High tech often means high cost. But recently, a growing movement in the tech world has gotten the attention of even the mightiest of commercial giants: Free software.
Free software refers to software available freely — and legally — on the Internet. Though the terms are often used interchangeably, it is different from shareware, in which users must eventually pay a fee to use it. Depending on the license under which a piece of free software is released, anyone may download it, use it, and even distribute it. In some cases, users are obliged to submit any improvements they make to the originator so they may be included in an updated version.
Rhode Island's Market Has Changed. Developers, Builders, Investors and Sellers Must Change With It.
By Emilio DiSpirito IV License Partner | Engel & Völkers Oceanside Leader | The DiSpirito…
Learn More
While it’s a long way from displacing Microsoft, the ‘free-software movement’ is gaining respect. An extreme example came last spring when Netscape released the source code to Netscape Navigator 5.0, allowing hackers everywhere to freely download the program.
Meanwhile, the Unix-based operating system Linux, also free, is starting to show up in more and more businesses as software companies begin designing products to run on it.
The ‘freeware’ movement has New England ties. One of its leaders is Boston-based Richard Stallman, founder of the Free Software Foundation. Stallman was one of the forerunners of the movement in 1984 when he formed the GNU Project, an attempt to build a free Unix-based operating system. Unix is an operating system that was once available on expensive workstations only. From the base of the GNU Project’s work, a Finnish student named Linus Torvalds created the Linux operating system, a combination of ‘Linus’ and ‘Unix,’ a few years later.
Linux — which Stallman insists is more properly called GNU/Linux — now has about 7 million users. For now, however, most of those users are technical people. One reason is that Linux is not as easy to use as Windows, the Microsoft operating system. But many now say that that will change. Just as the Internet was commercialized, experts say, Linux will eventually become a practical alternative to Windows for desktops.
“I think it will definitely become more common,” said Victor Fay-Wolfe, a University of Rhode Island associate professor of computer science. “It’s a real alternative to the Microsoft-dominated world of computing.”
Some of those 7 million users are URI students, who enjoy the opportunity to work on what Fay-Wolfe called a “strong, robust platform.”
But while Linux and various free software programs allow users to save money, the movement is about more than getting software for free. It’s also a forum for hackers to show off. Unlike commercial software, users say, developers have a chance to sign their names to specific improvements made to a piece of software.
If you go to the source code in a free program, for example, you will often see statements like, ‘This feature written by John Smith with revisions by Mary Jones,’ said Brian Youmans, distribution manager for the Free Software Foundation. The ability to sign these improvements has created a competition to see who can produce the best code, he said.
“It (puts) an intellectual joy back into writing software because everybody can see who’s doing it,” Youmans said. “It’s their code that’s helping the community.”
The community of users is largely responsible for the development of better software. For example, Emacs, the original GNU Project program, is now up to version 20.3, in part because of improvements made by users that have been submitted back and added in to the official version of the software.
Youmans said GNU has a group of people that examines new features to decide if they should be included into the software’s official version. These maintainers, as they’re called, develop a strategy for the design of the software.
“Some maintainers try not to add a lot of new features, while others add a lot in to make it more generally useful,” he said, noting that GNU will sometimes release different versions of the same programs. “We’re constantly on the outlook for new programs.”
GNU programs are issued under what it calls the General Public License, in which users may operate programs for their own use, but must submit improvements to the source code back to GNU. Netscape issued its code under its own license and also requires users to send modifications back to the company. Some freeware originators, however, release source code with no obligation to send improvements back.
Though Linux is freely available, downloading it can take hours. That has allowed several companies to profit from it. For example, many companies package it, add features to it, provide technical support, and sell it on CD-ROMs.
The largest Linux vendor is Red Hat, which sells it for $49.95 and includes installation documentation, installation support, Netscape Navigator, and other application packages.
One of its customers is the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Newport, which uses the GNU CC compiler — which turns programming languages into code that can run on computers.
Robert Dupere, a NUWC electronics technician, said people in his department often download free software and then buy the CD-ROM as backup. But he added that while some people there are using Linux, Unix, Windows NT, and Windows 95 and 98 are still the center’s most commonly used systems.
Still, experts say Linux is catching Microsoft’s attention, and that it is a legitimate competitor for Windows NT. Youmans has gone as far as to say that statistics show Linux is gaining market share faster than NT.
But freeware is not for everyone. Paul Kluk, systems manager for Nestor Inc. in Providence, said he uses freeware if it fills a specific need — otherwise he uses traditional commercial software, which less-technically oriented users prefer, he said.
“If it fits the need I use it,” he said. “(But) if you’re dealing with users that aren’t computer savvy, then the lack of manuals really hurt the product, even though the online help might be okay.”
With the Internet coming into homes via cable, more people will download free software programs, Kluk said. Those who take the time to figure out how to use these programs will save themselves money, he said.
“For the informed consumer it’s a pretty good way to go,” he said.
To the informed and the experimental, the freeware movement, with its culture of sharing information, is an attractive commodity. Thomas Dean, chairman of the computer science department at Brown University, noted that several members of his department use Linux, as well as some students. “It’s (freeware) a real grassroots movement,” he said.
