Newbie Needs Help! - Part 2

[Derick Centeno]

Hi Juan:
I'll enter into some details here which I didn't cover previously.

Of the various reasons to go to a YDL mirror, three are the most common:

1.  To download files called iso's.  They have that name because 
regardless what their names actually are they all in with the suffix 
.iso!
      These can be large or small but they always must be downloaded 
first and then burned onto a CD.  They can be downloaded and burned 
from within either the Mac OS or from within YDL.  Here are the links 
to the details on how to do that from within each OS:

http://www.terrasoftsolutions.com/resources/downloads.shtml

2.  One wants to modify yum.conf so that the application called yum can 
access as many mirrors as one finds useful, install whatever is needed 
so that a desired application or set of applications are available for 
use as quickly as possible.  Here is a decent resource for your 
consideration:

http://www.phy.duke.edu/~rgb/General/yum_article/yum_article/node19.html

3.  One needs to compile an application from source.  Source within 
computer science circles is considered to be instructions which are 
designed by a human for a computer to execute.  Source (also known as 
code) can utilize a variety of languages formally used within computer 
science for that purpose: C, C++, FORTRAN, COBOL, BASIC, and so on.  
Open source refers not to the computer language however, but to how the 
code is utilized in practice; open source is intended to be shared and 
viewed any by and all persons.
Closed source refers to code owned by an individual or company; in 
short, proprietary.  Between Open and Closed source there also exists a 
range of possible distinctions.  One should read carefully the 
distinctions mentioned in the software one uses because in general 
using software means you agree to be bound by the definitions of the 
company or individual who designed it.

Consider the now legendary legal case initiated by SCO Unix claiming 
that Unix code was stolen and utilized within Linux.  Without getting 
into the details which one can read for oneself elsewhere, get into the 
practice of ensuring that the software used on your Linux system is in 
fact strictly open source or following a version of open source (also 
known as GPL - General Public License) as closely as possible.  Within 
the Open Source community there exists contributions of amazing 
applications from individuals, groups, and even private companies and 
even from the US government!  Some of these efforts or contributions 
are considered to be known as Projects as the complexity of the 
application includes many features and utilities.  However, as long as 
they are open source or follow the GPL or a reasonable version of it; 
you should have no difficulty regarding your right to have, use it or 
modify it as you please -- as long as any changes you make doesn't 
remove it from being an open source product/project.

4.  One wants to study the source of a particular application.  This is 
one of the most valuable aspects of the open source community effort.  
Everyone can learn something from such study as few are experts in 
everything.  Consider that the standard languages available for use 
within YDL include C, C++ and FORTRAN and a handful of others.  C and 
C++ are used more commonly and so it is useful to become well versed in 
recognizing, correcting, and writing programs in those languages.  One 
can read books and educate oneself or attend standard academic computer 
science courses.

Recall that regarding CDs I already mentioned that blank CDs can be 
acquired today from nearly any local music or computer store, even some 
pharmacy chains such as CVS or Duane Reade or others.  Again acquiring 
them is not the real problem; the other factors such as knowing how to 
save your time and knowledge effectively is the challenge for us all.  
In that sense, the "playing field" is rather equal.

Best wishes.....

On May 28, 2006, at 12:56 AM, Juan R.Leon wrote:

> Hey folks,
>  I am so newbie that I need help in knowing what to download and 
> install on a PowerMac G4 Sawtooth. I checked out the various YDL 
> mirrors but it looks like hieroglyphics to me!What exactly do I need 
> to download? Is any one up to providing me with some discs?Please 
> excuse the naive questions,this is very new to me.
> Thanx!
> Juan
>
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