Many users and developers of BSD-based operating systems have a different position on licensing. The main difference is the belief that the copyleft licences, particularly the GNU General Public License (GPL), are undesirably complicated and/or restrictive. The GPL requires any derivative work that is released to be released according to the GPL while the BSD licence does not. Essentially, the BSD license’s only requirement is to acknowledge the original authors, and poses no restrictions on how the source code may be used. As a result, BSD code can be used in proprietary software that only acknowledges the authors. For instance, the IP stack in Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X are derived from BSD-licensed software.

Supporters of the BSD licence argue that it is more free than the GPL because it grants the right to do anything with the source code, second only to software in the public domain. This includes incorporating the BSD-licensed code in proprietary products. The approach has led to BSD code being used in common, widely used commercial software. In response, GPL supporters claim that the freedom of others to make non-free software from free software is an unjust form of power rather than a necessary freedom. However, some developers might want to include GPLed software in their products and can’t do it, simply because the GPL is incompatible with the licences of other software they include in their product, even if everything is open source.

Code licensed under a permissive free software licence, such as the BSD licence, can be incorporated into copylefted (e.g. GPL’d) projects. Such code is thus “GPL-compatible”. There is no need to secure the consent of the original authors. In contrast, code under the GPL cannot be relicensed under the BSD licence without securing the consent of all copyright holders. Thus the two licences are compatible, but the combination as a whole must be distributed under the terms of the GPL, not the permissive licence.

Existing free software BSDs tend to avoid including software licenced under the GPL in the core operating system, or the ”base system”, except as a last resort when alternatives are non-existent or vastly less capable, such as with GCC. (Indeed however, note that as of mid 2010 Apple for example are moving from GCC to the upcoming LLVM compiler, perhaps primarily for this reason.) The OpenBSD project has acted to remove GPL-licensed tools in favor of BSD-licensed alternatives, some newly written and some adapted from older code.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Free software licence, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

No related posts.

CVS uses a client–server architecture: a server stores the current version(s) of a project and its history, and clients connect to the server in order to “check out” a complete copy of the project, work on this copy and then later “check in” their changes. Typically, the client and server connect over a LAN or over the Internet, but client and server may both run on the same machine if CVS has the task of keeping track of the version history of a project with only local developers. The server software normally runs on Unix (although at least the CVSNT server also supports various flavors of Microsoft Windows), while CVS clients may run on any major operating-system platform.

Several developers may work on the same project concurrently, each one editing files within their own “working copy” of the project, and sending (or ”checking in”) their modifications to the server. To avoid the possibility of people stepping on each others’ toes, the server will only accept changes made to the most recent version of a file. Developers are therefore expected to keep their working copy up-to-date by incorporating other people’s changes on a regular basis. This task is mostly handled automatically by the CVS client, requiring manual intervention only when an edit conflict arises between a checked-in modification and the yet-unchecked local version of a file.

If the check in operation succeeds, then the version numbers of all files involved automatically increment, and the CVS-server writes a user-supplied description line, the date and the author’s name to its log files. CVS can also run external, user-specified log processing scripts following each commit. These scripts are installed by an entry in CVS’s loginfo file, which can trigger email notification or convert the log data into a Web-based format.

Clients can also compare versions, request a complete history of changes, or check out a historical snapshot of the project as of a given date or as of a revision number.

Anonymous CVS

Many open-source projects allow “anonymous read access”, a feature pioneered by OpenBSD. This means that clients may check out and compare versions with either a blank or simple published password (e.g., “anoncvs”); only the check-in of changes requires a personal account and password in these scenarios.

Clients can also use the “update” command in order to bring their local copies up-to-date with the newest version on the server. This eliminates the need for repeated downloading of the whole project..

CVS can also maintain different “branches” of a project. For instance, a released version of the software project may form one branch, used for bug fixes, while a version under current development, with major changes and new features, can form a separate branch.

CVS uses delta compression for efficient storage of different versions of the same file. The implementation favors files with many lines (usually text files) – in extreme cases the system may store individual copies of each version rather than deltas.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Concurrent Versions System, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

No related posts.

imeem is primarily written in C#; while most of the front-end web servers run under Windows, the rest of their servers run the Linux operating system. The website heavily uses Ajax and Flash to deliver the content and allow users to access it.

Video and audio are both encoded as FLV files, audio is delivered as 128kbit quality MP3 data. Video is encoded to mp3 audio at 96kbit and Sorenson video at > 700kbit with resolution resized to 400 pixels wide and preserving its aspect ratio. While the video quality and resolution is significantly better than other video sites (youtube uses 300kbit video) the video sharing aspect of imeem has been largely eclipsed by the audio sharing component. In 2008 imeem upgraded the video quality further and has become one of the first media sharing sites to offer video encoded with the H.264 codec and at the original source resolution.

Recent complaints have showed that Myspace music has done a very poor job in importing the playlists from imeem including but not limited to; missing songs, incorrect artist info, garbled tracks and does not plan on restoring the complete list of songs on imeem users playlists. Myspace music now plays commercials in between songs which was less frequent on imeem.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Imeem, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

No related posts.

Released in 1996, Verdana was bundled with subsequent versions of the Windows operating system, as well as their Office and Internet Explorer software on both Windows and Mac OS. In addition, it was long available for download from Microsoft’s web site allowing it to be used by any system supporting TrueType fonts. The downloadable file is still available legally from a third-party web site; see the External links section. Verdana is also one of the bundled book-reading fonts on the iPad.

According to one long-running survey, the availability of Verdana is 99.34% on Windows (making it the second most common font on that platform) and 96.06% (seventh most common) on computers running Mac OS. As shown by the same survey, however, it is uncommon on free operating systems like Linux. This is due to legal restrictions, as copying or redistributing the font is illegal unless a proprietary license is acquired.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Verdana, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

No related posts.

ProvideX is a computer language and development environment derived from Business Basic (a business oriented derivative of BASIC) in the mid-1980s.

ProvideX is available on several operating systems (Unix/Linux/Windows/Mac OS X) and includes not only the programming language but also file system, presentation layer interface, and other components. The language is primarily designed for use in the development of business applications. There are numerous companies using the technology as the basis for their application in markets such as distribution, property management, health care, transportation, etc. While primarily used in North America, there are developers around the world which use ProvideX.

Over the years since its inception and as the computer industry has changed, ProvideX has added functionality such as a graphical interface, client-server capabilities, access to external databases, web services, and, more recently, object oriented programming capabilities. The language has generally maintained compatibility with its roots; thus applications developed in ProvideX have been able to remain current even though the world of technology has changed.
Adapted from the Wikipedia article ProvideX, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

No related posts.

Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X are examples of contemporary operating systems that implement a safe mode; as well as other complex electronic devices.

An operating system in safe mode will have reduced functionality, but the task of isolating problems is easier because many non-core components are disabled (turned off). An installation that will only boot into its safe mode typically has a major problem, such as disk corruption or the installation of poorly configured software that prevents the operating system from successfully booting into its normal operating mode.

Though it varies by operating system, typically safe mode loads as few executable modules as possible and usually disables devices, except for the minimum necessary to display information and accept input. Safe mode can also take the form of a parallel “miniature” operating system that has no configuration information shared with the normal operating system. For example, on Microsoft Windows, the user can also choose to boot to the Recovery Console, a small text-based troubleshooting mode kept separate from the main operating system (and can also be accessed by booting the install CD), or to various “safe mode” options that run the dysfunctional operating system, but with features such as video drivers, audio and networking disabled.

Safe mode typically provides access to utility and diagnostic programs so a user can troubleshoot what is preventing the operating system from working normally. Safe mode is intended for maintenance, not functionality, and provides minimal access to features.

Microsoft Windows’ safe mode is accessed by pressing the F8 key as the operating system boots. Also, in a multi-boot environment with multiple versions of Windows installed side by side, the F8 key can be pressed at the OS selector prompt to get to safe mode.

An equivalently minimal setting in Unix-like operating systems is single-user mode, in which daemons and the X Window System are not started, and only the root user can log in. On Mac OS versions 6, 7, 8 and 9, a similar mode is achieved by holding down the shift key while booting, which starts the system without extensions. In Mac OS X holding the shift key after powering up puts the system in safe mode. Safe mode with networking, one of the variations of safe mode, can be used to troubleshoot network issues.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Safe mode, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

No related posts.

*Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA and WPA2) used to secure Wi-Fi wireless networks

*Microsoft Windows Data Protection API (DPAPI)

*OpenDocument encryption used in OpenOffice.org

*[http://www.zetetic.net/software/sqlcipher SQLCipher], an encrypted variant of SQLite

*WinZip’s AES Encryption scheme.

*JBoss Seam Framework JpaIdentityStore.generatePasswordHash (as of 2.1.2)

*Grub 2, for password hashing.

Disk encryption software

*FileVault (Mac OS X) from Apple Computer

*FreeOTFE (Windows and Pocket PC PDAs); also supports mounting Linux (e.g. LUKS) volumes under Windows

*LUKS (Linux Unified Key Setup) (Linux)

*TrueCrypt (Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X)

*[http://netbsd.org/guide/en/chap-cgd.html Cryptographic disk] (NetBSD)

*GEOM ELI module for FreeBSD

*softraid crypto for OpenBSD

*EncFS (Linux) since v1.5.0

== External links

*[http://www.rsa.com/rsalabs/node.asp?id=2127 RSA PKCS #5] – RSA Laboratories PKCS #5 v2.0 – Multiple Formats, and test vectors.

*RFC 2898

Implementations

*[http://code.google.com/p/as3-pbkdf2/ ActionScript 3.0 implementation]

*[http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.security.cryptography.rfc2898derivebytes.aspx .NET's built-in function]

*[http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/cc163913.aspx C# implementation]

*[http://anandam.name/pbkdf2 JavaScript implementation (slow)] [http://code.google.com/p/crypto-js/ JavaScript implementation (fast)]

*[http://www.dlitz.net/software/python-pbkdf2 Python implementation]

*[http://github.com/emerose/pbkdf2-ruby/tree/master Ruby implementation]

*[http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/cvsweb/src/sbin/bioctl/pbkdf2.c?rev=HEAD&content-type=text%2Fplain C implementation]

Category:Password authentication

Category:Cryptography standards

Adapted from the Wikipedia article PBKDF2, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

No related posts.

Netpbm is an open source package of graphics programs and a programming library, used mainly in the Unix world. It is a highly portable package, working under many Unix platforms, Windows, Mac OS X, VMS, Amiga OS and others and is included in all major open source Unix-like operating system distributions.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Netpbm, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

No related posts.

Apple Lisa and Macintosh (and later, the Apple IIgs)

Beginning in 1979, started by Steve Jobs and led by Jef Raskin, the Lisa and Macintosh teams at Apple Computer (which included former members of the Xerox PARC group) continued to develop such ideas. The Macintosh, released in 1984, was the first commercially successful product to use a GUI. A desktop metaphor was used, in which files looked like pieces of paper; directories looked like file folders; there were a set of desk accessories like a calculator, notepad, and alarm clock that the user could place around the screen as desired; and the user could delete files and folders by dragging them to a trash can on the screen. Drop down menus were also introduced.

There is still some controversy over the amount of influence that Xerox’s PARC work, as opposed to previous academic research, had on the GUIs of Apple’s Lisa and Macintosh, but it is clear that the influence was extensive, because first versions of Lisa GUIs even lacked icons. These prototype GUIs are at least mouse driven, but completely ignored the WIMP concept. Rare screenshots of first GUIs of Apple Lisa prototypes are shown [http://www.pegasus3d.com/apple_screens.html here] and [http://folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=Busy_Being_Born.txt&topic=User%20Interface&sortOrder=Sort%20by%20Date&detail=medium here]. Note also that Apple was invited by PARC to view their research, and a number of PARC employees subsequently moved to Apple to work on the Lisa and Macintosh GUI. However, the Apple work extended PARC’s considerably, adding manipulatable icons, a fixed drop-down menu bar and drag&drop manipulation of objects in the file system (see Macintosh Finder) for example. A list of the improvements made by Apple to the PARC interface can be read [http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=On_Xerox,_Apple_and_Progress.txt&topic=Software%20Design&sortOrder=Sort%20by%20Date here] (folklore.org) It’s hard to say which particular features were originated in which project, though. Jef Raskin warns that many of the reported facts in the history of the PARC and Macintosh development are inaccurate, distorted or even fabricated, due to the lack of usage by historians of direct primary sources.

In 1986 the Apple IIgs was launched, a very advanced model of the Apple II successful series, based on 16-bit technology (in fact, virtually two machines into one). It came with a new operating system, the Apple GS/OS, which features a Finder-like GUI, very similar to that of the Macintosh series, able to deal with the advanced graphic abilities of its Video Graphics Chip (VGC).

Graphical Environment Manager (GEM)

Digital Research (DRI) created the Graphical Environment Manager as an add-on program for personal computers. GEM was developed to work with existing CP/M and MS-DOS operating systems on business computers such as IBM-compatibles. It was developed from DRI software, known as GSX, designed by a former PARC employee. The similarity to the Macintosh desktop led to a copyright lawsuit from Apple Computer, and a settlement which involved some changes to GEM. This was to be the first of a series of ‘look and feel’ lawsuits related to GUI design in the 1980s.

GEM received widespread use in the consumer market from 1985, when it was made the default user interface built in to the TOS operating system of the Atari ST line of personal computers. It was also bundled by other computer manufacturers and distributors, such as Amstrad. Later, it was distributed with the best-sold Digital Research version of DOS for IBM PC compatibles, the DR-DOS 6.0. The GEM desktop faded from the market with the withdrawal of the Atari ST line in 1992 and with the popularity of the Microsoft Windows 3.0 in the PC front by the same years.

DeskMate

Tandy’s DeskMate appeared in the early 1980s on its TRS-80 machines and was ported to its Tandy 1000 range in 1984. Like most PC GUIs of the time it depended on MS-DOS. The application was popular at the time and included a number of programs like Draw, Text and Calendar as well as attracting outside investment such as Lotus 1-2-3 for DeskMate.

Amiga Intuition and the Workbench

The Amiga computer was launched by Commodore in 1985 with a GUI called Workbench based on an internal engine which drives all the input events called Intuition, and developed almost entirely by RJ Mical. The first versions used a blue/orange/white/black default palette, which was selected for high contrast on televisions and composite monitors. Workbench presented directories as drawers to fit in with the “workbench” theme.

Intuition was the widget and graphics library that made the GUI work. It was driven by user events through the mouse, keyboard, and other input devices.

Due to a mistake made by the Commodore sales department, the first floppies of AmigaOS which were released with Amiga1000 named the whole OS “Workbench”. Since then, users and CBM itself referred to “Workbench” as the nickname for the whole AmigaOS (including Amiga DOS, Extras, etc.). This common consent ended with release of version 2.0 of AmigaOS, which re-introduced proper names to the installation floppies of AmigaDOS, Workbench, Extras, etc.).

Early versions of AmigaOS did treat the Workbench as just another window on top of a blank screen, but this is due to the ability of AmigaOS to have invisible screens with a chromakey or a genlock – one of the most advanced features of Amiga platform – even without losing the visibility of Workbench itself. In later AmigaOS versions Workbench could be set as a borderless desktop.

Amiga users were able to boot their computer into a command line interface (aka. CLI/shell). This was a keyboard-based environment without the Workbench GUI. Later they could invoke it with the CLI/SHELL command LoadWB which performs the task to load Workbench GUI.

One major difference between other OS’s of the time and for some time after was the Amiga’s fully Multi-Tasking Operating System, a powerful built in Animation system using a hardware blitter and copper and 4 channels of 26k 8 bit sampled sound. This made the Amiga the first Multi Media computer years before other OS’s.

Like most GUIs of the day Amiga’s Intuition followed Xerox, and sometimes Apple’s lead, but a CLI was included which dramatically extended the functionality of the platform, but Cli/Shell of Amiga is not just a simple text based interface like in MS-DOS but it is another graphic process driven by Intuition engine and with same gadgets included in Amiga graphics.library and serving the GUI process and CLI/Shell interface integrates itself with the Workbench, sharing the same privileges with the GUI.

The Amiga Workbech still evolved over the 1990s, far beyond the official withdrawn from Commodore in 1994. See the next section.

MS-DOS file managers and utility suites

Because most of the very early IBM PC and compatibles lack any common true graphical capability (they only shared the 80-column basic text mode compatible with the original MDA display adapter), a series of file managers arose, including Microsoft’s DOS Shell, which features typical GUI elements as menus, push buttons, lists with scrollbars and mouse pointer. The name Text user interface was later invented to name this kind of interface. Many MS-DOS text mode applications, like the default text editor for MS-DOS 5.0 (and related tools, like QBasic), also shared the same philosophy. The IBM DOS Shell included with IBM DOS 5.0 (circa 1992) supported both text display modes and actual graphics display modes, making it both a TUI and a GUI, depending on the chosen mode.

Advanced file managers for MS-DOS were able to redefine character shapes with EGA and better display adapters, giving some basic low resolution icons and graphical interface elements, including an arrow (instead of a coloured cell block) for the mouse pointer. When the display adapter lacks the ability to change the character’s shapes, they default to the CP437 character set found in the adapter’s ROM. Some popular utility suites for MS-DOS, as Norton Utilities (pictured) and PC Tools used these techniques as well.

DESQview was a text mode multitasking program introduced in July 1985. Running on top of MS-DOS, it allowed users to run multiple DOS programs concurrently in windows. It was the first program to bring multitasking and windowing capabilities to a DOS environment in which existing DOS programs could be used. DESQview was not a true GUI but offered certain components of one, such as resizable, overlapping windows and mouse pointing.

Applications under MS-DOS with proprietary true GUIs

To take the maximum advantage possible in lack of a true common GUI under MS-DOS, the most of the graphical applications which worked with EGA, VGA and better graphic cards had proprietary built-in GUIs, before the MS-Windows age. One of the best known was Deluxe Paint, a popular painting software with a typical WIMP interface.

The original Adobe Acrobat Reader executable file for MS-DOS was able to run on both the standard Windows 3.x GUI and the standard DOS command prompt. When it was launched from the command prompt, it provides its own true GUI (on VGA), which provides the full of its functionality to read PDF files.

Microsoft Windows (16-bit versions)

Windows 1.0 was a GUI for the MS-DOS operating system that had been the OS of choice for IBM PC and compatible computers since 1981. Windows 2.0 followed, but it wasn’t until the 1990 launch of Windows 3.0, based on Common User Access that its popularity truly exploded. The GUI has seen minor redesigns since, mainly the networking enabled Windows 3.11 and its Win32s 32-bit patch. The 16-bit line of MS Windows were discontinued with the introduction of Windows 95 and Windows NT 32-bit based architecture in the 1990s. See the next section.

The main window of a given application can occupy the full screen in ”maximized” status. The users must then to switch between maximized applications using the Alt+Tab keyboard shortcut; no alternative with the mouse except for de-maximize. When none of the running application windows is maximized, switching can be done by clicking on a partially visible window, as is the common way in other GUIs.

In 1988, Apple sued Microsoft for copyright infringement of the LISA and Apple Macintosh GUI. The court case lasted 4 years before almost all of Apple’s claims were denied on a contractual technicality. Subsequent appeals by Apple were also denied. Microsoft and Apple apparently entered a final, private settlement of the matter in 1997.

GEOS

GEOS was launched in 1986. Originally written for the 8-bit home computer Commodore 64 and shortly after, the Apple II series it was later ported to IBM PC systems. It came with several application programs like a calendar and word processor, and a cut-down version served as the basis for America Online’s DOS client. Compared to the competing Windows 3.0 GUI it could run reasonably well on simpler hardware. But it was targeted at 8-bit machines and the 16-bit computer age was dawning.

The X Window System

The standard windowing system in the Unix world is the X Window System (commonly X11 or X), first released in the mid-1980s. The W Window System (1983) was the precursor to X; X was developed at MIT as Project Athena. Its original purpose was to allow users of the newly emerging graphic terminals to access remote graphics workstations without regard to the workstation’s operating system or the hardware. Due largely to the availability of the source code used to write X, it has become the standard layer for management of graphical and input/output devices and for the building of both local and remote graphical interfaces on virtually all Unix, Linux and other Unix-like operating systems, with the notable exception of Mac OS X.

X allows a graphical terminal user to make use of remote resources on the network as if they were all located locally to the user by running a single module of software called the X server. The software running on the remote machine is called the client application. X’s network transparency protocols allow the display and input portions of any application to be separated from the remainder of the application and ‘served up’ to any of a large number of remote users. X is available today as free software.

NeWS

The PostScript-based NeWS (Network extensible Window System) was developed by Sun Microsystems in the mid 1980′s. For several years SunOS included a window system combining NeWS and the X Window System. Although NeWS was considered technically elegant by some commentators, Sun eventually dropped the product. Unlike X, NeWS was always proprietary software.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article History of the graphical user interface, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

No related posts.

The product is a pure-Java server-side web application and will run on any platform where Java (JDK 5 or better) is installed.

*Operating Systems

** Microsoft Windows

** Linux, Solaris

** Mac OS X

*Application Servers

** Apache Tomcat (5.5 or better recommended)

*Databases

** Postgres (8.0 or better recommended)

Adapted from the Wikipedia article ConcourseConnect, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

No related posts.