My Encounter with Open Source

If someone ask me who inspired me to write this and from where I started all these open source stuff. Then I could not explain all in one line which is too much precise regarding the open world. In which I spent my precious days of my engineering life must say a life of a open source geek.

Let me explain bit more about the open source and Linux for those who get confused with these two different words which could said to be the two faces of single coin. Open source refers to that which is available openly or freely. Free word makes confusion in money minded peoples ha ha its a joke . Freely never means as in free of cost its FREE AS IN FREEDOM. Those software which are available freely said to be the Open Source software or Free softwares. From now onwards we will say free softwares only this term was released by Mr. Richard Mathew Stallman in 1983 through free software foundation (FSF). This is important tell about him because he is one who started all this. Free software mission is a philosophy to provide flexibility to a code of any software such that anyone can use the code, can share the code, anyone can do changes in the code and can share the that changed copy of the code. Now this fascinated me towards this world of openness. I think now I am successful in explaining about the open world.

Now come to the second face of the coin Linux. Ok I will clear the one of the biggest misconception regarding this also. Linux is not a name of bird or animal obviously we are not discussing about those again it was a poor joke. Linux refers to the Linux Kernel. Kernel is the core part of an operating system. It could be any operating system. Readers don't get confused with Linux now i am explaining why it is a second face of the coin ? Because Linux kernel code is available as free software. Fascinating it was the second point which attracted me using mean. Now anyone can make predictions that operating systems which using Linux as their kernel are also under free software which released under General Public License (GPL). GPL provides freedom to a piece of code which i already explained to you. GPL released by RMS in 1985 under which he started making GNU Operating system which was a clone of UNIX operating system. GNU is a recursive and funny term GNU's Not Unix that means they were making something which was not unix but quit similar to unix. Until 1990 they assembled all the part of the operating system but left out with the kernel part. In 1991, Linus Torvald in MIT submitted Linux Kernel as his project. Which after that became a part of that GNU OS or we can say GNU/Linux. We lost the word GNU and saying Linux which is incomplete without GNU. Its boring is it? But it is important that you should know basics.

Now reason why to use Linux? What i think if you are not thinking this question into your mind then i must say you are not reading my whole article carefully. Oops, It was a joke. If you are using Linux in your desktops or laptops then i must say you are using a code which is being written by some of the best programmers of the world and nurtured by the best hackers. As its free availability provides programmers to live in freedom and freedom to add best functionality in it. It is Faster than other operating systems which i personally experienced after losing my 80Gb data i mean using it. Oh don't scare i am not trying to misguide you. Just want to tell the best features of this piece of code. Just be careful about the instructions rest Linux work will do by itself. If you want to use your CPU efficiently then Use Linux. An operating system with no viruses. Yeah this is a fact or you can say myth actually viruses means those codes which harms your computer or affects your computation in Linux we can't say viruses not there but it will not harm your computing. If something not harming your computing world then no problem. I am using linux from past 3 years and i never uses any of the antivirus or any Dr. spyware kind of things. Because i choosen the red pill of my world of computing. Now its time of you guys to decide which world you want to use the world of restrictions or the world of freedom. 

NOTE: A copy of this blog also printed in annual magazine in FICTION'12 by CSIJMI (Computer Society of India Jamia Millia Islamia)