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FEATURE<br />
users could view a program’s source code, already<br />
existed thanks to the efforts of Richard Stallman and<br />
the Free Software Foundation. But on 3 February,<br />
1998, the initial members of the Open Source Initiative<br />
gathered to coin and adopt the term ‘open source’,<br />
and the Open Source Definition published a few days<br />
later helped create a mass movement around the<br />
notion of exposing software’s source code.<br />
Linux creator Linus Torvalds soon embraced the term<br />
– the Linux Foundation’s work revolves around opensource<br />
code. Over time, open source has even slowly<br />
expanded to include hardware as well as software.<br />
Open-source software is now a foundational element<br />
of our computerized world thanks to the efforts of<br />
numerous organizations, independent developers,<br />
and regular users. In honour of the twentieth<br />
anniversary of open source, here are highlights.<br />
Open-source operating systems<br />
When it comes to open-source software and PCs, one<br />
major project comes to mind: Linux, also known as<br />
GNU/Linux. Other examples such as the BSD variants<br />
(like FreeBSD and OpenBSD) exist, but Linux and its<br />
various distributions stand out.<br />
Linux operating systems were once considered<br />
unfriendly to novice users, but those days are long<br />
gone. Most people start with the user-friendly<br />
Ubuntu, currently at version 17.10. But there’s also<br />
Debian, which Ubuntu is based on (yes, there are<br />
distributions based on other distributions), and<br />
hundreds of other options, as this Distrowatch<br />
list details (fave.co/2BWSm56). If you want to try<br />
Worldmags.net<br />
MAY 2018 • TECH ADVISOR 67
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