Open Source Software

Unit-1 Material
Unit-1 (Introduction to Open Sources, Need of Open Sources, Advantages of Open Sources,
Application of Open Source, Open Source Operating System !inu" introduction #$eneral Over
%iew # &ernel Mode and User Mode'(
Open Source refers to a program or software in which the source code is available to the general public
for use and modification from its original design at free of charge.
(Or)
Open source software refers to applications developed in which the user can access and alter the "source"
code.
Advantages:-
Open-source software is free to use, distribute, and modify.
Open-source software is more secured as the code is accessible to everyone. Anyone can fi bugs
as they are found, and users do not have to wait for the net release. !he fact that is continuously
analy"ed by a large community produces secure and stable code.
Open source is not dependent on the company or author that originally created it. #ven if the
company fails, the code continues to eist and be developed by its users.
$astly, the companies using open-source software do not have to thin% about comple licensing
models and do not need anti-piracy measures li%e product activation or serial number.
)isadvantages of using Open Source:-
!here&s a flip side to everything, and in the case of Open Source software the disadvantages are
'. (ostly used commercial applications.
). *ro+ects can die
,. Support issues
-. .ntegrity of the Author&s Source /ode
Need of Open Sources-
0ew reasons for why we need an Open Source Strategy are1
'. 2educe dependency on closed source vendors. Stop being dragged through constant
product upgrades that you are forced to do to stay on a supported version of the product.
). 3our annual budget does not increases, your budget remains minimum.
,. (ore access to tools. 3ou can get your hands a variety of development and testing tools,
pro+ect and portfolio management tools, networ% monitoring, security, content management, etc.
without having to as% the boss man for a few hundred thousand green bac%s.
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-. !ry before you buy. Are you getting ready to invest in SOA, 5*(, or #/(6 7hy not
do a prototype without spending huge sums of money6 0irst of all, it allows you to get familiar with
the tools so you can be educated when you go through the vendor evaluation process. Second of all,
you might find that the tool can do the +ob and you don&t need to loc% yourself in to another vendor.
8. 9reat support and a )-:; online community that responds <uic%ly. =espite the myths
that you can&t get support for open source software, the leading communities provide
support far superior to most closed source vendors.
>. Access to source code and the ability to customi"e if you desire.
;. 3ou can see the code, change the code, and even submit your enhancements and:or fies bac% to
the community to be peer reviewed and possibly added to the net build. 4o longer do you need to
wait
?. 5ug fies are implemented faster then closed source vendors. Actually, many bugs are fied by the
community before they are even reported by the users.
Application of Open Sources-
'. Accounting
). /ontent (anagement Systems
,. /2( (/ustomer 2elationship (anagement)
-. =es%top #nvironments: Shell replacements
8. #mail /lients
>. #ncoding, /onversion @ 2ipping !ools
;. #2*
?. 0ile sharing @ 0!*
A. 9raphics-=esign @ (odelling !ools
'B. (essengers @ /ommunication /lients
''. *ro+ect (anagement
'). 2eporting !ools
',. 2SS
'-. 7eb 5rowsers
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!INU* Introduction
+,at is !inu"-
$inu is a C4.D-based operating system originally developed as for .ntel-compatible */&s.
.t is now available for most types of hardware platforms, ranging from .)As (and according to
some reports, a wristwatch) to mainframes.
$inu is a "modern operating system", meaning it has such features as virtual memory, memory
protection, and pre emptive multitas/ing.
.roperties of !inu"
!inu" .ros(Advantages'-
A lot of the advantages of $inu are a conse<uence of $inu& origins, deeply rooted in C4.D, ecept for
the
first advantage, of course1
$inu is free1
$inu is portable to any hardware platform1
$inu was made to %eep on running1
$inu is secure and versatile1
$inu is scalable1
!he $inu OS and most $inu applications have very short debug-times1
!inu" 0ons()isadvantages'-
E !here are far too many different distributions1
E $inu is not very user friendly and confusing for beginners1
+,y use !inu"-
2easons to .nstall $inu
F /onfigurability
F /onvenience
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F Stability
F /ommunity
F 0reedom
0onfigura1ility-
$inu distributions give the user full access to configure +ust about any aspect of their system.
Almost any aspect of the user eperience can be configured.
0onvenience-
7hile $inu ta%es some effort to get set up, once it is set up, it is surprisingly low maintenance.
*ac%age management can simply be a matter of running two commands in the shell.
$inu also offers complete remote access. !his allows the user to act eactly as if she is sitting at
that computerGs des%, potentially across town or on the other side of the world.
Stability $inu is based on the C4.D %ernel. .t provides pre emptive multitas%ing and protected
memory.
*re emptive multitas%ing prevents any application from permanently stealing the /*C and
loc%ing up the machine. *rotected memory prevents applications from interfering with and
crashing one-another.
0ommunity-
$inu is part of the greater open-source community.
!his consists of thousands of developers and many more users world-wide who support open
software.
2reedom-
$inu is free. !his means more than +ust costing nothing.
!his means that you are allowed to do whatever you want to with the software.
!his is why 2edhat, (andra%e, and Suse are all allowed to sell their own distributions of $inu.
!he only restriction placed on $inu is that, if you distribute $inu, you must grant all the
privileges to the code that you had, including providing the source.
!his prevents a corporation from using the $inu %ernel as the basis for their proprietary
operating system.
!inu" 3asic 0ommands1-
41 cd1-
!he "/hange =irectory" command enables you to navigate to another directory.
5"amplecd test
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46 man-
!he man command shows the users the "manual" of the command. .n some situation you might
need to get more information about the command you are using. !he man command shows you this
information about the command.
5"ample man cp
!his will open up the "cp" manual document for us in the shell. !he manual shows us the
parameters available for the commands.
note1 !o close the manual simply press "H".
47 ls
!he ls command is used to list the files:directories within a directory.
5"ample ls
.t shows us the directories available.
48 cp
!he cp command is a for "/opy" things. !his might be use full for duplicating files.
5"ample cp srid,arfile1 srid,arfile6
49 mv
!he mv command is used for "(ove" operations. !he mv commands enables the users to move a
file:directory to a specified location.
5"ample mv :,ome:1as:)es/top:temp1 :,ome:1as:)es/top:temp6
Note t,e first part of t,e command is t,e file t,at ,as to 1e moved( ;,e second part (after t,e
w,itespace' is t,e target directory( Ma/e sure you type in t,e full pat, using t,is command<
4= m/dir
!his command is used to "ma%e" directories, 4O! 0iles..
5"ample m/dir )emo
Note1 !he name of the directory is case sensitive which means that =emo is a complete different
directory as demo.
4> rmdir
2emoving directories is done by the rmdir command and belongs to the absolute basic commands in
shell bashing.
5"ample rmdir )emo
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Note +,en t,e directory is not empty t,e command will prompt an error message
So ma/e sure it?s completely empty 1efore removing it(
4@ touc,
!he touch command is used to ma%e files.
5"ample touc, temp
!his will create the file temp for us in the directory.
&ernel Mode and User Mode1-
Components of Linux System
Linux Operating System has primarily three components
Kernel- Kernel is the core part of Linux. It is responsible for all major activities of this operating
system. It is consists of various modules and it interacts directly with the underlying hardware.
Kernel provides the required abstraction to hide low level hardware details to system or
application programs.
System Library- System libraries are special functions or programs using which application
programs or system utilities accesses Kernel's features. These libraries implements most of the
functionalities of the operating system and do not requires kernel module's code access rights.
SystemUtility- System Utility programs are responsible to do specialized, individual level tasks.
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&ernel Mode1-
.n Iernel mode, the eecuting code has complete and unrestricted access to the underlying
hardware.
.t can eecute any /*C instruction and reference any memory address.
Iernel mode is generally reserved for the lowest-level, most trusted functions of the operating
system.
/rashes in %ernel mode are catastrophicJ they will halt the entire */.

User mode1-
.n Cser (ode the eecuting code has no ability to directly access hardware or reference memory.
/ode running in user mode must delegate to system A*.s to access hardware or memory.
=ue to the protection afforded by this sort of isolation, crashes in user mode are always
recoverable.
(ost of the code running on your computer will eecute in user mode.
)istinguis, 3etween User Mode and &ernel Mode
Iernal mode has higher priority while user mode has lowerpriority.
Iernal mode has ability to read user mode but user mode has no priority to interface in
%ernal mode.
7hen a process is in user space, its system calls are being intercepted by the tracing
thread. 7hen it&s in the %ernel, it&s not under system call tracing. !his is the distinction
between user mode and %ernel mode.
!he transition from user mode to %ernel mode is done by the tracing thread. 7hen a
process eecutes a system call or receives a signal, the tracing thread forces the process
to run in the %ernel if necessary and continues it without system call tracing.
(a')iagram of &ernel Mode and User Mode
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)ifference 1etween proprietary operating system(closed' versus open source
operating system(open'
)etails .roprietary
Software(+indows'
Open Source Software
(!inu"'
0ost
Karies from a few thousand to a
few hundred thousand dollars,
depending on the compleity of
the system re<uired. !his cost is
made up of a base fee for
software, integration and services
and annual licensing:support fees.
OSS comes at a low cost because of
Open source software. 7e don&t need
to get an epensive software or
hardware to run the system.
Organi"ations can use this system as
long as they li%e, without thin%ing of
paying any set up, activation, and
monthly subscription charges
Service and
Support
Service is probably the greatest
advantage of using proprietary
software
7hile Service is one of the %ey issues
regarding open source software. Open
source software relies on its online
community networ% to deliver learning
support via forums and blogs.
Innovation
*roprietary software providers do
not allow users to view or alter
the source code.
OSS enables innovation by providing
users with the freedom and fleibility
to adapt the software to suit, without
restriction.
Security
(any proprietary software based
developed from proprietary
operating systems are perceived
relatively less secure to those
from OSS. 5ut the total solution
from proprietary software is
viewed as secure because it is
developed in a controlled
environment by a concentrated
team with a common direction.
(oreover, the source code may
be viewed and edited by the team
alone, and is heavily audited,
eliminating the ris% of bac% door
!ro+ans and reducing the ris% of
any bugs or issues with the
software.
Open source operating software is
perceived as the most secure OS. $inu
being a classic eample. 5ut total
solutions developed from OSS are
perceived less secure since the
source code is already available freely
to all, hence there may be chances for
sabotage.
Availa1ility
!hese are available through their
respected companies that own the
rights to the pac%ages.Sometimes,
trial versions are available for
Some OSS are also developed into a
limited proprietary software with )-D;
support from online community and
the developer as well .
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free download and testing
!hese are freely available over
the net.
;ransparency
*S does not provide an open loo%
to the internal structure. Only
user interfaces are provided to
wor% with it. Cser cannot %now
the internal processing and
other details.
!he source code of OSS is freely
available along with the product. Any
person can read,modify, build and
distribute a modified version of
original product. !hus, it gives a
transparent loo% at the core structure of
the product.
Aelia1ility
*S is developed by speciali"ed
teams at vendor s end only. Only
finished products are provided at
outlets. Since there is no un-
authenticated modification, the
outcome is always reliable.
Since OSS are available on a large
number of unverified websites and
even most of these distributions may be
modified by any technologically sound
user, all the distributions are reliable in
terms of security,robustness,
performance. !he reason is that is
a user adds:modifies some componentJ
it may wor%s good individually, but,
may clash with
other components and ultimately
degrade the
product.
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