Open source and free software have been around for decades. They became more popular with the Linux and BSD software communities. To protect the code, a special user license is used. The most common kinds of licence are the GPL, BSD and LGPL. Wikipedia uses open source too. The Open Source Movement is led by the Open Source Initiative.
The open source movement became separate from the free software movement in 1998.
Desktop environment
In graphical user interfaces and consoles a desktop environment is a location on a personal computer that helps the user get around on the computer. The desktop itself is a place in the operating system used for short cuts to computer files and folders on the hard drive. Computer icons (small pictures) are used to represent files/folders. Clicking these icons will open or start a folder or program. The desktop is the area where the start menu is if the computer has a start menu.
Usually the desktop is the main screen on the computer. If no programs or folders are open, the computer will display the desktop.
The most common desktop environment on personal computers is the one given by Microsoft Windows; another common environment is the one given by Apple Mac OS X. Other mostly-used desktop environments for Unix-like operating systems using the X Window System are KDE, GNOME, Xfce. There are also other desktop environments, including : Aston, EDE, GEM, IRIX Interactive Desktop, Sun's Java Desktop System, Mezzo, Project Looking Glass, ROX Desktop, UDE, Xito, XFast.
OpenOffice
Apache OpenOffice (formerly OpenOffice.org) is a free open source office suite. The free software project was formerly hosted by Sun Microsystems and then Oracle Corporation and is currently hosted by Apache. It is available for many different operating systems, including Microsoft Windows, Linux, OS X, FreeBSD and Solaris; and is meant to be an alternative to Microsoft Office. It supports Microsoft Office file formats as well as its own OpenDocument format.
The ".org" part of the previous name OpenOffice.org is there because OpenOffice is already trademarked. It is often called "OOo" for short.
OpenOffice is based on the older StarOffice software that was created by Sun Microsystems.
OpenOffice is a collection of applications that work together closely to provide the features expected from a modern office suite. Many of the parts are designed to be alternatives to those available in Microsoft Office. The parts available include:
Download
Download means getting information from another computer or server. The opposite of downloading is uploading, which is sending data to another computer. Usually we do not say "download" for a single web page (for example when you open this page on your computer). When we say we downloaded something, it is normally a bigger computer file, like data or a computer program.
The word downloadable means the ability to get information or data from an owner for one's use. The source is expected to be authentic and have the right to send it. At the user's end, the downloaded information or data are to be used based on agreement notice.
In the 21 century, it is very easy to download files or informations - legally or not - from the internet.
As most non-technical users use the word download to talk about any data transfer, the word "sideload" is sometimes used for local to local transfers as distinct from distant ones.
GNOME
GNOME is a computer desktop environment. It was designed for Linux, but many other operating systems can use it too. GNOME aims to provide an easy way to use a computer. GNOME is a free software project. It was made because people were questioning whether KDE is free. GNOME is part of the GNU project.
According to the GNOME website:
The GNOME project puts heavy emphasis on simplicity, usability, and making things “just work” (see "KISS principle"). The other aims of the project are:
GNOME has many applications written for it. Some of them include:
Dog
Dogs ("Canis lupus familiaris") are domesticated mammals, not natural wild animals. They were originally bred from wolves. They have been bred by humans for a long time, and were the first animals ever to be domesticated. There are different studies that suggest that this happened between 15.000 and 100.000 years before our time. The dingo is also a dog, but many dingos have become wild animals again and live independently of humans in the range where they occur (parts of Australia).
Today, some dogs are used as pets, others are used to help humans do their work. They are a popular pet because they are usually playful, friendly, loyal and listen to humans. Thirty million dogs in the United States are registered as pets. Dogs eat both meat and vegetables, often mixed together and sold in stores as dog food. Dogs often have jobs, including as police dogs, army dogs, assistance dogs, fire dogs, messenger dogs, hunting dogs, herding dogs, or rescue dogs.
They are sometimes called "canines" from the Latin word for dog - "canis". Sometimes people also use "dog" to describe other canids, such as wolves. A baby dog is called a pup or puppy. A dog is called a puppy until it is about one year old.
Dogs are sometimes referred to as "man's best friend" because they are kept as domestic pets and are usually loyal and like being around humans. Dogs like to be petted, but only when they can first see the petter's hand before petting; one should never pet a dog from behind.
August 26 is National Dog Day. While March 26 is National Puppy Day.
Dogs have four legs and make a "bark," "woof," or "arf" sound. Dogs often chase cats, and most dogs will fetch a ball or stick.
Dogs can smell and hear better than humans, but cannot see well in color because they are color blind. Due to the anatomy of the eye, dogs can see better in dim light than humans. They also have a wider field of vision.
Like wolves, wild dogs travel in groups called packs. Packs of dogs are ordered by rank, and dogs with low rank will submit to other dogs with higher rank. The highest ranked dog is called the alpha male. A dog in a group helps and cares for others. Domesticated dogs often view their owner as the alpha male.
Different dog breeds have different lifespans. In general, smaller dogs live longer than bigger ones. The size and the breed of the dog change how long the dog lives, on average. Breeds such as the Dachshund usually live for fifteen years, Chihuahuas can reach age twenty. The Great Dane, on the other hand has an average lifespan of six to eight years; some Great Danes have lived for ten years.
All dogs are descended from wolves, by domestication and artificial selection. This is known because DNA genome analysis has been done to discover this. They have been bred by humans. The earliest known fossil of a domestic dog is from 31,700 years ago in Belgium. Dogs have lived with people for at least 30,000 years. In 2013, a study was published that showed that the skull and teeth of a canid, dated to 33,000 years ago, had characteristics closer to a dog than to a wolf, and the authors conclude that "this specimen may represent a dog in the very early stages of domestication, i.e. an “incipient” dog." The researchers go on to suggest that it was, however, a line that did not lead to modern dogs. Genetically, this material is closer to that of a modern dog than to that of a wolf. Other signs of domestication are that sometimes, dogs were buried together with humans. Evidence of this is a tomb in Bonn, where a man of about 50 years of age, a woman of about 25 years of age, the remains of a dog, plus other artifacts were found. Radiocarbon dating showed that the human bones were between 13.300 and 14.000 years old.