overview and history

Europe's leading Linux and Free Software Conference and Expo

Overview and History

Nils MagnusProgram Chair

[email protected]

9th Annual International Localisation ConferenceLimerick, Ireland, September 21 – 22, 2004

Towards Lower Barriers in International Knowledge Transfer by Means of Open Source

Approaches

Oliver ZendelChairman

[email protected]


Overview and Motivation

● Free Software is a social-economic phenomenon

● Free Software is not a product, but a ressource

● Key features include

– Low Cost

– Stability/Security

– Flexibility● How can Free Software bridge gaps in a global

society?

● Examples for successful projects as case studies


What Free Software stands for

● Free software is a matter of freedom:

– Freedom 1: The freedom to study how the program works, and adapt it to your needs

– Freedom 2: The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbour

– Freedom 3: The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits

and last but not least

– Freedom 0: The freedom to run the program, for any purpose


Comercial Impact

● Free Software means not “free of charge”

– Free Software is often free of charge: Low license expenses

– Free Software can be sold for money● Free Software is a path to the service society

● Keyplayers like IBM, HP or Fujitsu Siemens Computers use Free Software for solutions based on service-orientedIT-architecture

● Free Software vendors use ressources to create products (similar: carpenters uses wood to create products)

● Open Standards are induced by Free Software


Case Study: KDE

● K Desktop Environment is the user interaction environment between user and operating system:

– Window decorations: Look and Feel

– Application launcher, panels, applets

– Several applications: editor, word processor, email client, system utilities, games, and many more

● Started in 1997 by German student Matthias Ettrich

● Today several hundreds of developers worldwide enhance the system (programmers, tranlators, web team and more)

● Locale tools are part of the development process


KDE internationalizing effort

● KDE is translated almost 90 different languages by more than 300 translators (i. e. Irish Gaelic)

● Languages are chosen by demand, not by economic reasons

● Tools to support localisation are part of the development process (KBabel, gettext)


Being part of the Movement

● Not only Programmers and Software architects can contribute to Free Software, but also you and I

● Open Source ideas in other contexts:

– Artists can contribute to Free Software: Open Music

– Writers and Translators can contribute to Free Software: Open Content/Open Access

– Common Users can contribute to Free Software by filing bug reports

● Free Software is knowledge, everybody can contribute to a knowledge pool

● Developers and non-developer cooperate together


Case Study: Wikipedia

● Wikipedia is a joint effort to create a global encyclopedia of common knowledge of high quality

● International collaboration

● Non-technical contributors

● Everybody can participate

● Based on Open Source technology

● Shift of Paradigms

● Quality assurance is still an issue:Palestenian-Israel confilct is anexample of how to settle conflicts


Rise of a free knowlege pool


Knowledge needs Infrastructure

● Internet technology is the driving force for free knowledge

● Increasing the Internet user base increases the free knowledge pool

● There are still billions of people without Internet access. How many of these would share their knowledge?

● Free knowledge needs software to manage the it

● There is necessity of software for

– information retrieval (Access)

– collecting and archiving knowledge (Store)

– quality assurance (Enhance)


Case Study: Knoppix

● Knoppix is a LinuxTag project maintained by Klaus Knopper

● Easy to use full featured Linux operating system

● Run from CDROM or DVD without tampering your system

– Over 2 GB of installed programs (CD version, DVD: >5GB)

– Instant Internet access (LAN, WLAN, modem, DSL, mobile)

– Office productivity applications

– Educational software

– Development tools

– Games and much more


Knoppix Localizations

● Knoppix is available in severallanguages:

– German, English, French,Spanish, Polish, Italian,Japanese, Dutch, Dansk,and Russian

– More languages areavailable through projectsor can easily be done by yourself

● Lowers the barrier for underdeveloped regions

● Several projects customized Knoppix to their needs


LinuxTag as Platform

● Projects, developers, business, and usersneed a platform to exchange

● Conferences for several focus groups:

– Developers and admins (Free Conference)

– Descision makers in business and publicadministration (Business Conference)

– Users (Practical Linux Forum)

– Customers (Exhibitor Forum)● 16,000+ visitors, now 10th anniversary

● Next LinuxTag: June 22 – 25, 2005


LinuxTag exhibition

● Over 6,000 sqm floor space for 150+ exhibitors:

– Keyplayers in IT-Industry: HP, SAP, Sun, Intel, ...

– Providers for customized Linux Solutions

– Free Projects: KDE, GNOME, Open Office.org, FSF, ...

● Commercial vendors pay for their floorspace

● Free Projects get booths for free

● LinuxTag is run by volunteers in their spare time

● LinuxTag is a projection of the Open Source model


Q & A Session

Thanks for listening ...

... see you at LinuxTag in Karlsruhe, Germany from June 22 – 25, 2005


Speaker Contact Information

Oliver ZendelChairman LinuxTag [email protected]

Nils MagnusLinuxTag Program [email protected]

LinuxTag e.V., University of Kaiserslautern, 67653 Kaiserslautern, Germanyhttp://www.linuxtag.org/

overview and history

Documents