Chapter 13 Questions

1.)  Why would you use HTTP or FTP instead of BitTorrent for downloading large files?
Using BitTorrent to download large files can take hours or days depending on the internet speeds because if there are more people trying to download the file than there are seeding it, bandwidth will be constricted

2.)  Which command would you give to perform a complete upgrade?
First you would run sudo aptitude update then run sudo aptitude full-upgrade

3.)  Why would you build a package from its source code when a (binary) deb file is available?
Because its better to build and compile the package from your source code to get the best results.

4.)  Suggest two advantages that deb files have over source distributions.
Well, security is a major concern because source distributions are public and anyone can create one, so there is a lot of trust put into the files that you obtain from a distribution.  Also, sometimes distributions may contain files meant for other types of operating systems such as other linux systems or other types, which could create system failures if used in the Ubuntu environment.

5.)  when you compile a package yourself, rather than from a deb file, which directory hierarchy should you put it in?
/usr/src

6.)  Which steps should you take before performing an upgrade on a mission-critical server?
First and foremost, you should make a backup of that server, then you would want to download your updates from a trusted source, and then do a safe-upgrade within aptitude to make sure you can choose package by package on what you want to upgrade.  Once complete and there haven't been any problems, you will be good to go.

The life of a bionic limb

Well, I'd like to start off as by saying that being a veteran and also returning to Afghanistan next year, that it is nice to see someone who took a disability and turned it into a way to succeed in life.  This is about a veteran named Jonathan Kuniholm who lost an arm in combat while deployed to Iraq.  He, after successfully completing long physical therapy sessions and painful surgeries was able to utilize prosthetic pieces to replace his missing arm, but with each one there lies pro's and con's to each variation that he had.  He was able to create an open forum through a part of the corporation he worked for (Tackle Design) to bring together a main cause, which was to support others in positions like himself by further designing and inventing prosthesis that would enable veterans and others alike in functioning just like able bodied individuals would be able to in society. 

A couple of the projects that are being sought out by his open forum is one called the open standard, which works in conjunction with the open myoelectric platform.  It would be a set standard to have a communications port that is open source in nature, just like how we connect android based phones to a computer with usb cords.  This would create an easier, more simpler way of being able to create and manipulate different mechanical attachments with the open myoelectronic platform prosthesis to do many variations in tasks.  The myoelectric platform (working in reverse order here) is a platform that uses robotics to be able to do certain tasks, but originally needed a lot more work and engineering to be workable and useful.  it was one of the first three arms that Jonathan had after his departure from Walter Reed Medical Center and was one that he took apart to try and design, fabricate, and engineer a better, more functional form of to be able to work in more environments since the one he had would not work under dirty or wet conditions.

Pick your side - Net Neutrality...

Well, as the debate stands, it's either the idea of discriminating against different types of internet (p2p, gaming, voip, etc.) and either banning the different types or charge for services like the wireless providers have done with their data plans (AT&T and Verizon with 2Gb of data limit) or like how Canada has implemented a national limit on their ISP's and to start charging overages.  I myself don't like this idea just because I tend to use the internet for streaming music (pandora), streaming video (youtube, netflix, hulu) and even downloading different applications and files (rom's for my android, games, torrents, etc.).  I also use internet as my main entertainment source because I don't see the value in spending $100 on cable/dish tv that doesn't show what I want to see.  In all honesty, I am very opposed to the idea of segregating the internet and would rather see it remain just how it is.

The Brazilian Stand Off

After listening to the pod cast dated sometime in 2006 (using a reference in one of the speakers on the podcast), I felt that the government was very correct in what they did.  These countries get baited into using only one type of operating system that ends up costing them millions to billions of dollars annually to use, when they just don't have that type of revenue and surplus.  I also see where this country is coming from because they may not feel that capitalism is the best motive for using Microsoft products.  America is one of only a few countries that believes in capitalism and the free market, making business with other national entities difficult because they wont always want to pay extravagant amounts of money to use something they may feel should be free.  If you look at the Linux software and how its evolved you'll notice that it has become a major competitor against the greats of Microsoft and Apple.  The GUI abilities are equal if not better in some instances of Linux as compared to the other systems, as well as the low overhead that it provides, giving many people a longer lifespan on their hardware requirements.  Overall, I can't say I blame Brazil for changing over from Microsoft to Linux, because in the end, its all about money.

mod 6 Blog - Kernel Numbering vs Version Numbering

Alright, so in doing some research, I found that Wikipedia had the most information readily available to me in concern of the numbering scheme for the Linux Kernels. 

There have been 3 types of systems implemented in how the kernel's were numbered.  the most recent having started after release version 2.6.  After discussion between many major parties in the making of linux, they decided to use a "a.b.c.d" scheme that would imply that A meant the kernal version, B meant massive revision number (or actual version number), C meant minor revisions, and D meant the immediate revision (usually "bug and security" releases) that can't wait for a major revision.

Previously they used an "A.B.C" method that was somewhat similar to the method mentioned previously, just didn't have the D.  This was used from version 1.0 - 2.6.  They also implemented an even-odd numbering system where the B number even for stable releases and odds for developmental releases.  This meant that the 2.5 kernel was the developmental release of what became 2.6. 

the very beginning though was charted with .01 to .12, then .95 to 1.0. 

Works Cited:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_kernel#Version_numbering

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_versioning#Odd-numbered_versions_for_development_releases

Mod 3 Blog

Answer the following questions:

1. What is an argument?  Give several examples. 

   Arguments are the portions of the command that are part of the command itself.  the book uses this example:
   $ cp temp tempcopy
   The arguments are  "cp", "temp" and "tempcopy".  these arguments are in numerical order and are part of the execution of that command.  Sometimes a command requires a certain amount of arguments as exampled above, where the copy command requires the file your copying and the name your copying it to; but other commands may not require any.  Options are also considered arguments as well.  

2. Use the man pages to tell me two options for the ls command and what they do.

    -g  just like -l but does not list name
    -h, --human-readable   with -l, print sizes in human readable format (e.g., 1K 234M 2G)

3. Use the internet to look up "The Cathedral and the Bazaar" and tell me what it is and why it is important.

      The Cathedral and the Bazaar is an essay about the differences of two types of software development that was done with Linux.  The bazaar method is where the code that is used for making new releases of Linux available to everyone for viewing and given the ability to scour over the code searching for bugs and error's.  The Cathedral method is where the code is open sourced during the main releases only, but the code used in between releases is only available to the groups using it to develop the releases.

What is the Kernal?

After doing some reading, I've come to the conclusion that the kernal is most definitely the back bone of the operating system.  the kernal itself is not the source for the GUI, but it more or less enables the ability to have one.  The kernal is made up of many sub categories (System Call Interface "SCI"; Process Management "PM"; Memory Management "MM"; Architecture; Device Drivers "DD"; Virtual File System "VFS"; and the Network Stack).  The SCI is what enables the process and other functions of the kernal to be seen and used by GUI interfaces as well as used through the terminal.  The kernal also acts as the "middleman" between the hardware and the user interface using the architecture and device drivers to communicate throughout the kernal with processes that work through to the system call interface and to the user space.