> Created in reStructuredText with GNU Emacs by Tanzeem MB, Programmer, Informatics Division, C-DIT
Document version 1.1 Updated on : 09 Nov 2020 with hourwise plan and brief explanation of syllabus
First version : 05 Nov 2020 - brief syllabus
The course aims to give an overview of free/libre software, getting started with GNU/Linux operating systems and popular free/libre software replacements to proprietary solutions. About various free software licenses and the difference between various terms like opensource and free software will be discussed. This course is aimed towards students who are interested in free software and those planning to migrate from proprietary softwares like MS Windows. After finishing the course, the student will be equipped with the knowledge of what is free software and its importance, how to use basic GNU/Linux commands, using popular GUI like GNOME, KDE, Xfce, Mate, Cinnamon. Usage of popular text editers like GNU Emacs and Vim, nano, pico will be discussed. Basics of installation of GNU/Linux OSes and basic system configuration methods will be discusssed in the course.
Time: 1 hour
- Introduction to free software- Origins and History. (10 mts)
- Importance of free software (10 mts)
- People in free software. (10 mts)
- Difference between the terms opensource and free software. (10 mts)
- Various organizations involved in promotion of Free and Opensource software (10 mts)
- Popular Free Software Licenses: Public and Private licenses (GPL,AGPL,FDL,MIT,BSD, Apache licenses etc) (10 mts)
Time: 1hr 35 mts
- GNU/Linux Oses Debian,Arch,Gentoo,Ubuntu,CentOS/RedHat - Introduction and differences (15mts)
- Other GNU OSes - FreeBSD, OpenBSD -Introduction (5 mts)
- The Linux Terminal - Commands for directory and file manipulation, Basic network commands like ftp,scp,lynx, Using Terminal multiplexers. (20 mts)
- Editers -pico, nano, (10 mts)
- GNU Emacs (20 mts)
- Vi (10 mts)
- Desktop Enivronments - GNOME, KDE, Cinnamon, Mate, XFCE/LXDE (demo videos and images) (15 mts)
Time: 1 hr 25 mts
- Using an existing Live CD/DVD/USB : Show a recorded video (10 mts)
- Creating a live USB/DVD image - Steps (5 mts read)
- Installing Debian GNU Linux from live DVD/USB - Show a prerecorder video (10 mts)
- Installation in virtual machine using qemu/kvm - Steps and video (20 mts)
- Dual boot installation (20 mts)
- Installation with legacy BIOS and UEFI and fixing problems in secure boot systems ( 20 mts)
Time: 1 hr 10 mts
- Various installation methods in Debian/Ubuntu and CentOS/RedHat: flatpak,snap,apt-get,synaptic, yum,dnf (30 mts)
- Printer Configuration (10 mts)
- Network Configuration (10mts)
- Web Server Configuration with Apache: Setting up GNU LAMPP environment (30 mts)
Time: 2 hr 40 mts
- List of popular free software solutions with category and what proprietary software can be replaced (20 mts)
- LibreOffice replacement to MS Office (1 hr)
- Inkscape - Vector Drawing (30 mts)
- Okular/Evince - PDF Reader (5 mts)
- Gedit/Kate - Text Editers (5 mts)
- GIMP basics (30 mts)
- Media Players (10 mts)
Time : 1hr 45 mts
- Introduction to privacy and data protection ( 10 mts)
- Fediverse, decentralization and on-premise solutions (10 mts)
- Duckduckgo browser (5 mts)
- Social media: Diaspora, Mastodon, Peertube (20 mts)
- Replacements to Slack/Whatsapp - Matrix protocol, Signal (20 mts)
- Cryptpad - web based office (20 mts)
- Ethercalc web spreadsheet (10 mts)
- Jitsi and Big BlueButton - video calling (10 mts)
Time: 1 hr 30 mts
- Introduction to GIMP (30 mts)
- Introduction to Krita (30 mts)
- Introduction to Inkscape (30 mts)
Time: 1 hr 30 mts
- Introduction to KDENLive (30 mts)
- Introduction to Audacity (30 mts)
- Introduction to OBS Studio (30 mts)
Time: 1 hr
- Introduction to Synfig Studio (30 mts)
- Introduction to Blender (30 mts)
Time: 1 hr
- Introduction to tools used for statistical analysis and scientific applications (10 mts)
- Introduction to GNU Octave and SciLab (20 mts)
- GNU PSPP - replacement to SPSS (10 mts)
- Python/ NumPy (20 mts)
Time: 2hrs
- Introduction to languages used for content development:HTML/Javascript/CSS (20 mts)
- Introduction to Markdown and reStructuredText (20 mts)
- Introduction to TeX language and LaTex (20 mts)
- Introduction to Scribus (20 mts)
- Introduction to CMS: Wordpress and Drupal (20 mts)
- Introduction to Static Site Generators. Hugo explained (20 mts)
Time: 1 hr
- Introduction to FDroid- replacement to Google Playstore (15 mts)
- LineageOS and Replicant -replacement to Android (15 mts)
- Important free software mobile apps (30 mts)