Una pregunta Profesor

¿Qué es GNU/Linux?

GNU/Linux es, a simple vista, un Sistema Operativo. Es una implementación de libre distribución UNIX para computadoras personales (PC), servidores, y estaciones de trabajo. Fue desarrollado para el i386 y ahora soporta los procesadores i486,e i586, , así como AMD y Cyrix. También soporta máquinas basadas en SPARC, DEC Alpha, PowerPC/PowerMac.

Como sistema operativo, GNU/Linux es muy eficiente y tiene un excelente diseño. Es multitarea, multiusuario, multiplataforma y multiprocesador; en las plataformas Intel corre en modo protegido; protege la memoria para que un programa no pueda hacer caer al resto del sistema; carga sólo las partes de un programa que se usan; comparte la memoria entre programas aumentando la velocidad y disminuyendo el uso de memoria; usa un sistema de memoria virtual por páginas; utiliza toda la memoria libre para cache; permite usar bibliotecas enlazadas tanto estática como dinámicamente; se distribuye con código fuente; usa hasta 64 consolas virtuales; tiene un sistema de archivos avanzado pero puede usar los de los otros sistemas; y soporta redes tanto en TCP/IP como en otros protocolos.

El movimiento alrededor de GNU/Linux

Más allá de todas estas notables características técnicas, GNU/Linux es mucho más que lo dicho anteriormente. Lo que hace realmente único a GNU/Linux entre otros sistemas operativos es que conlleva una idea del modo en que debería desarrollarse el software.

Los componentes de un sistema GNU/Linux no están en el dominio público, ni son shareware. Son lo que se llama "software libre". Esto significa que el código fuente está disponible a todo el que lo quiera y siempre lo estará. El software libre puede ser vendido o regalado, a discreción de todo aquel que posea una copia, pero a todo aquel que lo distribuye se le obliga a distribuirlo con el código fuente. Todo esto esta reglamentado por la Licencia Pública General GNU (GPL). Esta licencia se encarga de que GNU/Linux permanezca siempre libre.

Todo esto resulta en un sistema de alta calidad tecnológica, con menos errores que los sistemas comerciales, a un costo cero o muy bajo y con la disponibilidad del código fuente que permite aprender, modificar o ayudar al desarrollo del sistema.

Historia de Linux, GNU y el software libre

En 1971, cuando Richard Stallman empezó su carrera en el MIT, el trabajaba en un grupo que usaba exclusivamente software libre. Hasta las grandes compañías distribuían software libre. Los programadores tenían la libertad de cooperar entre ellos y usualmente la ejercían.

Hacia la década del 80, la mayoría del software se había vuelto propietario, o sea, tenía dueños que prohibían y evitaban la cooperación entre los usuarios. Esto hizo que en 1983, Richard Stallman concibiera la Free Software Foundation (Fundación software libre, FSF) y en ésta el proyecto GNU como una forma de recuperar el espíritu cooperativo de los primeros días de la computación, y posibilitar nuevamente la cooperación sacando los obstáculos impuestos por los dueños del software propietario.

El proyecto GNU consiste en el desarrollo de un sistema operativo y juego de aplicaciones totalmente libre y compatible con UNIX. El proyecto incluye desarrollar una versión libre de cualquier aplicación que no se disponga libre. De esta forma, una computadora puede estar equipada con 100software libre y cumplir cualquier función; esto incluye el sistema operativo y todos los programas que uno necesite para cualquier función. Ya que sin un sistema operativo no puede usarse una computadora, se tomó esto como punto de partida para el proyecto GNU.

En 1990, se habían encontrado o escrito la mayoría de los componentes mayores del sistema operativo excepto uno: el kernel o núcleo. Para ese entonces, Linux comenzó como proyecto personal del entonces estudiante Linus Torvalds, que se basó en el Minix de Andy Tanenbaum (profesor que creó su propio clon de UNIX para PC-XT para usarlo en su docencia). Combinando Linux con el resto del sistema GNU se llego a la meta inicial de un sistema operativo libre: El sistema GNU basado en Linux. Se estima que hoy hay millones de usuarios de GNU/Linux (ver
http://counter.li.org).

Actualmente Linus lo sigue desarrollando, pero a estas alturas el principal autor es la red Internet, desde donde un gigantesco grupo de programadores y usuarios aportan su tiempo y ayuda, tanto al núcleo Linux como al resto de las aplicaciones. La FSF continúa con el proyecto GNU desarrollando otras aplicaciones que todavía no tienen su versión libre.

Para saber un poco más sobre las dudas existenciales sobre el GNU ver el Manifiesto GNU de Richard Stallman

Ahora si!

Algunas (algunas...) de las últimas Distros de GNU/Linux del 2007, hasta el día de ayer...

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Xplora Knoppix 2.0

Licencia: GPL (GNU General Public License)
Precio: Gratis

Cita:
Xplora Knoppix is a Live CD based on the Debian Linux distribution and completely contained on a self booting DVD.

Xplora Knoppix is a version of Knoppix especially mastered for Xplora and contains software applications focused on science education, as well as a number of educational materials from the Xplora repository.

As it is open source software it can be given away freely and be copied as well. The Xplora – Knoppix release 2.0 has a multilingual support – English, French, and German.

DESCARGA!

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Debian Live Etch 4.0r0 RC1

Licencia: GPL (GNU General Public License)
Precio: Gratis

Cita:
Debian Live Etch is a Live Linux distribution based on Debian 4.0. Although Debian Live is about creating your own customized Live system, we offer some prebuilt images.

Currently, builds for the three desktop environments GNOME, KDE and Xfce as well as the standard system are available. Builds based on testing are created every week and the ones based on unstable are build daily.

DESCARGAR!

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Puppy Linux 3.01

Licencia: GPL (GNU General Public License)
Precio: Gratis

Cita:
Puppy Linux is an evolutionary operating system, based on GNU Linux. What's different here is that Puppy is extraordinarily small, yet quite full featured. Puppy Linux can boot into a 64MB ramdisk, and that's it, the whole caboodle runs in RAM.

Unlike live CD distributions that have to keep pulling stuff off the CD, Puppy in its entirety loads into RAM. This means that all applications start in the blink of an eye and respond to user input instantly.

Puppy Linux has the ability to boot off a flash card or any USB memory device (flash-Puppy), CDROM (live-Puppy), Zip disk or LS/120/240 Superdisk (zippy-Puppy), floppy disks (floppy-Puppy), internal hard drive (hard-Puppy).

Puppy occupies about 50-60M on my USB Flash drive, CDROM, or whatever is the storage media.

When Puppy boots, everything uncompresses into a RAM area that we call a "ramdisk". The live-CD will bootup on systems with only 32M RAM, but the more RAM you have the more Puppy is able to keep files permanently in ramdisk hence more speed. A PC with 128M RAM is the recommended minimum.

Note that Puppy will automatically use a swap partition if it exists. When booting from a USB Flash device, Puppy tries to load all the Flash files into physical RAM, but if there is not enough RAM then Puppy is able to copy the excess to a swap partition if it exists. This eliminates writes to the Flash memory during a session, greatly extending its life span.

You may need to have a swap partition to run Firefox or Mozilla on PCs with less than 64M RAM. Certainly, for a PC with only 32M RAM, a swap partition is necessary to run most of the large GUI applications.

What's New in This Release:

· Puppy 3.01 is a bug-fix upgrade of 3.00. If you are currently using 3.00 (or have tried to use 3.00 and have encountered a show-stopper bug), please read the blog first to find out if your particular problem has been addressed -- if not, it may be addressed in 3.02. The purpose of 3.01 is simply to fix the most urgent bugs and niggles in 3.00, not apply any major changes or package upgrades. This Puppy (3.00 and 3.01) is a massive upgrade from the previous (v2.17.1). I decided to aim for close binary compatibility with Slackware 12, with the objective of being able to install Slackware packages and have all or most of the required dependencies already in place. To that end, I used all the building block packages from Slackware 12, such as glibc 2.5, GCC 4.1.2 and GTK+ 2.10.13. Most of the libraries in Puppy are now from Slackware.

DESCARGAR!

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StartCom MultiMedia Linux 5.0.5 / 5.0.6 RC2

Licencia: GPL (GNU General Public License)
Precio: Gratis

Cita:
StartCom Linux is based on the Red Hat AS source code.

Specially designed for the demanding home user, the MultiMedia Edition lets you easily communicate with your friends and family members over the Internet, browse the news or watching the latest DVD movie you just bought.

Listen to your loved Music while you check your email or play some funny game while you burn a CD, everything is easily accessible from your desktop by a click on your mouse button.

System configuration and adjustments of your preferences never have been so simple, thanks to the integrated configuration tools.

What's New in 5.0.5 Stable Release:

· StartCom has released its new Multimedia Edition, ML-5.0.5, code named 'Kessem'. It's probably one of the largest and most complete Linux distributions ever released to the public. Release ML-5.0.5, offers many 'out-of-the-box' capabilities, never bundled with an operating system before. Designed as a multimedia workstation with music studio and advanced video editing applications, it also provides the desktop user with the most applications for day to day use.

SCREENS:

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Edubuntu 7.10

Licencia: GPL (GNU General Public License)
Precio: Gratis

Cita:
Edubuntu is a version of the Ubuntu operating system suitable for classroom use. As an educator you'll be able to set up a computer lab, or establish an online learning environment, in an hour or less -- then administer that environment without having to become a fully-fledged Linux geek.

Edubuntu is currently under development by the same development team that produces the wildly popular Ubuntu system. Edubuntu a customized version of Ubuntu.

Principal design goals of Edubuntu are centralized management of configuration, users, and processes, together with facilities for working collaboratively in a classroom setting. Equally important is the gathering together of the best available free software and digital materials for education.

DESCARGAR!(V. i386)

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Kubuntu 7.10

Licencia: GPL (GNU General Public License)
Precio: Gratis

Cita:
Kubuntu is an Ubuntu-derived distribution with the K Desktop Environment (KDE). The Kubuntu CDs are made up of Ubuntu's base plus KDE. You can get exactly the same effect by installing Ubuntu and adding the KDE packages from the Ubuntu archives.

Kubuntu is the result of several months effort to get KDE 3.4 into Ubuntu's main repository and create the first major derived Ubuntu distribution. Kubuntu is not a fork of Ubuntu but an official project of it, sharing the same package archive and infrastructure. It is possible to convert an Ubuntu system to Kubuntu or vice versa.

DESCARGAR!

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Xubuntu 7.10

Licencia: GPL (GNU General Public License)
Precio: Gratis

Cita:
Xubuntu community project's aim is to provide a nice Ubuntu desktop experience (even on older hardware) by using Xfce4 as the desktop environment and GTK+ 2 applications wherever possible.

Xfce4 has been supported in Ubuntu's universe by the MOTUXfce team since Hoary and Breezy. For Dapper we want to go one step further and make Xubuntu a sibling of Ubuntu, Kubuntu, and Edubuntu by having install and live CD images generated for it.

As Ubuntu has a delay of six weeks with a new release date of the first of June, Xubuntu should be released at the same time and should use the latest stable Xfce 4.X code (hopefully 4.4 will be released by then).

DESCARGAR!

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Ubuntu 7.10

Licencia: GPL (GNU General Public License)
Precio: Gratis

Cita:
Ubuntu is a Debian based linux distribution

Cita:
Ubuntu will always be free of charge, including enterprise releases and security updates.
· Ubuntu comes with full commercial support from Canonical and hundreds of companies around the world.
· Ubuntu includes the very best translations and accessibility infrastructure that the free software community has to offer.
· Ubuntu CDs contain only free software applications; we encourage you to use free and open source software, improve it and pass it on.

Ubuntu is a community developed operating system that is perfect for laptops, desktops and servers. Whether you use it at home, at school or at work Ubuntu contains all the applications you'll ever need, from word processing and email applications, to web server software and programming tools.

Ubuntu is and always will be free of charge. You do not pay any licensing fees. You can download, use and share Ubuntu with your friends, family, school or business for absolutely nothing.

We issue a new desktop and server release every six months. That means you'll always have the the latest and greatest applications that the open source world has to offer.

Ubuntu is designed with security in mind. You get free security updates for at least 18 months on the desktop and server. With the Long Term Support (LTS) version you get three years support on the desktop, and five years on the server. There is no extra fee for the LTS version, we make our very best work available to everyone on the same free terms. Upgrades to new versions of Ubuntu are and always will be free of charge.

Everything you need on one CD, which provides a complete working environment. Additional software is available online.

The graphical installer enables you to get up and running quickly and easily. A standard installation should take less than 25 minutes.
Once installed your system is immediately ready-to-use. On the desktop you have a full set of productivity, internet, drawing and graphics applications, and games.

DESCARGAR!

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Syllable 0.1 (Syllable Server)

Licencia: GPL (GNU General Public License)
Precio: Gratis

Cita:
Syllable Server description Download
The Syllable project creates a set of operating systems that interact to deploy networks. Syllable Desktop is a complete desktop operating system that is exceptionally powerful, fast, and easy to use.

Syllable is an operating system with its own kernel, filesystem, GUI, and applications. Syllable Desktop is based on AtheOS, is largely POSIX.1 compliant, and uses many of the GNU utilities. Syllable Server is a server operating system built to be similar to Syllable Desktop, but on the Linux kernel.

What's New in This Release:

· This release provides a text mode Linux environment, but also contains a preliminary graphical environment built on the framebuffer device, with DirectFB and SDL on top.
· The installation procedure is short, but is still manual. Included are tools such as a graphical Web browser, a file manager, and an editor.
· One thing Syllable Server is designed for is to function as a lightweight virtualisation platform for running other operating systems (or multiple instances of itself).
· The QEmu virtualisor/emulator is included, and the KQEmu Accelerator kernel module is integrated into the system.

DESCARGAR!

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openSUSE Linux 10.3(RECOMENDADO) By Novell, Inc

Licencia: GPL (GNU General Public License)
Precio: Gratis

Cita:
The openSUSE project is a worldwide community program sponsored by Novell (http://www.novell.com) that promotes the use of Linux everywhere. openSUSE Linux provides anyone with free and easy access to the world's most usable Linux distribution, SUSE Linux.

The goals of the openSUSE project are:

Make SUSE Linux the easiest Linux distribution for anyone to obtain, and the most widely used open source platform.

Provide an environment for open source collaboration tha makes SUSE Linux the world's best Linux distribution for new and experienced Linux users.

Dramatically simplify and open the development and packaging processes to make SUSE Linux the platform of choice for Linux hackers and application developers.

Currently, SUSE Linux is an unsupported, open source only, preliminary edition of SUSE Linux that contains bleeding-edge packages and represents the latest development snapshot. If you intend to test for bugs or contribute patches, this version is for you...

What's New in This Release:

· Novell today announced the availability of openSUSE 10.3, the newest version of the award-winning community Linux distribution. Enhancements to openSUSE 10.3 include the newest versions of the GNOME and KDE desktop environments, including a KDE 4 preview. OpenOffice.org 2.3 makes sharing files easy, and the newest version of AppArmor protects the Linux operating system and applications from attacks, viruses and malicious applications. OpenSUSE 10.3 also now includes MP3 support out of the box for Banshee and Amarok, which are the default media players in openSUSE. In addition, openSUSE 10.3 offers the latest open source applications for developing applications, setting up a home network and running a web server.

Screenshots:

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Fedora 7

Licencia: GPL (GNU General Public License)
Precio: Gratis

Cita:
Fedora Core is now available from Red Hat and at distinguished mirror sites near you, and is also available in the torrent.

Fedora Core has expanded in this release to four binary ISO images and four source ISO images, and is available for both x86-64 and i386 and also PPC machines.

The Fedora Project is a Red-Hat-sponsored and community-supported open source project. It is also a proving ground for new technology that may eventually make its way into Red Hat products. It is not a supported product of Red Hat, Inc.

The goal of The Fedora Project is to work with the Linux community to build a complete, general purpose operating system exclusively from free software. Development will be done in a public forum. The project will produce time-based releases of Fedora Core about 2-3 times a year with a public release schedule.

The Red Hat engineering team will continue to participate in the building of Fedora Core and will invite and encourage more outside participation than was possible in Red Hat Linux.

By using this more open process, we hope to provide an operating system that uses free software development practices and is more appealing to the open source community.

Here are some key features of "Fedora Core":

· KDE 3.5.4
· GNOME 2.16
· OpenOffice 2.0.4
· Kernel 2.6.17
· Xen

Screenshots

DESCARGAR (SITIO DE MIRRORS OFICIALES) Los que tienen el sufijo "ES" en la columna "Country" tienen la versión Multi-Lenguaje -Español incluido-

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La perlita:

Mandriva Linux 2008

Licencia: GPL (GNU General Public License)
Precio: Gratis

Cita:
Mandriva Linux 2008 is the ultimate version of Mandriva Linux. It is the fruit of the convergence of three technologies: Mandriva, Conectiva and Lycoris.

Mandriva Linux 2008 is also more easy-to-use, more user-friendly and more powerful. It is ideal for the needs of all customers, from the beginner to the SOHO user.

Mandriva Linux 2008 is available in three editions: One, Powerpack and Free, for both i586 and x86-64 architectures. One and Free can be downloaded free of charge from official Mandriva mirrors and via BitTorrent.

Mandriva Linux (formerly known as Mandrake Linux) was created in 1998 with the goal of making Linux easier to use for everyone. At that time, Linux was already well-known as a powerful and stable operating system.

With this innovative approach, Mandriva offers all the power and stability of Linux to both individuals and professional users in an easy-to-use and pleasant environment. Thousands of new users are discovering Linux each and every day and finding it a complete replacement for their previous operating system. Linux as a server or workstation has no reason to be jealous of any other more established operating systems.

Free/Open Source Free Software licensing govern the development and redistribution of Mandriva Linux. FOSS licensing provides everyone the right to copy, distribute, examine, modify and improve the system as long as the results of these modifications are returned to the community. It is this development model that allows Mandrivalinux Linux to collect the best ideas from developers & users from across the globe to result in a rich variety of techniques and solutions.

Here are some key features of "Mandriva Linux":

· A computer running the Mandriva Linux operating system can be as easy to use as a computer which uses Windows or Mac OS -- a fact which has been Confirmed by many IT publications. CNET (a popular technical online magazine) awarded Mandrivalinux Linux their "Editor's Choice" saying: "New users, especially those looking for a quick and easy alternative to Windows or the Mac OS, will be hard pressed to find a smoother, easier transition to the world of Linux."
· For comparison, the Mandriva Linux PowerPack contains thousands high-quality applications including a complete Office Suite, plus installation support, for a cost of approximately 10 times less than the equivalent Microsoft Windows + MS Office cost, which comes without any technical support.
· Mandriva Linux requires little maintenance as its software management system automatically handles dependency issues and avoids conflicts between applications. Additionally, the MandrivaUpdate utility allows free and easy updates through the Internet -- this is an ideal way to stay current with the latest security-related software updates.
· Due to the strength of Linux, a typical Mandriva Linux system can run for months without a reboot. Additionally, the i586 version of Mandrivalinux Linux is optimized for Pentium class (and compatible processors) to provide the highest performance on this hardware.
· In over ten years of widespread use, only a few rumored viruses have ever been recorded that affect Linux. This strong immunity can be explained by the fundamental architecture of the system which consists of independent layers that have specific features and strict permissions. Additionally, normal users have a strict and limited role on a Linux system; it's only the "root" user (administrator) who has the power to expose an entire system to possible danger.
· Versions exist for x86, PPC, AMD64 and IA64.

Differences with other Linux operating systems:
· With a graphical installation process recognized by many as the best available, Mandriva Linux offers the most advanced and efficient hardware detection.
· A graphical approach to system administration, in addition to the command line, makes Mandriva Linux the operating system which takes integration and management of a user interface the furthest to dispel the image of a Linux system managed only via command line or text mode.
· Friendly and integrated environments
· Perfect integration of user-friendly graphical environments such as KDE and GNOME provide comfort and ease-of-use.
· Several pre-configured security levels
· Mandriva Linux offers several pre-configured levels of security. A user can therefore choose a desired degree of security specifically for their computer.
· Centralized configuration system
· Thanks to the Mandriva Linux Control Center, a user can resort to a single panel to administer the entire system.

Who uses Mandriva Linux?
· Individual users without specific IT knowledge who require a Linux distribution that is simple to use. Mandriva Linux is by far the easiest and the most comprehensive.
· Experienced users who prefer not spending hours installing and configuring their Linux machine. Mandriva Linux is the most effortless Linux system to install and maintain.
· Professionals who need powerful and stable systems. Mandriva Linux is one of the most complete Linux distributions and is quickly becoming one of the most favored systems in businesses (see Mandriva's customer case studies for many examples of Mandriva in the workplace).

A few examples of how Mandriva Linux is being used :

Personal purposes:

· Office (OpenOffice.org, KOffice, Abiword, Gnumeric)
· Internet (Web, Email...)
· Multimedia (Video, Audio MP3, RealPlayer, Flash player...)
· 2D and 3D games
· Advanced programming (C/C++/Java/Assembler/Perl/Python/HTML/PHP/GTK/QT)

Server use:

· Web server (Apache with HTTP, PHP, Webdav...): Mandriva Linux is used to operate computers that deliver web pages.
· Database Server (PostgreSQL, MySQL, IBM DB2, Oracle...)
Mandriva Linux is a useful operating system for computers designed to host database and to link them with Internet servers.
· LDAP Server
A LDAP server stocks one or various directory data bases.
· FTP Server
FTP Server are the computers that deliver files following the FTP protocol.
· DNS Server
A DNS server attributes the IP addresses (numeric addresses) of computers linked to the Internet.
· NIS Server
A NIS Server enables the globalization of user accounts on a given network
· File Server in a Windows environment
Mandriva Linux manages the attribution and sending of files in a network of computers running on Windows thanks to the Samba application
· Email Internet Server (SMTP, POP3, IMAP...)
Mandriva Linux is used in companies and on the Internet to manage employees' electronic mail.
· Print Server
Mandriva Linux administers printing services for all machines in the computer network.
· Scientific calculations (SMP, Clusters...)
Mandriva Linux is widely applauded by organizations and all those who need to carry out scientific calculations. Its optimization for modern processors gives Mandrivalinux Linux a significant advantage in comparison to other Linux systems.

Sreenshots;

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