Computing platforms - Dissertation Example

Introduction The purpose of this report is to identify the minimum requirements for computers to be used in teaching and learning basic IT skills in secondary education. Since it is given that the operating system that will be used is Linux, this report will examine what hardware requirements can be run on software packages that will run for basic IT learning and teaching. Specifications have been identified with different distributions of the Linux OS. A comparison has been made on the capability of each distribution, and identified what software can be used for basic IT education. A.1) Identify the latest distributions of LINUX and the minimum specification recommended for equipment to run this operating system. Provide a table of suppliers and highlight any differences between distributions. There are over 300 Linux distributions that are distributed over the open public. Below are the lists of the most commonly used distributions: 1. Devian Linux - Debian is a free operating system (OS) for your computer. Debian GNU/Linux provides more than a pure OS: it comes with more than 8710 packages, precompiled software bundled up in a nice format for easy installation on your machine Minimum system requirements: CPU x86 , Cyrix, AMD Memory 32 MB Hard Disk 1.5 GB Keyboard Standard Windows Keyboard Mouse Standard Mouse CD ROM 8X Drive Speed (Required for installation) Floppy Drive 3.5 “ Floppy drive (Required if system cannot boot from CD) Debian will run on almost all personal computers, including older models. Each new release of Debian generally supports a larger number of computer architectures 2. Gentoo Linux - A special flavour of Linux that can be automatically optimised and customised for just about any application or need. Minimum system requirements CPU i486 or later Memory 64 MB Hard Disk 1.5 GB, 256 MB Swap space Keyboard Standard Windows Keyboard Mouse Standard Mouse CD ROM 8X Drive Speed (Required for installation) Floppy Drive 3.5 “ Floppy drive (Required if system cannot boot from CD) 3. Mandriva Linux - Mandriva Linux, formerly known as Mandrake Linux, is a friendly Linux Operating System which specializes in ease-of-use for both servers and the home/office. It is freely available in many languages throughout the world Minimum system requirements CPU CPU Intel Pentium and compatible processor (Pentium/MMX/PRO/II/Celeron/III, AMD K6/K6-2, Cyrix 6x86/M-II) Memory 32 MB RAM required, 64 MB recommended for X Windows system. Hard Disk 500 MB disk space minimum, 1.5 GB+ recommended. Keyboard Standard Windows Keyboard Mouse Standard Mouse CD ROM 8X Drive Speed (Required for installation) Floppy Drive 3.5 “ Floppy drive (Required if system cannot boot from CD) 4. Redhat Enterprise Linux - Red Hat Enterprise Linux is the leading platform for open source computing. It is sold by subscription, delivers continuous value and is certified by top enterprise hardware and software vendors. Minimum system requirements CPU X86, AMD64, EM64T Memory 64 MB RAM required Hard Disk 1.5 GB Keyboard Standard Windows Keyboard Mouse Standard Mouse CD ROM 8X Drive Speed (Required for installation) Floppy Drive 3.5 “ Floppy drive (Required if system cannot boot from CD) 5. Slackware - Slackware is an advanced Linux operating system, designed with the twin goals of ease of use and stability as top priorities. Including the latest popular software while retaining a sense of tradition, providing simplicity and ease of use alongside flexibility and power, Slackware brings the best of all worlds to the table. Slackware Linux is a complete 32-bit multitasking "UNIX-like" system.i Its currently based around the 2.4 Linux kernel series and the GNU C Library version 2.3.4 (libc6). It contains an easy to use installation program, extensive online documentation, and a menu-driven package system. Minimum system requirements CPU 486 processor Memory 16MB RAM (32MB suggested) Hard Disk 100-500 megabytes of hard disk space for a minimal and around 3.5GB for full install Keyboard Standard Windows Keyboard Mouse Standard Mouse CD ROM 8X Drive Speed (Required for installation) Floppy Drive 3.5 “ Floppy drive (Required if system cannot boot from CD) 6. Ubuntu Linux - A Linux distribution that starts with the breadth of Debian and adds regular releases (every six months), a clear focus on the user and usability (it should "Just Work", TM) and a commitment to security updates with 18 months of support for every release. Ubuntu ships with the latest Gnome release as well as a selection of server and desktop software that makes for a comfortable desktop experience off a single installation CD. Minimum system requirements CPU Intel x86 (IBM-compatible PC), AMD64 (Hammer) and PowerPC (Apple iBook and Powerbook, G4 and G5) Memory 16MB RAM (32MB suggested) Hard Disk 3 GB Keyboard Standard Windows Keyboard Mouse Standard Mouse CD ROM 8X Drive Speed (Required for installation) Floppy Drive 3.5 “ Floppy drive (Required if system cannot boot from CD) 7. Xandros Desktop OS - is built on top of Debian Linux with an enhanced version of the KDE desktop, Xandros Desktop machines peacefully co-exist and inter-operate with Windows desktop and server systems. Its intuitive graphical environment simplifies the transition from using a Windows computer, and the ability to run popular Windows productivity software, such as Microsoft Office and Adobe Photoshop make the transition even easier. Minimum Requirements: CPU Any Intel Pentium or Celeron processor. Any AMD K6/II/III, Duron, Athlon, Athlon XP/MP processor Memory 128 MB Hard Disk 1.5 GB of available space Keyboard Standard Windows Keyboard Mouse Standard Mouse CD ROM 8X Drive Speed (Required for installation) Floppy Drive 3.5 “ Floppy drive (Required if system cannot boot from CD) 8. SuSe Linux Delivers the features you need most for home computing and networking. SUSE LINUX Professional also includes more than 1,000 of the worlds leading open source applications Minimum Requirements: CPU Any Intel Pentium or Celeron processor. Any AMD K6/II/III, Duron, Athlon, Athlon XP/MP processor Memory 64 MB Hard Disk 2 GB of available space Keyboard Standard Windows Keyboard Mouse Standard Mouse CD ROM 8X Drive Speed (Required for installation) Floppy Drive 3.5 “ Floppy drive (Required if system cannot boot from CD) Distributions Differences From Other Devian Will run on almost all computers. Almost all common hardware is supported Comes with 8710 precompiled software bundled up – all of it free. Gentoo Extreme configurability, and performance. Has technology called Portage, which makes it an ideal secure server, development workstation, professional desktop, embedded solution, or any thing that you want your computer to perform. New “hardened” Gentoo security initiative. More than 8000 packages of the latest and greatest software. Mandriva Offers advanced hardware detection and has the best available graphical installation process. Has a graphical approach to system administration, in addition to the command line, which takes integration and management of a user interface the furthest to dispel the image of a Linux system, managed only via command line or text mode. Perfect integration of user-friendly graphical environments such as KDE and GNOME provide comfort and ease-of-use. Offers several pre-configured levels of security. A user can therefore choose a desired degree of security specifically for their computer. Has a centralized configuration system so that a user can resort to a single panel to administer the entire system. Redhat Enterprise Most widely used linux distribution up to date. From the desktop to the data centre, Enterprise Linux couples the innovation of open source technology and the stability of a true enterprise-class platform Slackware Doesn’t need a very powerful machine to run, with the basic computing needs. Ubuntu Contains the basic software packages such as word processing, spreadsheets, email, internet, programming language distributed freely available with both community and professional. Xandros Desktop Ability to run windows productivity software such as MS Office and Adobe Photoshop SusE Linux Provides the basic home computing and networking. Packed with the emerging technologies in open source software such as Mozilla, OpenOffice, Begle and Zen A.2 Identify a range of suitable software for basic IT skills in school applications. Determine whether this will need to adjust your minimum specification. Give details of your reasoning. The computer has a wide variety of applications and uses. It can be applied to almost any branch or field of knowledge and science. Therefore a foundation of basic IT skill is very important for a student who wants to enter in a world of computing. Basic skill that a student must learn in any IT schools includes word processing, spreadsheet, the use of email program, and web browsing. Also students of IT, especially in the field of computer science must have at least a programming language so that student may learn the basic operation how a computer program work, and how to create their own computer programs. From the basic IT skills mentioned, here are the lists of software that are suitable for these: IT Skill Sofware Word Processing MS Word, StarOffice, Koffice, ABI Word Spreadsheet MS Excell, Gnumeric, Evolution, StarOffice Spreadsheet Email Program Eudora Mail, Linux bundled mail program (depending on distribution) Internet Browsing Mozilla, Netscape Programming Languages C Programming A.3. Provide in the form of a spreadsheet, a comprehensive list of the computer components required and include the minimum specifications of each item. From the above specifications that were given for various linux descriptions, we can derive minimum specifications for the software for basic IT skills needed by a student The minimum requirements for the above software are as follows: Required Computer Components Minimum Requirements CPU Intel 486 (IBM-compatible PC), AMD Memory (RAM) 16 MB Storage (Hard disk) 100-500 MB Mouse Standard Mouse Keyboard Standard Keyboard CD ROM 8x Speed CD ROM Keyboard Standard Keyboard Monitor 14 “ Color Monitor Floppy Drive 3.5 “ Floppy Drive A.4 Identify whether your minimum specification is still achievable from suppliers and suggest alternative components, suppliers and prices where components are not available. Detail this information on the spreadsheet created in A.3 The minimum specifications in section A.3 will reflect a very low-end computer system compare to personal computers of today. Although we can view this system as somewhat primitive in nature, this kind of system is the least minimum components that can be used to run software programs that will cater for basic IT skills education. We may not acquire brand new personal computers of this type, but we can avail these computers with such minimum requirements from PC auctions, company auctions, and surplus shop at a very low price. Almost all of the mentioned components above can be achieved from surplus and refurbished computers and if there’s something to be change, we can easily replace it with a new one, especially the hard disk, where capacity for older PCs are low, which is available to local computer dealer and suppliers. B.) Linux based operating systems are reported to be "more stable" than the equivalent Microsoft product. Define what is meant by "stable" and discuss the causes of instability, and poor performance with reference to operating systems. Stability in the software term may be defined as the ability of a computer program or software to keep running without failure or “crash”. More stable software will most likely not to crash than unstable software. Almost all computer software, have their own piece of instability. From the your favourite gaming software to the operating system itself. Computer programs tend to fail because of what we call “bugs” (programming mistake). All software has and will have bugs. Bugs occur when a programmer thinks that the program is functioning properly by doing specific actions, but when a different scenario has been done, bugs occur. That is why software development performs a series of rigorous testing before the product is declared bug free or most likely the program will perform on normal conditions. In March 28, 2003, Microsoft decreed that it will not issue a Windows NT4 bug fix for a security problem that effects Windows 2000, XP and NT4. They would prefer customers to move off of NT4, thus making Microsoft more money. It is their ball, their bat and their field. This is not true with an open source operating system such as Linux. No one can decree that a bug will not be fixed in a specific version of Linux.  [PCWRLD] Linux has a reputation of fewer bugs than Windows and its Microsoft products, however this is very difficult to judge and finding an impartial source on this subject is also difficult. Fred Langa wrote an interesting article on whether Linux or Windows has fewer bugs in Information Week magazine January 27, 2003[IWM03]. In this article, he discussed the comparison of existence of bugs in Linux and in Windows. He argued that even Linux, being open source software, would have its own full share of problems as it grows in popularity. According to him, Linux got its reputation for solid software and rapid fixes when this software was used mostly by a relatively small group of extremely knowledgeable people. They knew what they were doing, and generally ran their software on stable, proven hardware platforms; or, when brand-new hardware was used, it was used in fairly generic ways, but as the number of users have grown and the number of distributions that are being released, Linux, like Windows will have bugs. The difference in OS development methodologies may explain why Linux is considered more stable. Windows is developed by faceless programmers whose mistakes are hidden from the outside world because Microsoft does not publish the underlying code for Windows. They consider it a trade secret. In contrast, Linux is developed by hundreds of programmers all over the world. They publish the source code for the operating system and any interested programmer, anywhere in the world can review it. Besides the wide audience for review, there is likely to be pride of ownership on the part of the developers of Linux that cannot exist with Windows. Bruce Perens [BWM03] commented on why open source software works well:    ...it taps into the true motivation of programmers in a way that corporations often dont. Programmers are like artists ... They like to showcase their best stuff for their peers. In open source, they can. But at most corporations, their best work is hidden behind locked and guarded doors. C. Conclusion There is a bright future for Linux. Its free, the applications are getting more mainstream, the graphical user interface is pretty much like Windows, its high quality, and bullet proof and resistant to the thousands of Windows viruses and worms. [PCS03]. To date the only organisations using hundreds or thousands of Linux based computers are government agencies in countries all over the world. They may be driven by cost and/or security concerns because practically speaking there are no Linux viruses. The next version of Windows, the one that will replace XP, is not going to be delivered for a long time opening up a window of opportunity for Linux. In addition, the upcoming version of Windows is likely to be expensive and require new hardware, two other areas where Linux competes well. It may also involve too many changes. By the time its delivered, more and more Linux distributions will look more like Windows, just as Microsoft rolls out a new user interface. People accustomed to the current Windows UI may resist the change. References: [BWM03] Business Week Magazine (2003) Bruce Perens [Accessed 4th September 2005]. Available from World Wide Web:http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/03_09/b3822613_tc102.htm [IWN03] Linux Has Bugs: Get Over It (2003) Fred Langa [Accessed 4th September 2005]. Available from World Wide Web: http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=6500344 Linux Distributions (2005) [Online]. [Accessed 4th September 2005]. Available from World Wide Web: http://www.linuxlinks.com/Distributions/ With reference to: http://www.debian.org/, http://www.gentoo.org, http://www1.mandrivalinux.com, http://www.redhat.com, http://www.slackware.com, http://www.xandros.com/, http://www.suse.com/ [PCWRLD] Microsoft Decree (2003) [Accessed 4th September 2005]. Available from World Wide Web http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,110054,00.asp [PCS03] Personal Computer show in December (2003) John C. Dvorak [Accessed 4th September 2005 Available from World Wide Web: http://www.pcradioshow.org/archives/December2003.htm Read More