Berikut ini tulisan dari The Chronicle of Higher Education
http://chronicle.com/free/2000/03/2000030201t.htm
Universities Turn to Linux for an Inexpensive Operating System
By KELLY McCOLLUM
Providing dependable software for the hundreds or thousands of computers
connected to a typical campus network can be a daunting and
expensive task. Some institutions are finding relief by customizing their
own versions of Linux, the free computer operating system.
Linux has long been used on college campuses by researchers and computer
scientists. But computer departments have usually not
provided technical support for it, and campus servers and computer labs
are most-often stocked with Unix, Windows NT, or Macintosh
machines.
When Warren Jasper, a professor of textile engineering at North Carolina
State University, needed new computer systems for his
research, he says, "what I found is that I just wasn't getting the kind of
computer support I was needing, but I couldn't afford to replace the
servers." So Mr. Jasper and a team of students modified a version of Linux
so that it would work with the university's Unix-based
computer system, called Eos.
An operating system controls the basic functions of a computer and is
required for the use of other programs such as word processors and
Web browsers. Linux is free because it was developed by volunteers rather
than by a company.
Linux also is "open source" software, meaning that -- unlike the case with
most other operating systems -- its users have access to its
computer code and are permitted to make changes and improvements in it.
Mr. Jasper's new version, Eos Linux, can be installed on
inexpensive PC's but provides the same capabilities as the expensive Unix
computers that run the Eos system.
After Eos Linux was finished, Mr. Jasper began distributing the software
on his campus for other users. The university's engineering
school donated $8,000 to put the package on CD-ROM's and print up some
instruction manuals. The university bookstore began selling
the CD's, and within a few months, says Mr. Jasper, EOS Linux was the
second most popular operating system in the dormitories, behind
Windows.
In the past year, more and more popular computer programs, and even video
games, have become available for Linux. In turn, since a
computer can only run software designed for its operating system, those
new programs have made Linux itself more popular.
But, says Mr. Jasper, "the technology is really not the story. The story
is the money." He says the university tried adapting Windows NT to
work with the Eos system, at a cost of more than $500,000. He says with
commercial licensing fees, that software would have cost several
hundred dollars per computer, while the Eos Linux CD's sold for less than
$6.
The University of Michigan's College of Engineering has undertaken a
similar project for its students. The college's computer
department decided to consider Linux as an operating system for computer
labs and student computers. But, says Chris Wing, a
programmer in the department, Linux was limited in the number of users a
system could support. Mr. Wing modified the operating
system to overcome that limitation, then began making other changes to
make Linux more secure and more like the college's other
computer systems.
Aside from cost, he says, Linux offers a number of advantages over other
operating systems. "It's a Unix system, and Unix is fairly
well-suited for the scientific and technical community," he says. "There
are a lot of features in Unix that make it very useful for those
doing research."
And while Linux is similar to Unix, there are also differences. "There's a
lot of software that's becoming available on Linux first," Mr.
Wing says, making the operating system more useful than Unix systems. He
adds, "Linux runs on just about anything, so it's well-suited
for people that aren't going to buy new equipment but want to make more
use of old equipment."
Mr. Wing says security was a chief concern in designing Michigan's version
of Linux, since the operating system's increasing popularity
has made it a more appealing target for attack. He says few inexperienced
Linux users know how to configure it properly. He says his
version is by default set to be as secure as possible.
Mr. Wing says the new version of Linux is a logical step for Michigan,
where it has been widely used for several years and is even used to
teach some programming courses. "We use Unix," he says, "and this is to a
big degree an evolution of our use of Unix and a way to make it
more accessible to the students and faculty."
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