(c) 2003 Alex Perry Slide 1 of (c) 2003 Alex Perry Slide 2 of 18 18 Debian GNU/Linux, an overview Software in the Public Interest (SPI) Alexander Perry
Core technology: the project This talk will only discuss Debian ... Scalability and flexibility Founded in 1993 by Ian Murdock (now with Progeny) Synergy and Return on Investment Now has more code than Windows XP (~$2 billion value) Reliability and stability achieved by 815 maintainers Public partners Some announced derivative products
(c) 2003 Alex Perry Slide 3 of (c) 2003 Alex Perry Slide 4 of 18 18 Sustained growth at 62% per year Core Debian product Growth in software and types of hardware supported The Debian GNU/Linux distribution Over 9000 packages run on 11 computer architectures (Arches) The Linux kernel and associated administrative programs Various GNU tools, utilities and applications Thousands of other applications and alternatives Apache, MySQL, Perl, OpenOffice, KDE, Mozilla, LTSP, ...
An automatic tool "lintian" validates packages Nonconformant submissions are automatically rejected Searchable public bug tracking, http://bugs.debian.org/ Program "reportbug" helps all users submit useful reports
Validated dependency data between packages Security and version upgrades are reliable and fast Upgrades rarely need any reboots Active users are not disturbed
Who else sustains such fast growth ?
(c) 2003 Alex Perry Slide 5 of (c) 2003 Alex Perry Slide 6 of 18 18 Differentiator: Integration Quality Distribution Pricing / Availability
New Upstream Automatic Compile Available for purchase as CDROMs Incoming (Every architecture) Source Versions Under $3 per CD, this is cheaper than salaries making them in-house Validation Useful for Document Control archives and mobile users
Bug Tracking MAINTAINER Package Computers can install from the internet Pool System This is free (plus your own bandwidth charges) Eliminates searching for the stack of CDROMs Avoids having old release versions in circulation Experimental Unstable Testing Stable Archived
RELEASE Corporations generally mirror Debian internally Sid Sarge Woody Potato Slink ... MANAGER Reduces internet bandwidth for upgrade rollouts Software Desktop Reliable Two years Four years Eliminates dependency on accessibility of public servers USER COMMUNITY... Engineers Workstations Servers Uptime ... Uptime ... Extensive documentation ensures consistency Mirrors can be selective ... Software vendor suggestions - 7 pages Enterprise repository recommendations - 7 pages Policy manuals (nine parts) - 143 pages Maintainer guide, Developers reference - 103 pages Menu, Internationalization support - 150 pages (c) 2003 Alex Perry Slide 7 of (c) 2003 Alex Perry Slide 8 of 18 18 Selective mirror - customizes Debian Local enhancements are encouraged
Automatic Corporate Policy on An enhancement could be simple Debian Selective Mirror Intellectual Property Pool Changing a default to make a package easier to install Could also be an in-house application Debian Bug Tracking Package INTERNAL Pool MAINTAINER Allowing controlled rollout of versions and upgrades Debian servers are not directly accessible due to a block Maintainers convert source into releases Internal Release in the firewall Accept source from "upstream" authors (could be in-house) Stable Testing Unstable Control System Diskless Write control and dependency data needed by the installer Boot Determine which versions should be released to users LTSP Woody Sarge Sid Monitor bug databases and raise issues with authors Thin Client Reliable Desktop Software Validation Terminals Servers Workstations Engineers ... JUST FOR EMPLOYEES ... Accelerates the usual release-related work The Debian Project is extensible It has to be done, irrespective of the target system The entire engineering flow is exposed and accessible Debian integrates all the tools and heavily tests them Corporations can inherit it selectively and brand it Eliminates issues of third party tool compatibility There is no need to expose internal software activities
(c) 2003 Alex Perry Slide 9 of (c) 2003 Alex Perry Slide 10 of 18 18 Project wide average of maintainers Debian Needs Less Support Each administrator can support 40 servers Studies suggest, for other Operating Systems, 4 to 8 servers Proportional reduction in need for external support
Only small deployments use external consultants Several companies offer per-call support services But large installations tend to train in-house staff
Unplanned onsite support is almost eliminated Encrypted remote administration is a standard feature Install defaults have full security and basic services ready Accelerates initial system configuration, reduces workload
There are only 88 listed consultants for the US Hundreds in the worldwide listing, in 40 countries Could be more, but there’s not much demand for them Debian is more efficient at software integration Package maintenance is usually a part time activity
(c) 2003 Alex Perry Slide 11 of (c) 2003 Alex Perry Slide 12 of 18 18 Synergy reduces training needs Return on Investment The enterprise only has one learning curve No recurring required license costs Distinct functional groups, same technology, learn once, reuse You control all expenditure, vendors compete for your business More commonality, maximises effectiveness of Support teams Debian is an investment, not a loan, so don’t make interest payments Annual releases Weekly releases Never dependent on a non-responsive vendor Stable Testing Unstable Your organization has access to the project data and archives learn learn learn Consultants aim to accelerate work and reduce effort needed Debian’s Server supportDesktop support Software Developer Build expertise only for strategic areas Administrators Administrators Engineers Community For non-proprietary packages, recoup costs by offering support SHARED SHARED Packages are not controlled by the distribution vendor
embed KNOWLEDGE embed KNOWLEDGE embed
Customer Product Embedded Support support Engineerssupport Engineers The project’s work is openly shared out But the work is varied and the benefits are very different learn learn learn Choose the shares, to maximize your dividends Customers YourShipped YourProduct EmDebian
Product Launch New Products Can restrict Points of Contact to Debian (c) 2003 Alex Perry Slide 13 of (c) 2003 Alex Perry Slide 14 of 18 18 Contributing back to the Project Derivative Distributions Binary only software can be contributed Debian has some specialist sub-projects Does user benefit outweigh inconvenience of closed source? For children, medicine, education, desktop, legal Closed source packages have higher maintenance workload Your organization is likely to remain responsible for it In-house derivatives are unannounced Their efficiency contributes to a business edge, so don’t tell There is no obligation to contribute to Debian Public derivatives need not announce However, SPI gratefully accepts your charitable contributions There is no requirement to notify Debian, but some do ... Follow corporate self interest to maximize the value received Innominate mGuard security appliance Self interest drives most labor contributions Don’t need to go looking for opportunities to help out Some public projects do announce Corporate goals will identify future needs with high ROI Knoppix, Gnoppix, Progeny, Libranet, LindowsOS, Xandros, Assign resources to address those selfish needs and goals Intimate, OpenZaurus, Mephis, Morphix, BRLSPEAK, Bonzai, Freeduc, BSLinux, Netserva Dlite, Linux/MNIS, Good-Day, Omoikane, LinEx, Linuxin, PingOO, Timo’s, Adamantix, BlackRhino, Floppix, Gibraltar, TrX, ...
(c) 2003 Alex Perry Slide 15 of (c) 2003 Alex Perry Slide 16 of 18 18 Debian is conservative on Copyright Debian Free Software Guidelines Software archives are partitioned http://www.debian.org/social_contract#guidelines By default, a new package would be placed into "non-free" Free Redistribution by recipient This name should encourage you to review the license carefully Source Code available, distributable Derived Works permitted under same license Licensing is always located in /usr/share/doc/package/copyright Integrity of the Author’s original source Reviews may trigger corporate filtering of the distribution No discrimination against Persons or Groups No discrimination against Fields of Endeavor Does it meet all nine guidelines, without doubt ? Distribution of entire License with software If so, the package is moved into "main" or "contrib" partitions License must not be specific to Debian project If doubt later appears, the package is immediately moved back License must not contaminate in Aggregation The guidelines need to be studied for corporate relevance Similar to the Open Source Definition (OSD) Example Licenses: "GPL", "BSD", and "Artistic" Some upstream developers have disagreed Their new license terms were intended to meet the guidelines Remainder classified as NON-FREE software But they were rejected by Debian, maybe because of ambiguity Special case of FREE that only works with some NON-FREE It is placed into CONTRIB instead of MAIN, to avoid confusion You must comply with all the licensing terms ...
(c) 2003 Alex Perry Slide 17 of (c) 2003 Alex Perry Slide 18 of 18 18 Debian offers Choice Thank you for your interest There is more than one way to present ... Any questions ? http://www.debian.org/ OpenOffice includes Presenter Very similar to, compatible with, MS PowerPoint Alexander Perry mailto: [email protected] GhostView has a slideshow mode Works well if you have a print file of slides PAMurray Install Wine and run PowerPoint mailto: [email protected] Don’t expect it to be faster than under Windows http://www.fastwave.net/pamurray/
P.O. Box 927104 This talk is done using "mgp" San Diego CA 92192-7104 This is MagicPoint, a simple text-based method Works well with Configuration Management