Installing Linux for all
The event will take place in the Systems Lab on the third floor of the Science Building, and there will be free pizza and pop.
At the event, an Abstraction tradition since 1995, computer club members install Linux software free of charge on the computers of all comers.
“The idea behind it is to assist people who want to install Linux on their computer but don’t feel comfortable doing it on their own,” said Abstraction president Nathan Beach. “Students can bring in their laptops, or if they have a desktop, they only need to bring in their tower, and we can supply a monitor and other computer accessories.”
Beach said the event allows the members of the student organization to serve the Calvin community while also raising the Q factor of Linux, an open source operating system.
“There are some advantages to using Windows, but there are also many advantages to running Linux,” Beach said.
Proprietary software, such as Windows, is software whose source code is the secret property of the designer -- usually a corporation such as Microsoft. Open source software, on the other hand, is software whose source code is available to the public and open to tinkering by users.
“One of the benefits of open source software is that the community can be involved in designing, developing and testing that software,” said Beach. “Additionally, organizations and businesses can modify the source code of the software to customize it to their own needs. Such customization is not possible with proprietary software.”
Linux, pioneered by Finnish software engineer Linus Torvalds in the early 1990s, is arguably the highest profile open source software around. Beach said that many Calvin students who install Linux often use it alongside Windows. Indeed, Abstraction offers Installfest attendees the option of installing Linux so that it dual-boots with Windows.
“People who request that we set up their computers to dual-boot often use Windows for gaming and proprietary software like Microsoft Office but use Linux for most of their computing needs,” Beach said.
The Installfest typically attracts about between 10 and 15 students each semester, he said, and most of them are computer science or engineering students.
“But anyone is welcome,” he added. “I would love to see more people become familiar with Linux.”
Computer science professor Joel Adams is a fan of the event.
“The Installfests are a great service that Abstraction has been providing for Calvin students for more than 10 years,” he said. “These events give Calvin students hands-on experience in using and administering the operating system that powers most of the internet, including the majority of the world’s Web servers. Linux is free, reliable, and quite secure, and experience with it is a very marketable skill.”
