Practice
Useful Links
Jim Zemlin - What the tech industry has learned from Linus Torvalds
A short talk about the role of Linux in the modern world. Although the video itself is quite old, the overall picture remains the same.
An interesting movie telling the story of the emergence and development of free software.
An Overview of Open Source Licenses
Licenses are an important part of software, determining what can and cannot be done with the software. It is important to have an understanding of the issues that arise from closed-source software and why “Free Software” and “Open Source” licenses are so important.
Written in a somewhat specific way, but it addresses issues such as tivoization, software patents, and more.
Questions
What do users use computers for?
How does an operating system help users?
What is an operating system?
Why was an operating system created?
What are the components of an operating system?
What tasks does the kernel of the operating system handle?
Can programs work without an operating system?
What are the source code and compiler?
What is GNU?
What is “Free Software,” and how does it differ from “Freeware”?
Differences and similarities between “Free Software” and “Open Source Software.”
What is non-free software called?
What are Creative Commons licenses used for?
What is tivoization?
What is Linux?
Why is the operating system called GNU/Linux?
What are distributions, and why are there so many of them?
Which distribution should you choose and why?
What is the relationship between GNU/Linux and UNIX?
Can Linux be called UNIX? What condition must be met to call an OS UNIX?
Can you make money with Free Software, and how?
What is the difference between commercial distributions and user distributions?
There is a distribution called CentOS, which is almost a full copy of RHEL but distributed for free. Why do companies purchase RHEL when they can use CentOS?
Some distributions have different releases - stable, testing, and unstable. What could be the differences, and why and when are they used?