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diff --git a/writeup/writeup.tex b/writeup/writeup.tex index 4b1d31e..7d0cbd2 100644 --- a/writeup/writeup.tex +++ b/writeup/writeup.tex @@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ \usepackage{graphicx} \usepackage{forest} \usepackage{tikz-qtree} +\usepackage{setspace} \addbibresource{ref.bib} @@ -19,12 +20,7 @@ {} {0em} {}[\titlerule] -\geometry{ - a4paper, - total={170mm,257mm}, - left=20mm, - right=20mm, -} +\geometry{a4paper,total={170mm,257mm},left=25mm,right=25mm,} \author{Lucas Standen} \title{WORKING TITLE: Why FOSS software is preferred in the @@ -33,20 +29,135 @@ development and privacy space?} \begin{document} \maketitle + \newpage + +\section{Using this document} +This document is written using the {\LaTeX} text compiler. The compiler has set up clickable links, +clickable references and a clickable table of contents, so please use these to your advantage. +The Tex source and Bib Tex bibliography is available for all at +\url{https://github.com/standenboy/epq/}. + \tableofcontents \newpage +\setlength{\parskip}{1em} + {\setlength{\parindent}{0cm} -\section{What is free software?} -\section{A brief history of FOSS software} -\section{Examples of free software} -\section{Comparing free software to its proprietary counterparts} -\section{What makes free software so appealing to developers?} -\section{What makes free software so appealing to privacy experts?} -\section{Where else is free software used and why?} -\section{What's next for the free software space?} +\section{A brief introduction} + +\section{Used language in this paper} +Throughout this paper I will use language specific to the field of computer science, and as such +it makes sense to provide a brief overview for those who don't know what specific terms mean. + +\begin{description} + \item[Licenses] In this setting a license is a legal document that is distributed with + almost all modern software, which describes how someone can use a piece of software + \item[Free Software] This term refers to software under specific licenses, making them + free for the user to use (free as in freedom, not the monetary cost). This will + be covered further in the next section. + \item[Open Source] This term refers to a piece of software, where the original code for it + is publicly available. This too will be covered further in the next section. + \item[FOSS] An acronym for "Free and Open Source Software". +\end{description} + +\section{What is Free Software?} +The Free Software movement is one that has been active for over 40 years \cite{GNUmaifesto}, it has +created some of the most important tools in computing that are used by billions on a daily basis. +It is so engraved in our lives, yet so few even know what the term means; In a simple note, it is +software for a computer, phone or other device that can be used without violating the users +freedom. + +The definition of what counts Free Software and what is software freedom can vary depending on who +you ask, but it was originally written that software that allows the following freedoms is +Free Software: + +\begin{description} + \item[0] The freedom to run a program for any purpose + \item[1] The freedom to study how a program works, and modify it to your needs + \item[2] The freedom to redistribute a piece of software + \item[3] The freedom to redistribute a edited version of software publicly +\end{description} +\textit{These freedoms were written by Richard Stallman\cite{FOSSdef} who is ever + important in this space.} + +It is important that one does not confuse Free Software with software that is monetarily free, +this is known as Freeware. Free Software defends the users rights to use and modify software and +is not focused on its cost. + +One should also note the differences between Free Software and Open Source software. In Open Source +software, like Free Software, the original code for a program is available to anyone, however +in Open Source, this is to better the projects development and usability, whereas in Free Software +it is to better the users freedom. They both use the same methods to achieve differing goals; this +often leads them to be commonly used together, as the benefits a user gets from Free Software is +much the same in Open Source software, and vice versa. + +The main goal of Free Software is to allow the user to have as much freedom as possible when using +a piece of software for any purpose. This is in contrast to the traditional alternative, called +Proprietary Software, which can be defined as software that the user can not edit, modify or +redistribute without the original publishers permission. This kind of software intentionally +restricts the users freedom, usually for the purpose of profit or control of the software. Some +common examples of Proprietary Software, are Microsoft's \textit{Windows}, Apple's \textit{iOS}, +and Google's \textit{Chrome} web browser. + +Many people don't know that they already use Free Software\cite{COMMONfoss}, but often the tools +they use most often are Free Software. A few examples of this are, Krita\cite{KRITA}; a graphics +design and art tool that is used frequently in animation, and other digital art, is made and +managed by the KDE foundation\cite{KDE}, who make exclusively Free Software. Dovecot\cite{DOVECOT}; +an email server which some major email providers use and is Free Software and commonly used, + A final example is Firefox\cite{FIREFOX} a Free Software web browser made by Mozilla that +makes up 2.71\% of the browser market share as of 2024, however in the past has had up to +30\%\cite{BROWSERmarketshare}.These are all more modern examples of Free Software, however over +the past 40 years, there have been countless others. +\section{A brief history of FOSS} +The term Free Software was first coined by Richard Stallman in 1983\cite{GNUproject}, however even +before this, examples of Free Software (and the disapproval of Proprietary Software), were already +starting to show. + +One of the earliest examples of this, was Microsoft's \textit{An open letter to hobbyists}, which +was written by Bill Gates in 1976. This letter detailed that people had been stealing from +Microsoft, as many people had brought hardware through them, but far fewer people had brought the +software. The fact this was happening at a scale large enough to cause this showed how many +computing groups, also known as hacker groups/spaces, weren't willing to pay for the software they +used, believing that if they brought the hardware they had done all that was needed\cite{OPENletter}. +It is often believed that this is one of the first examples of \textit{hacker culture}, which +would become more common into the 80's and 90's. + +A key figure in \textit{hacker culture}, as previously mentioned, was Richard Stallman. In the +early 1980's he left his job at MIT to work full time on the GNU project, which was designed +to be a full recreation of AT\&T's Unix operating system from the ground up. The idea was to allow +anyone access to a Unix like machine without paying AT\&T's expensive license fees, and allow any +user to view it, redistribute or edit; it was to be the first fully free operating system. The +early development of GNU was relatively slow, and it was not a completely free system for many +years, as some core parts of the operating system were missing, meaning non-free alternatives had +to be used. However this would later change in 1991. + +In 1988 BSD Net1 would release\cite{BSDnet1}, this was the first fully open version of the Berkeley +Software Distribution version of Unix. It had completely rewritten all the code from the original +Unix that previous versions contained, meaning it was now completely free from AT\&T's licenses. +It would be the start of a long linage of open source operating systems which are now the base +of MacOS, FreeBSD and OpenBSD. + +The GNU project, while still not fully finished, saw the final piece of the puzzle when +Linux\cite{LINUX} released in 1991, it was a fully open kernel which GNU was still lacking (however +it did get its own kernel called GNU hurd but Linux is far more commonly used). With GNU and Linux +paired together a user could finally get a fully free operating system for general use, this +combination of software is still in use today, having a 4.7\% market share globally on desktop +computers\cite{LINUXmarket}, And on web servers it is dominant. In recent years it has also shown +some use in gaming, with it being the operating system used by Valves \textit{steam deck} gaming +handheld\cite{STEAMdeck}. + +Since Linux's release there haven't been as many major events, however there has been a slow tick +in development, with a large jump over Covid, with Free Software now being completely usable against +its Proprietary counterpart. + +\section{Examples of Free Software} +\section{Comparing Free Software to its proprietary counterparts} +\section{What makes Free Software so appealing to developers?} +\section{What makes Free Software so appealing to privacy experts?} +\section{Where else is Free Software used and why?} +\section{What's next for the Free Software space?} \section{Final thoughts} \newpage |