Paper on Open Source Goodness.

[Apotheosis]

Said paper started out as just about Open Sourceness, but I soon realized I could not get nearly 5 pages (double spaced) out of just that. Then I decided to compare open and closed source and threw in some information about Linus. Now I am up to three pages, but am completely out of ideas. Help?

[23meg]

Throw in some information about Richard Stallman, the FSF and the GNU project.

[maniacmusician]

ALL THAT and only 3 pages double spaced?? that's insanely short. I'd recommend rethinking the way you're writing it, because 3 pages double spaced is certainly not long enough to fully address those things. It could go 10 pages easily, if you really got enthusiastic about it. 5 shouldn't be too much of a problem

[Apotheosis]

I shall look all that up, 23meg.

I said almost everything I could off of the top of my head - programs, and all the nice features that us Linuxers like. If it would help, this is what I have about Open Source so far:

The only Operating Systems that are open source that are worth mentioning are Unix and Linux, which is based on Unix. While these are the only two base Operating Systems, there are many offshoots of Linux, called Distributions. Currently the most popular distribution of Linux seems to be Ubuntu. With the name being “an African word, meaning 'humanity to others' or 'I am what I am because of who we are'. The Ubuntu distribution brings the spirit of Ubuntu to the software world” (Ubuntu.com). Other Linux based Operating Systems worthy of mention are Kubuntu, which is a just like Ubuntu, but with a different desktop environment, Suse, Debian, Fedora and RedHat.
As I previously stated, most closed source programs have an open source counterpart. Some of said programs are Trillion and gAIM, which are instant messenger protocols as is AIM, Firefox and Opera which are the open source counterparts of Internet Explorer, OpenOffice.org which has four programs that are the equivalent of Microsoft Office, Thunderbird which is an e-mail client like Microsoft Outlook and The Gimp which is photo editing software, much like Photoshop.
As far as the security issues with Open Source programs go, supporters of Open Source claim they are non-existent. One argument of Closed Source advocates is that since no one is getting paid to keep up the programs, no one has the incentive to look for and fix bugs and other security issues. Those supporters of Open Source software tend to disagree and have quite a few points. One point being that the people that have the knowledge to keep up Open Source programs, use those very programs and that is incentive enough to fix it for them. Then there are those that simply despise large corporations, of which Microsoft seems to be the most hated, and in an effort to draw in potential users in, they be sure all of the available programs are as secure as possible.
One clear disadvantage of Open Source is the lack of support from large companies and their services. In example, Adobe rather recently released their Flash Player 9.0 for Mac and Windows. Along with this release most of the Internet switched to this, leaving the Linux users who were limited to Flash 7.0 to either find a work around or go without Flash. Luckily Adobe extended Flash 9.0 to Linux so now even Linux users are able to enjoy everything Flash. Other such examples are the lack of codecs that allow computers to play various forms of media since said codecs are licensed out to the Closed Source companies.
A very popular feature among Linux users seems to be the ability to customize it how they see fit. Everything from the login screen, to the look of the icons to the theme of the windows and their buttons. Even better is the fact that all this can be done with only a few clicks of the mouse. On the other hand, it is very hard to customize Microsoft Windows in any way, shape or form. Though, it should be mentioned that there are programs out there that will aid in the customization of Windows, but they are rarely cheap and never free or easy to use.

[23meg]

The only Operating Systems that are open source that are worth mentioning are Unix and Linux, which is based on Unix. Linux isn't an operating system; it's just a kernel. Linux isn't based on UNIX; it was intended to replace a UNIX variant, and ended up as the kernel of a Free replacement for a complete UNIX system.
Some of said programs are Trillian and gAIM, which are instant messenger protocols as is AIMThey aren't protocols per se, but instant messenging clients that utilize multiple protocols. Mentioning Trillian beside GAIM in the way you did may be misleading, since AFAIK Trillian is closed source and available for Windows only.

As far as the security issues with Open Source programs go, supporters of Open Source claim they are non-existent. Not that they're non-existent, but that there are less of them.
One clear disadvantage of Open Source is the lack of support from large companiesIn the context you put it, I'd say "unavailability of common commercial / proprietary software" rather than "support", which can mean multiple things; Linux is widely supported by many large companies, if you mean tech support, for example.
since said codecs are licensed out to the Closed Source companies.I'd rather say "Since most common codecs have restrictive licenses, they aren't freely redistributable in Linux distributions".

[mustang]

I shall look all that up, 23meg.

I said almost everything I could off of the top of my head - programs, and all the nice features that us Linuxers like. If it would help, this is what I have about Open Source so far:

The only Operating Systems that are open source that are worth mentioning are Unix and Linux, which is based on Unix. While these are the only two base Operating Systems, there are many offshoots of Linux, called Distributions. Currently the most popular distribution of Linux seems to be Ubuntu. With the name being “an African word, meaning 'humanity to others' or 'I am what I am because of who we are'. The Ubuntu distribution brings the spirit of Ubuntu to the software world” (Ubuntu.com). Other Linux based Operating Systems worthy of mention are Kubuntu, which is a just like Ubuntu, but with a different desktop environment, Suse, Debian, Fedora and RedHat.
As I previously stated, most closed source programs have an open source counterpart. Some of said programs are Trillion and gAIM, which are instant messenger protocols as is AIM, Firefox and Opera which are the open source counterparts of Internet Explorer, OpenOffice.org which has four programs that are the equivalent of Microsoft Office, Thunderbird which is an e-mail client like Microsoft Outlook and The Gimp which is photo editing software, much like Photoshop.
As far as the security issues with Open Source programs go, supporters of Open Source claim they are non-existent. One argument of Closed Source advocates is that since no one is getting paid to keep up the programs, no one has the incentive to look for and fix bugs and other security issues. Those supporters of Open Source software tend to disagree and have quite a few points. One point being that the people that have the knowledge to keep up Open Source programs, use those very programs and that is incentive enough to fix it for them. Then there are those that simply despise large corporations, of which Microsoft seems to be the most hated, and in an effort to draw in potential users in, they be sure all of the available programs are as secure as possible.
One clear disadvantage of Open Source is the lack of support from large companies and their services. In example, Adobe rather recently released their Flash Player 9.0 for Mac and Windows. Along with this release most of the Internet switched to this, leaving the Linux users who were limited to Flash 7.0 to either find a work around or go without Flash. Luckily Adobe extended Flash 9.0 to Linux so now even Linux users are able to enjoy everything Flash. Other such examples are the lack of codecs that allow computers to play various forms of media since said codecs are licensed out to the Closed Source companies.
A very popular feature among Linux users seems to be the ability to customize it how they see fit. Everything from the login screen, to the look of the icons to the theme of the windows and their buttons. Even better is the fact that all this can be done with only a few clicks of the mouse. On the other hand, it is very hard to customize Microsoft Windows in any way, shape or form. Though, it should be mentioned that there are programs out there that will aid in the customization of Windows, but they are rarely cheap and never free or easy to use.

Your essay seems to be more an overview of open source software rather than specific elements of it. I'm assuming the above is a rough draft that you will revise since there are a good deal of grammatical errors and awkward sounding phrases.

Anyways, some topics in the umbrella of oss that you could write about: open source software development (the process itself and how it is different than traditional software development), how oss is economically feasible considering the software itself is free (I imagine a non-technical reader would be interested to hear this), the ideological underpinnings of the oss (this was mentioned earlier by another poster--GNU, Richard Stallman---reference points from Bazaar and Cathedral, RMS's book).

I don't know what level of education you are at or the intended audience but I would leave at the "hate Microsoft" part. And you contradict yourself when talking about Adobe only releasing Flash for Win & Macs and then later saying they released (a beta) for linux. Instead of going down that path, tie Adobe's release to a concession that the linux userbase is growing and that it is a legitimate market.

Your points about alternatives and customizability are great and all but they're exactly that---points. Don't give them whole paragraphs. Explore the more interesting facets of oss.

[aysiu]

Two things:

1. One way you can boost your word count without putting a lot of fluff in is to explain your terms--imagine your reader knows nothing about Linux, operating systems, or open source. What's a desktop environment? What makes one "distro" different from another one? What does "closed source" mean? What does "open source" mean? Can an end user tell the difference between the two? Can you explain why it's difficult to customize Windows and some of the comparative steps you would take to customize in each operating system?

2. Unix is open source? I don't think it is, actually.

[23meg]

2. Unix is open source? I don't think it is, actually.Not in all its incarnations, but AT&T did make the source available to universities except for the kernel, and much of the System V code is inherited even in today's UNIX variants.

[aysiu]

Not in all its incarnations, but AT&T did make the source available to universities except for the kernel, and much of the System V code is inherited even it today's UNIX variants.
Thanks for the clarification.

[nalmeth]

I think you should talk more about Stallman and the FSF, and tie that into the OSS stuff.

Also, a good point to make is that FLOSS is simply a software development model that follows the scientific development model, where researchers share their findings, collaborating to create a network of knowledge (software) to advance further research (development).

You could tie free software into the greater free culture movement if you like, mention the one laptop per child initiative, and how 3rd-world countries are adopting linux.

Here's a list of companies that use linux, I don't know how recent it is:
http://mtechit.com/linux-biz/

Don't make any anti-MS jokes, I think it would be more effective if you take an honest, sincere approach to highlighting the FLOSS movement, showcasing advantages, and admitting some weaknesses. Don't hold MS/Apple as a comparison point, let GNU/Linux be the focal point, and make some comments about Mac/Windows were it is useful.

Here are some other links you may find useful, remember to mark references:
http://www.desktoplinux.com/news/NS7058002470.html
http://news.com.com/2100-1001-963285.html
http://news.com.com/2100-1001-272299.html?legacy=cnet&tag=tp_pr
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060820-7545.html

[nalmeth]

BTW, yes, as pointed out, there is a fair amount of coporate support of linux. IBM has a LOT of money invested in linux, and there are a lot of technical support firms. There just happen to be a few key companies who find it in their benefit to ignore until its going to hurt them.

I honestly think (in part anyway) Adobe released flash 9 to quell interest in the GNASH project. GNASH is finally making some headway, and had Adobe/Macromedia thought of skipping linux again like they did for flash 8, people would have been fed up and GNASH may have seen a boost in contribution.

Faced with the idea of a free reader alternative to their own technology, you could infer that they took the lesser pain and dedicated a small team to making a flash 9 port, far behind schedule of the other platforms. So we still get a short end of the stick because of proprietary Internet standards, and GNASH will have to slowly chug along as people are frantically installing the latest flash 9 betas..

Anyway, just another perspective on the issue.

Good luck on the paper

[Apotheosis]

Linux isn't an operating system; it's just a kernel. Linux isn't based on UNIX; it was intended to replace a UNIX variant, and ended up as the kernel of a Free replacement for a complete UNIX system.They aren't protocols per se, but instant messenging clients that utilize multiple protocols. Mentioning Trillian beside GAIM in the way you did may be misleading, since AFAIK Trillian is closed source and available for Windows only.
Not that they're non-existent, but that there are less of them.In the context you put it, I'd say "unavailability of common commercial / proprietary software" rather than "support", which can mean multiple things; Linux is widely supported by many large companies, if you mean tech support, for example.I'd rather say "Since most common codecs have restrictive licenses, they aren't freely redistributable in Linux distributions".

Way to make me feel like a complete idiot. Were my statement an argument, you would have completely owned me. :)

Anyways thanks for all the input, guys. I'll keep you posted on how it goes, but as the teacher pushed back the due date until next Tuesday it might be a couple of more days. Yay for procrastination!

[Kristen Lucas]

Said paper started out as just about Open Sourceness, but I soon realized I could not get nearly 5 pages (double spaced) out of just that. Then I decided to compare open and closed source and threw in some information about Linus. Now I am up to three pages, but am completely out of ideas. Help?

Open source is bigger than you think, look up how it began, way before the FSF and Stallman.

Look up the different licences, GPL, BSD and MIT licences all differ, look up the history of most of this software, if i would write a paper i would be limited by anything less than 150 pages.

If you really want you could concentrate on the development of KDE, which did go through a closed/open source dilemma, as a developer i could probably help you with that.

[cmorgan47]

I shall look all that up, 23meg.

I said almost everything I could off of the top of my head


i think i see the problem.