOTABLE OS ON A USB STICK:
It is great to have another OS on my USB stick. This is because I could easily carry it
with me anytime, anywhere if I intend to use the Linux OS.
Though, there are also the not-so-great sides. These are the downloading part of the
disk image file because it would take hours before you can have it, some disk image files are
not working well, you must have a USB for one disk image file so that you can store it there and
so this means that if you want many Oss, then you must have many USBs also, and there are
no codecs so I cant play videos, even audio.
And there are applications available that I can already use like. There are also features
in some applications like when browsing, there are four (4) screens, their taskbar is also at the
upper part of the screen which is unique, and that they have the applications at the left side,
unlike in Windows 7, you must first download an application to have this, and their music player
Rhythmbox Music Player is like iTunes.
Even though there are parts that need to be improved, I might use, Linux specifically
Ubuntu as my OS. Not just the bootable one, but the permanent one. This is because its unique
and fun to explore. Though, I need to be more flexible to learn more about it and more time to
get used to it.