OpEn SoUrCe :: A Tech. Update.

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.

Open source code is typically created as a collaborative effort in which programmers improve upon the code and share the changes within the community. 

The Open Source Initiative (OSI):

Open Source is a certification standard issued by the Open Source Initiative (OSI) that indicates that the source code of a computer program is made available free of charge to the general public. OSI dictates that in order to be considered "OSI Certified" a product must meet the following criteria:

• The author or holder of the license of the source code cannot collect royalties on the distribution of the program.
• The distributed program must make the source code accessible to the user.
• The author must allow modifications and derivations of the work under the program's original name.
• No person, group or field of endeavor can be denied access to the program.
• The rights attached to the program must not depend on the program's being part of a particular software distribution.
• The licensed software cannot place restrictions on other software that is distributed with it.  

  Open source software is normally distributed with the source code under an open source license. The Open Source Initiative sets the following distribution terms that open-source software must comply with::

The Open Source Definition, as provided by the Open Source Initiative is as follows:

Introduction
Open source doesn't just mean access to the source code. The distribution terms of open-source software must comply with the following criteria:

1. Free RedistributionThe license shall not restrict any party from selling or giving away the software as a component of an aggregate software distribution containing programs from several different sources. The license shall not require a royalty or other fee for such sale.

2. Source Code
The program must include source code, and must allow distribution in source code as well as compiled form. Where some form of a product is not distributed with source code, there must be a well-publicized means of obtaining the source code for no more than a reasonable reproduction cost preferably, downloading via the Internet without charge. The source code must be the preferred form in which a programmer would modify the program. Deliberately obfuscated source code is not allowed. Intermediate forms such as the output of a preprocessor or translator are not allowed.

3. Derived Works The license must allow modifications and derived works, and must allow them to be distributed under the same terms as the license of the original software.

4. Integrity of The Author's Source CodeThe license may restrict source-code from being distributed in modified form only if the license allows the distribution of "patch files" with the source code for the purpose of modifying the program at build time. The license must explicitly permit distribution of software built from modified source code. The license may require derived works to carry a different name or version number from the original software.

5. No Discrimination Against Persons or GroupsThe license must not discriminate against any person or group of persons.

6. No Discrimination Against Fields of EndeavorThe license must not restrict anyone from making use of the program in a specific field of endeavor. For example, it may not restrict the program from being used in a business, or from being used for genetic research.

7. Distribution of License
The rights attached to the program must apply to all to whom the program is redistributed without the need for execution of an additional license by those parties.

8. License Must Not Be Specific to a Product
The rights attached to the program must not depend on the program's being part of a particular software distribution. If the program is extracted from that distribution and used or distributed within the terms of the program's license, all parties to whom the program is redistributed should have the same rights as those that are granted in conjunction with the original software distribution.

9. License Must Not Restrict Other SoftwareThe license must not place restrictions on other software that is distributed along with the licensed software. For example, the license must not insist that all other programs distributed on the same medium must be open-source software.

10. License Must Be Technology-NeutralNo provision of the license may be predicated on any individual technology or style of interface. 

Free Software Licensing:

All open source software is not distributed under the same licensing agreement. Some may use a free software license, a copyleft, or GPL compatible. The GNU GPL license is a free software license and a copyleft license, while a "GNU Lesser General Public License" is a free software license, but not a strong copyleft license. There are many different types of licenses for free software . some GNU GPL compatible, some not.

The Open Source Initiative approves open source licenses after they have successfully gone through the approval process and comply with the Open Source Definition (above). There is currently well over fifty licenses that have been approved by the OSI.

For example, the GNU General Public License (GPL) is one license that accompanies some open source software that details how the software and its accompany source code can be freely copied, distributed and modified. The most widespread use of GPL is in reference to the GNU GPL, which is commonly abbreviated simply as GPL when it is understood that the term refers to the GNU GPL. One of the basic tenets of the GPL is that anyone who acquires the material must make it available to anyone else under the same licensing agreement. The GPL does not cover activities other than the copying, distributing and modifying of the source code. 

Other open source licenses include the following:

Academic Free License 3.0 (AFL 3.0)
Affero GNU Public License
Adaptive Public License
Apache Software License
Apache License, 2.0
Apple Public Source License
Artistic license
Artistic license 2.0
Attribution Assurance Licenses
New and Simplified BSD licenses
Boost Software License (BSL1.0)
Computer Associates Trusted Open Source License 1.1
Common Development and Distribution License
Common Public Attribution License 1.0 (CPAL)
Common Public License 1.0
CUA Office Public License Version 1.0
EU DataGrid Software License
Eclipse Public License
Educational Community License, Version 2.0
Eiffel Forum License
Eiffel Forum License V2.0
Entessa Public License
Fair License
Frameworx License
GNU General Public License (GPL)
GNU General Public License version 3.0 (GPLv3)
GNU Library or "Lesser" General Public License (LGPL)
GNU Library or "Lesser" General Public License version 3.0 (LGPLv3)
Historical Permission Notice and Disclaimer
IBM Public License
Intel Open Source License
ISC License
Jabber Open Source License
Lucent Public License (Plan9)
Lucent Public License Version 1.02
Microsoft Public License (Ms-PL) Microsoft Reciprocal License (Ms-RL)
MIT license
MITRE Collaborative Virtual Workspace License (CVW License)
Motosoto License
Mozilla Public License 1.0 (MPL)
Mozilla Public License 1.1 (MPL)
Multics License
NASA Open Source Agreement 1.3
NTP License
Naumen Public License
Nethack General Public License
Nokia Open Source License
Non-Profit Open Software License 3.0 (Non-Profit OSL 3.0)
OCLC Research Public License 2.0
Open Group Test Suite License
Open Software License 3.0 (OSL 3.0)
PHP License
Python license (CNRI Python License)
Python Software Foundation License
Qt Public License (QPL)
RealNetworks Public Source License V1.0
Reciprocal Public License
Reciprocal Public License 1.5 (RPL1.5)
Ricoh Source Code Public License
Simple Public License 2.0
Sleepycat License
Sun Industry Standards Source License (SISSL)
Sun Public License
Sybase Open Watcom Public License 1.0
University of Illinois/NCSA Open Source License
Vovida Software License v. 1.0
W3C License
wxWindows Library License
X.Net License
Zope Public License
zlib/libpng license 

Some Successful Open Source Projects:

 

Sendmail
Sendmail is an open source mail transfer agent (MTA) used for routing and delivery e-mail. The original version of Sendmail was written by Eric Allman in the early 1980s. It is estimated that Sendmail is installed on 60 to 80 percent of the Internet's mail-server computers.

Apache Web server
Often referred to as simply Apache, a public-domain open source Web server developed by a loosely knit group of programmers. The first version of Apache, based on the NCSA httpd Web server, was developed in 1995. Core development of the Apache Web server is performed by a group of about 20 volunteer programmers, called the Apache Group. However, because the source code is freely available, anyone can adapt the server for specific needs, and there is a large public library of Apache add-ons.

Linux
(Pronounced lee-nucks or lih-nucks). A freely distributable open source operating system that runs on a number of hardware platforms. The Linux kernel was developed mainly by Linus Torvalds. Because it's free, and because it runs on many platforms, including PCs and Macintoshes, Linux has become an extremely popular alternative to proprietary operating systems.


GNOME
Acronym for GNU Network Object Model Environment. (Pronounced guh-nome) GNOME is part of the GNU project and part of the free software, or open source, movement. GNOME is a Windows-like desktop system that works on UNIX and UNIX-like systems and is not dependent on any one window manager. The current version runs on Linux, FreeBSD, IRIX and Solaris. The main objective of GNOME is to provide a user-friendly suite of applications and an easy-to-use desktop.

Different Types of Computer Operating System(s)

Operating system ABCs:

An operating system, or OS, is a software program that enables the computer hardware to communicate and operate with the computer software. Without a computer operating system, a computer would be useless.

Operating system types:

As computers have progressed and developed so have the types of operating systems. Below is a basic list of the different types of operating systems and a few examples of operating systems that fall into each of the categories. Many computer operating systems will fall into more than one of the below categories.



GUI -

Short for Graphical User Interface, the GUI was first developed at Xerox PARC by Alan Kay, Douglas Engelbart, and a group of other researchers. A GUI uses windows, icons, and menus to carry out commands such as opening files, deleting files, moving files, etc. and although many GUI Operating Systems are operated by using a mouse, the keyboard can also be used by using keyboard shortcuts or arrow keys.Unlike a command line operating system like Unix or MS-DOS, GUI Operating Systems are much easier for end-users to learn and use because commands do not need to be known or memorized. Because of their ease of use, GUI Operating Systems have become the dominant operating system used by end-users today.A few examples of a GUI Operating Systems:

Microsoft Windows 95
Apple System 7
Apple Mac OS.
 

Multi-user –

A multi-user operating system allows for multiple users to use the same computer at the same time and/or different times

some examples of multi-user operating systems.

Linux
Unix
Windows 2000

 

Multiprocessing - 
 An operating system capable of supporting and utilizing more than one computer processor. Below are some examples of multiprocessing operating systems.

Linux
Unix
Windows 2000

 

Multitasking - 
 An operating system that is capable of allowing multiple software processes to run at the same time. Below are some examples of multitasking operating systems.

Unix
Windows 2000

 

Multithreading -  
Operating systems that allow different parts of a software program to run concurrently. Operating systems that would fall into this category are:

Linux
Unix
Windows 2000

Operating system listing:

Below is a listing of many of the different types of operating systems available today, the dates they were released, the platforms they have been developed for and who developed them.

Operating system	Date first released	Platform	Developer
AIX / AIXL	Unix / Linux.	Various	IBM
AmigaOS	Currently no AmigaOS operating system history.	Amiga	Commodore
BSD	Unix / Linux.	Various	BSD
Caldera Linux	Unix / Linux.	Various	SCO
Corel Linux	Unix / Linux.	Various	Corel
Debian Linux	Unix / Linux.	Various	GNU
DUnix	Unix / Linux.	Various	Digital
DYNIX/ptx	Unix / Linux.	Various	IBM
HP-UX	Unix / Linux.	Various	Hewlett Packard
IRIX	Unix / Linux.	Various	SGI
Kondara Linux	Unix / Linux.	Various	Kondara
Linux	Unix / Linux.	Various	Linus Torvalds
MAC OS 8	Apple operating system.	Apple Macintosh	Apple
MAC OS 9	Apple operating system.	Apple Macintosh	Apple
MAC OS 10	Apple operating system	Apple Macintosh	Apple
MAC OS X	Apple operating system	Apple Macintosh	Apple
Mandrake Linux	Unix / Linux.	Various	Mandrake
MINIX	Unix / Linux.	Various	MINIX
MS-DOS 1.x	MS-DOS.	IBM / PC	Microsoft
MS-DOS 2.x	MS-DOS.	IBM / PC	Microsoft
MS-DOS 3.x	MS-DOS.	IBM / PC	Microsoft
MS-DOS 4.x	MS-DOS.	IBM / PC	Microsoft
MS-DOS 5.x	MS-DOS.	IBM / PC	Microsoft
MS-DOS 6.x	MS-DOS.	IBM / PC	Microsoft
NEXTSTEP	Apple operating system	Various	Apple
OSF/1	Unix / Linux.	Various	OSF
QNX	Unix / Linux.	Various	QNX
Red Hat Linux	Unix / Linux.	Various	Red Hat
SCO	Unix / Linux.	Various	SCO
Slackware Linux	Unix / Linux.	Various	Slackware
Sun Solaris	Unix / Linux.	Various	Sun
SuSE Linux	Unix / Linux.	Various	SuSE
System 1	Apple operating system	Apple Macintosh	Apple
System 2	Apple operating system	Apple Macintosh	Apple
System 3	Apple operating system	Apple Macintosh	Apple
System 4	Apple operating system	Apple Macintosh	Apple
System 6	Apple operating system	Apple Macintosh	Apple
System 7	Apple operating	Apple Macintosh	Apple
System V	Unix / Linux	Various	System V
Tru64 Unix	Unix / Linux	Various	Digital
Turbolinux	Unix / Linux	Various	Turbolinux
Ultrix	Unix / Linux	Various	Ultrix
Unisys	Unix / Linux	Various	Unisys
Unix	Unix / Linux	Various	Bell labs
UnixWare	Unix / Linux	Various	UnixWare
VectorLinux	Unix / Linux	Various	VectorLinux
Windows 2000	Windows.	IBM / PC	Microsoft
Windows 2003	Windows.	IBM / PC	Microsoft
Windows 3.X	Windows.	IBM / PC	Microsoft
Windows 7	Windows.	IBM / PC	Microsoft
Windows 95	Windows.	IBM / PC	Microsoft
Windows 98	Windows.	IBM / PC	Microsoft
Windows CE	Windows.	PDA	Microsoft
Windows ME	Windows.	IBM / PC	Microsoft
Windows NT	Windows.	IBM / PC	Microsoft
Windows Vista	Windows.	IBM / PC	Microsoft
Windows XP	Windows.	IBM / PC	Microsoft
Xenix	Unix / Linux	Various	Microsoft

Quick Technological Updates...!!!

DID YOU KNOW??

• 160 billion emails are sent daily, 97% of which are spam.
• Spam generates 33bn KWt-hours of energy every year, enough to power 2.4 million homes, producing 17 million tons of CO2.
• 9 out of every 1,000 computers are infected with spam.
• Spammer get 1 response to every 12 million emails they send (yet it still makes them a small profit).
• A twillionaire is a twitterer with a million or more followers.
• There are some 1 billion computers in use.
• There are some 2 billion TV sets in use.
• There are more than 4 billion cell phones in use. About 3 million cell phones are sold every day.
• The first known cell phone virus, Cabir.A, appeared in 2004.
• Since 2008, video games have outsold movie DVDs.
• Amazon sells more e-books than printed books.
• Facebook has 500 million registered users.
• About 1.8 billion people connect to the Internet, 450 million of them speak English. See list of Internet languages.
• Google indexed it’s 1 trillionth unique URL on July 25, 2008. That is thought to be about 20% of all the pages on the Internet but a high percentage of the World Wide Web (the public Internet).
• One google search produces about 0.2g of CO2. But since you hardly get an answer from one search, a typical search session produces about the same amount of CO2 as does boiling a kettle.
• Google handles about 1 billion search queries per day, releasing some 200 tons of CO2 per day.
• The average US household uses 10.6 megawatt-hours (MWh) electricity per year.
• Google uses an estimated 15 billion kWh of electricity per year, more than most countries. However, google generates a lot of their own power with their solar panels.
• The first public cell phone call was made on April 3, 1973 by Martin Cooper.
• The Motorola DynaTAC 8000X was the first cell phone sold in the US; launched on April 11, 1984, it was designed by Rudy Krolopp and weighed 2 pounds.
• About 20% of the videos on YouTube are music related.
• 24 hours of video viewing is uploaded every minute on YouTube.
• People view 15 billion videos online every month.
• On average, US onliners view 100 videos per month each.
• Flickr hosts some 3 billion photographs, Facebook hosts more than 10 billion.

1 Bit = Binary Digit
8 Bits = 1 Byte
1000 Bytes = 1 Kilobyte
1000 Kilobytes = 1 Megabyte
1000 Megabytes = 1 Gigabyte
1000 Gigabytes = 1 Terabyte
1000 Terabytes = 1 Petabyte
1000 Petabytes = 1 Exabyte
1000 Exabytes = 1 Zettabyte
1000 Zettabytes = 1 Yottabyte
1000 Yottabytes = 1 Brontobyte
1000 Brontobytes = 1 Geopbyte
Technically speaking, the sum is 1024 bytes.

Quick Technological Updates...!!!

DID YOU KNOW??

• 160 billion emails are sent daily, 97% of which are spam.
• Spam generates 33bn KWt-hours of energy every year, enough to power 2.4 million homes, producing 17 million tons of CO2.
• 9 out of every 1,000 computers are infected with spam.
• Spammer get 1 response to every 12 million emails they send (yet it still makes them a small profit).
• A twillionaire is a twitterer with a million or more followers.
• There are some 1 billion computers in use.
• There are some 2 billion TV sets in use.
• There are more than 4 billion cell phones in use. About 3 million cell phones are sold every day.
• The first known cell phone virus, Cabir.A, appeared in 2004.
• Since 2008, video games have outsold movie DVDs.
• Amazon sells more e-books than printed books.
• Facebook has 500 million registered users.
• About 1.8 billion people connect to the Internet, 450 million of them speak English. See list of Internet languages.
• Google indexed it’s 1 trillionth unique URL on July 25, 2008. That is thought to be about 20% of all the pages on the Internet but a high percentage of the World Wide Web (the public Internet).
• One google search produces about 0.2g of CO2. But since you hardly get an answer from one search, a typical search session produces about the same amount of CO2 as does boiling a kettle.
• Google handles about 1 billion search queries per day, releasing some 200 tons of CO2 per day.
• The average US household uses 10.6 megawatt-hours (MWh) electricity per year.
• Google uses an estimated 15 billion kWh of electricity per year, more than most countries. However, google generates a lot of their own power with their solar panels.
• The first public cell phone call was made on April 3, 1973 by Martin Cooper.
• The Motorola DynaTAC 8000X was the first cell phone sold in the US; launched on April 11, 1984, it was designed by Rudy Krolopp and weighed 2 pounds.
• About 20% of the videos on YouTube are music related.
• 24 hours of video viewing is uploaded every minute on YouTube.
• People view 15 billion videos online every month.
• On average, US onliners view 100 videos per month each.
• Flickr hosts some 3 billion photographs, Facebook hosts more than 10 billion.

1 Bit = Binary Digit
8 Bits = 1 Byte
1000 Bytes = 1 Kilobyte
1000 Kilobytes = 1 Megabyte
1000 Megabytes = 1 Gigabyte
1000 Gigabytes = 1 Terabyte
1000 Terabytes = 1 Petabyte
1000 Petabytes = 1 Exabyte
1000 Exabytes = 1 Zettabyte
1000 Zettabytes = 1 Yottabyte
1000 Yottabytes = 1 Brontobyte
1000 Brontobytes = 1 Geopbyte
Technically speaking, the sum is 1024 bytes.

Brain Computer Interface (BCI)

Brain Computer Interface (BCI) is the next step in computer technology.  Electronic implants, once the subject of science fiction, have been around in one capacity or another since the 1970’s, but have made great strides recently.  By recent counts, around 100,000 people have cochlear implants allowing them to hear, macular degeneration in the eye is being combated by retinal implants, and of course prosthetic hands and arms can connect directly to the nervous system to allow for more articulated movement, but what about machines connecting to the brain itself?

A Brain Computer Interface system allows users to control machines by hooking up different parts of the brain to a computer, or by using a machine similar to an electroencephalogram (EEG) to interpret brain wave function into complex commands in a computer system, which can then do a number of things.  Recently, a test done on humans has attached an array of electrodes from the thalamus (the sensory input area of the brain) and sent signals through the computer, where the stimuli are interpreted.  The results were astonishing.  They were able to take what people were seeing, and transmit it into images, breaking the barrier between neural functioning and image projection.  Some day, this activity may be sent from the area of the brain that remembers things, and video cameras may become a thing of the past.  Imagine a world where dreams themselves could be projected onto a screen for all to see.

Animal testing has also yielded results for Rhesus monkeys who have the ability to control robotic arms as articulately as they control their own arms using no more than their own brain-waves.  A dragonfly’s brain, isolated, has been able to flutter a set of wings very similar to its own.  These tests have been done using everything from simple stocking hat-like apparatus which record brain activity through the skull all the way to far more invasive methods, which appear to be far more reliable.

The invasive tests rest within the gray matter of the brain, and show great promise in their ability to allow disabled individuals senses they would previously have lost for life.  Jens Naumann, struck blind after reaching adulthood, was one such patient who received an implant which enabled him better mapping of his vision.  Immediately upon receiving the device, he enjoyed improved vision.  Alternately, artificial hands and arms have been implemented in people allowing users to even touch and feel the objects they interact with in ways similar to how a real hand feels.  Use of this technology to interact with computer software has also been demonstrated effectively.  Patients have been allowed the ability to move mouse cursors, type, and even play computer games without moving a muscle.  Due to the fact that dangerous scar-tissue is known to develop when implants are placed directly on the brain, semi-invasive subtypes of BCI wetware are currently being studied, including a laser system which interfaces with neurons effectively without touching them.

The next natural step would be computer software specifically designed to enhance able-bodied and minded people for the purpose of enhancing their quality of life.  But a sort of bizarre vision of the future comes to light when we imagine the prices of these devices, and we take into account the natural human nature associated with expensive items.  Robberies and so-called ‘Chop Shops’ of the future may be quite a grisly place indeed.  And what about viruses and bionically enhanced soldiers?  One day the internet may connect entire brains into a collective.  Think-tanks may be quite literal in nature.  Of course looking at this technology with fear is an interesting concept, particularly to those who would be otherwise locked within their own bodies.

Invisible Tank

It sounds like something from the fevered brain of a science-fiction writer. Invisible soldiers? Disappearing tanks? Surely this is not possible. And yet that's exactly what a group of DARPA funded scientists are attempting to do: render military assets completely invisible to the human eye.

The U.S. military has had a long history of tweaking stealth technology to give the brave men and women on the front lines that most vital of strategic assets: surprise. At around the start of the 20th century, camouflage, or "camo" for short, came into its own, being adopted by most major world powers. The early 1900's saw soldiers wearing drab, dull-toned uniforms and camo patterns being painted onto vehicles and artillery pieces, ammo, dumps, and other such things. While unlikely to hinder another soldier's sight on the battlefield, it managed to hinder the casual observer, especially if the camouflaged subject was in the dark and staying still.


However, up until recently, that seemed to be the end of the camo story. Compared to technology such as aircraft, tanks, missiles, and firearms, camouflage technology has been at a relative standstill for the last century.


Until now, that is.


Recently, United States scientists received the green light from DARPA to pursue an advanced system of "crypsis", a term meaning the avoidance of observation. This research, funded so far with seventeen million government dollars, is geared towards two projects in particular: The primary project takes the form of a collapsible, deployable "shield" made of a self-healing fiber-optic/kevlar mesh that both "cloaks" those behind it in an obfuscating aura and protects them from bullets. The Second, and perhaps the more ambitious, project seeks to do the impossible: render an entire tank invisible to normal observation.


If it seems to strange to believe, consider the following:


In 2007, the British Army stated that it had already created a functional prototype of a "cloaking technology" for their tanks, and stated that they expected it to be deployed by early 2012. While there is little evidence beyond the testimony of a few officials, it is still intriguing.


There is the infamous story from October 28th, 1943, in which the U.S.S. Eldridge, a destroyer escort, was reputedly rendered invisible to the naked eye for a few brief moments, in what has been dubbed the Philadelphia Experiment.


And of course who can forget about Public Enemy No. 1, U.F.O.'s, aircraft that zip about the sky and seem to disappear and reappear like magic? Is it too ridiculous to imaging that the United States government has developed technology so advanced that the general public can only believe that it is either non-existent or of other-worldly origins, or that they have reverse-engineered alien technology, and either way have neglected to reveal it to the public or the world? After all, what good is a stealth weapon if everyone knows about it? And doesn't the American B-2 stealth bomber seem to resemble an alien space craft?


And from an American perspective, nothing seems more bizarre and unexplainable than the British military discovering cloaking technology first, especially considering the amount of support DARPA has given American initiatives to develop such projects.


Still, if all of these projects come to fruition, we can expect to see these high-tech cloaking technologies deployed in 2012 or shortly thereafter.


Or rather, not see.