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UITS to host second annual 'LinuxFest' March 7
March 1, 2000
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Fans of the Linux computer operating system, as well as "newbies" wanting to learn more, should mark their calendars for a day of useful information about Linux presented in an entertaining environment.
University Information Technology Services (UITS) at Indiana University will host LinuxFest 2000 on March 7 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Georgian Room of the Indiana Memorial Union on the Bloomington campus. The event is sponsored by the Unix Workstation Support Group (UWSG) and is open to the public free of charge.
The event will include free Linux installation help, and people are welcome to bring their computers for on-the-spot assistance and individual consulting provided by UWSG staff members. There will be Linux demonstrations running on multiple platforms, including Sun, DEC, Intel, Macintosh and SGI, as well as displays of how Linux is being deployed in visualization, computer security and high performance computing.
Local vendors who use and support Linux will be on hand, and free Linux paraphernalia will be available. The event also will feature a series of short presentations designed to help those who are new to Linux, as well as talks by representatives of IBM and SGI, who will discuss how Linux fits into their corporate plans. All presentations will be accessible live via Multicast Internet (more commonly known as "the Mbone").
Like Microsoft's Windows or Apple's Mac OS, Linux is an operating system -- a computer's digital engine. It offers a Unix-like alternative for PCs and can be downloaded from the Internet free of charge. To download a version of Linux, go to http://www.linux.org/
"Unix has traditionally been the preferred operating system for research computing, but commercial versions of Unix are very expensive and run only on high-end hardware. Because Linux runs on 'commodity-grade' hardware, it brings the stability and power of Unix to the desktop," said Anurag Shankar, manager of the Unix Workstation Support Group.
With an estimated 10 million users worldwide, Linux has become a global phenomenon. Its appeal has spread from its grassroots beginnings within computing's counterculture into the corporate mainstream.
Further distinguishing Linux from the herd, its creator, Linus Torvalds, not only put it on the Internet for anyone to use, but also made it available in "open source" format. Open source means the program code is freely shared, allowing experts to customize, modify or extend it as they see fit.
"Because it's free, you can download it, hack it, and give it back. It's a product of the 'Net' community," said Dick Repasky, Unix Systems Specialist in the UWSG.
Shankar said, "The open source concept and the flexibility that it allows is fueling a very powerful movement. The stability and flexibility of Linux are remarkable."
For more information about LinuxFest 2000, including how to access the event via the MBone network, go to http://www.uwsg.iu.edu/linuxfest/
If you want more information about Linux and other Unix operating systems, check out the Unix Users Group (UUG). The group meets the second Thursday of each month at 3:30 p.m. in Lindley Hall on the Bloomington campus to discuss issues of concern to Unix programmers and systems administrators. The meetings are open to the public. For more about the UUG, go to http://www.uwsg.iu.edu/uug/
(George Vlahakis, 812-855-0846, gvlahaki@indiana.edu)