This collections of Free and Open Source software for educational is available on OSWINS DVD, OSMAC CD or OSLINUX CD. The educational software varies from mathematics to music, from science to graphics, from programming to educational games and includes office tools, business software, network tools and security software. The aim is to make finding software easier by categorising them by Key Learning Areas used in Education. Under each category there are links to useful websites that provide information or free resources.

How to use this website: Files can be accessed using the category index below or accessed via the file tree structure on the CD/DVD image using a file or web browser. Many of the applications are self extracting archives which install the software. Some applications are packaged into archives which have to be opened first before installing.  The symbol down loadable from iso indicates you can download the software directly from the CD/DVD and the symbol home page for software indicates the home site for the software. The symbol next folder indicates that files are located in another folder and the symbol back to another CD indicates that files are located on another CD. Tools to create archives and extract files are located in the system tools folder. README.html is printer friendly version of this document.

Table of Contents:

Key Learning Areas Educational Software

Business + Office Software

Download: You can download the OSWINS DVD or two CDs (OSWINS CD Business + Office) and (OSWEDU CD Key Learning Areas), or OSMAC CD or OSLINUX CD from http://os.cqu.edu.au/pub/iso or faster from mirror at http://mirror.aarnet.edu.au/pub/adios/iso.

The OSWINS DVD was designed to be about 1.4GBytes so that it could fit onto a pocket size DVD or USB drive. The OS-school-DVD is a combination of several CDs and/or DVDs namely the OSWINS-DVD and the ADIOS-DVD. These are described at http://os.cqu.edu.au/oswinsdvd and http://os.cqu.edu.au/adios and you can download the latest copies of these CDs and DVDs from http://os.cqu.edu.au/pub/iso. For further information about educational software visit the Centre for OpenSource Development taxonomy web site at http://os.cqu.edu.au/cosds.

Disclaimer and License: This CD/DVD is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Please refer to each package for its software license. The Licenses used on this CD/DVD include:

If you connect to the Internet remember to use a firewall (such as ZoneAlarm for Windows), anti-virus software (such as Avast) and anti-spyware software (such as Winpooch for Windows). You should find a security solution that best suites your personal requirements. Read the security section.

Try software first: The ADIOS CD/DVDs (included on the OS School DVD) can be used to demonstrate open source software without the need to install. To do this you reboot your computer from the DVD and it will start Linux (requires 512MB of RAM). It may take a few minutes due to the size of the image. Alternatively install QEMU or VirtualBox software and then run Linux within Windows (requires 1GB or RAM, for more information see ADIOS-README.txt). The default Linux image runs in RAM and from CD/DVD and does not use the hard disc drive unless you instruct it to. Linux will start the KDE, Gnome or XFCE desktop, this will allow you to run hundreds of applications such as Leocad (toy bricks in 3D), Blender (3D modelling, animation and rendering) and Kstars (planetarium). The Live Linux CD/DVD component also provides non Linux users exposure to software which is not available on Windows. For more informations about what is on the ADIOS CD/DVDs see adioscds.html or visit the ADIOS web site at http://os.cqu.edu.au/adios for other themed CD/DVD versions of ADIOS.

Updates and Feedback: If you have any comments or know of software or sites that you think should be included on this list, please email the Author.

Index of Free and Open Source Software

Content: art, painting, photography, multimedia, music, dance and drama

Definitions

  • "The arts is a broad subdivision of culture, composed of many expressive disciplines. In modern usage, it is a term broader than "art", which usually means the visual arts (comprising fine art, decorative art, and crafts). The arts encompasses visual arts, performing arts, language arts, and the culinary arts."
    - Wikipedia Arts 22 October 2008

Art

Painting and Drawing

Photography

Multimedia

Music

Dance

Drama

Content: vocabulary tools, online books, mindmap, child education, reading and writing
English is the study of language and literature. More educational resources are available via the list of Web Sites. To set the mood, here is a poem on how best to live life, the Desiderata.

Quotes

  • "What I hear, I forget. What I see, I remember. What I do, I understand." - Confucius
  • "Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever." - Gandhi
  • "You don't understand anything until you learn it more than one way." - Marvin Minsky
  • "You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives." - Clay P. Bedford
  • "Poor is the pupil who does not surpass his master." - Leonardo da Vinci.

Vocabulary Tools

Online Books

Mind Map

Child Education

Reading Tools

Writing Tools

Content: fitness, nutrition & diet, health care and mental health

Definitions

  • "Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." - as defined by the World Health Organization http://www.who.int/en/
    - Wikipedia Health 22 October 2008
  • "Physical fitness, a general state of good health, usually as a result of exercise and nutrition"
    - Wikipedia Health 22 October 2008
  • "Proper nutrition requires the proper ingestion and equally important, the absorption of vitamins, minerals, and fuel in the form of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats."
    - Wikipedia Diet(nutrition) 24 May 2009
  • "Yoga is a healing system of theory and practice. It is a combination of breathing exercises, physical postures, and meditation that has been practiced for more than 5,000 years."
    - Wikipedia Yoga as exercise 28 January 1010
  • "Aerobics: a series of strenuous exercises which help convert fats, sugars, and starches into aches, pains, and cramps."
    - Author Unknown

Health and Fitness

Nutrition & Diet

Health Care

Five steps to happiness

  1. Connect
    Developing relationships with family, friends, colleagues and neighbours will enrich your life and bring you support
  2. Be active
    Sports, hobbies such as gardening or dancing, or just a daily stroll will make you feel good and maintain mobility and fitness
  3. Be curious
    Noting the beauty of everyday moments as well as the unusual and reflecting on them helps you to appreciate what matters to you
  4. Learn
    Fixing a bike, learning an instrument, cooking - the challenge and satisfaction brings fun and confidence
  5. Give
    Helping friends and strangers links your happiness to a wider community and is very rewarding

    Source: Foresight report (The Mental Capital and Wellbeing report, published by Foresight, part of the UK Government Office for Science)

5 Things That Will Make You Happier

  1. Be grateful
    ... participants were asked to write letters of gratitude to people who had helped them in some way ...
  2. Be optimistic
    ... asked to visualize an ideal future - for example, living with a loving and supportive partner, or finding a job that was fulfilling ...
  3. Count your blessings
    People who practice writing down three good things that have happened to them every week show significant boosts in happiness ...
  4. Use your strengths
    ... asked people to identify their greatest strengths, and then to try to use these strengths in new ways. For example, someone who says they have a good sense of humor could try telling jokes to lighten up business meetings or cheer up sad friends ...
  5. Commit acts of kindness
    ... It turns out helping others also helps ourselves. People who donate time or money to charity, or who altruistically assist people in need, report improvements in their own happiness.

    Source: Clara Moskowitz, LiveScience Senior Writer, posted: 22 February 2010, summary of research published in the Journal of Clinical Psychologyby by Sonja Lyubomirsky, University of California

Laughter is good for your health

  1. Laughter relaxes the whole body
    A good, hearty laugh relieves physical tension and stress, leaving your muscles relaxed for up to 45 minutes after.
  2. Laughter boosts the immune system
    Laughter decreases stress hormones and increases immune cells and infection-fighting antibodies, thus improving your resistance to disease.
  3. Laughter triggers the release of endorphins
    the body's natural feel-good chemicals. Endorphins promote an overall sense of well-being and can even temporarily relieve pain.
  4. Laughter protects the heart
    Laughter improves the function of blood vessels and increases blood flow, which can help protect you against a heart attack and other cardiovascular problems

    Source: Laughter is the Best Medicine http://www.helpguide.org/life/humor_laughter_health.htm 24 March 2010

Content: history, geography, government and environment
The Study of Society and the Environment

Definitions

  • "A society is a population of humans characterized by patterns of relationships between individuals that share a distinctive culture and/or institutions. More broadly, a society is an economic, social and industrial infrastructure in which a varied multitude of people or peoples are a part. Members of a society may be from different ethnic groups."
    - Wikipedia Society 22 October 2008
  • "The natural environment, commonly referred to simply as the environment, is a term that encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof."
    - Wikipedia Natural Environment 22 October 2008

History

australia_01.png (4312 bytes) Geography

Government Sites

Environment

Content: languages, spanish, portuguese(brazil), japanese and german

Definitions

  • "A language is a dynamic set of visual, auditory, or tactile symbols of communication and the elements used to manipulate them. Language can also refer to the use of such systems as a general phenomenon. Language is considered to be an exclusively human mode of communication; although other animals make use of quite sophisticated communicative systems, none of these are known to make use of all of the properties that linguists use to define language."
    - Wikipedia Language 22 October 2008

Languages

Spanish

Portuguese (Brazil)

Japanese

German

Content: calculators, graphs, computational tools, math games, algebra, courses, tutorials and problem solving

Quotes

  • "The understanding of mathematics is necessary for a sound grasp of ethics." - Socrates
  • "Mathematicians do not study objects, but relations between objects. Thus, they are free to replace some objects by others so long as the relations remain unchanged. Content to them is irrelevant: they are interested in form only." - Henri Poincare
  • "I will not define time, space, place and motion, as being well known to all." - Sir Isaac Newton
  • "So far as the theories of mathematics are about reality, they are not certain; so far as they are certain, they are not about reality." - Albert Einstein
  • "The creator of the universe works in mysterious ways. But he uses a base ten counting system and likes round numbers." - Scott Adams

Calculators

Graphs

Computational Tools

Math Games

Algebra

Trigonometry, Calculus & Statistics Courses

Mathematic Tutorials

Problem Solving and Critical Thinking

Content: chemistry, physics, biology, geology, astronomy and weather
More useful tools for science are available in mathematics, graphics and engineering.

Quotes

  • "The scientist does not study nature because it is useful; he studies it because he delights in it, and he delights in it because it is beautiful. If nature were not beautiful, it would not be worth knowing, and if nature were not worth knowing, life would not be worth living." - Henri Poincare
  • "The scientist is not a person who gives the right answers, he's one who asks the right questions." - Claude Levi-Strauss
  • "My goal is simple. It is complete understanding of the universe, why it is as it is and why it exists as all." - Stephen Hawking
  • "Astronomy compels the soul to look upwards and leads us from this world to another." - Plato
  • "The dinosaurs became extinct because they didn't have a space program." - Larry Niven

Chemistry

Physics

Biology

Geology

Astronomy

Weather

Content: languages, manuals, editors, software development, version control and database

Quotes

  • "[A]nd then it occurred to me that a computer is a stupid machine with the ability to do incredibly smart things, while computer programmers are smart people with the ability to do incredibly stupid things. They are, in short, a perfect match." - Bill Bryson
  • "Beta. Software undergoes beta testing shortly before it's released. Beta is Latin for 'still doesn't work'." - Author Unknown
  • "Version 1 of any software is full of bugs. Version 2 fixes all the bugs and is great. Version 3 adds all the things users ask for, but hides all the great stuff in Version 2." - Fred Blechman
  • "Writing the first 90 percent of a computer program takes 90 percent of the time. The remaining ten percent also takes 90 percent of the time and the final touches also take 90 percent of the time." - N.J. Rubenking
  • "Good code is its own best documentation. As you're about to add a comment, ask yourself, 'How can I improve the code so that this comment isn't needed?'" - Steve McConnell

Programmers typically use tools such as editors to create the source code, compilers or translators to convert the source code to executable binary code, link loaders to connect this to various libraries called from within the program. In addition programmers typically use tools such as version control systems, debuggers, makefiles, reformatting tools, preprocessors, profilers, Integrated Development Environments, Graphical User Interfaces builders and Unified Modelling Language tools. Programmers may need to know the ASCII table, use regular expressions, master programming editors and development envionments, write prototypes using scripting languages or shells and work within a project and with other programmers in a team. - Neville Richter

Here are two simple demos of using jquery within web pages fisheye.html and carousel.html the source html code can be viewed within the web browser and the javascript files are located within the folder js - see examples at http://sorgalla.com/jcarousel/ and see examples at http://malsup.com/jquery/.

Here is a simple alert pop up <a href onMouseOver="alert('hello world'); return true;">click here</a> click here .

Programming Languages

Manuals & Tutorials

Editors

Software Development

Version Control Systems

Database Tools

Content: graphics, computer games and game engines

Definitions

  • "Computer graphics are graphics created by computers and, more generally, the representation and manipulation of pictorial data by a computer."
    - Wikipedia Computer Graphics 22 October 2008
  • "A personal computer game (also known as a computer game or simply PC game) is a video game played on a personal computer, rather than on a video game console or arcade machine. Computer games have evolved from the simple graphics and gameplay of early titles like Spacewar!, to a wide range of more visually advanced titles."
    - Wikipedia Personal Computer Games 22 October 2008

Graphics

Computer Games

Game Engines

Content: cms, lms and sis
More useful networking tools are available in desktop, programming, graphics, business, networking and security.

Definitions

  • "A content management system (CMS) is a computer application used to create, edit, manage, and publish content in a consistently organized fashion. CMSs are frequently used for storing, controlling, versioning, and publishing industry-specific documentation such as news articles, operators' manuals, technical manuals, sales guides, and marketing brochures. The content managed may include computer files, image media, audio files, video files, electronic documents, and Web content."
    - Wikipedia Content Management System 22 October 2008
  • "A Learning Management System (LMS) is software for delivering, tracking and managing training. LMSs range from simple systems for managing training records to software for distributing courses over the Internet and offering features for online collaboration. "
    - Wikipedia Learning Management System 22 October 2008
  • "A student information system (SIS) is a software application for educational establishments to manage student data. Student information systems provide capabilities for entering student test and other assessment scores through an electronic grade book, building student schedules, tracking student attendance, and managing many other student-related data needs in a school, college or university."
    - Wikipedia Student Information System 10 January 2010
  • "Model-View-Controller (MVC) is a software architecture, currently considered an architectural pattern used in software engineering. The pattern isolates domain logic (the application logic for the user) from input and presentation (UI), permitting independent development, testing and maintenance of each."
    - Wikipedia Model-View-Controller 14 September 2010
  • "Presentation-Abstraction-Control (PAC) is a software architectural pattern, somewhat similar to model-view-controller (MVC). PAC is used as a hierarchical structure of agents, each consisting of a triad of presentation, abstraction and control parts."
    - Wikipedia Presentation-Abstration-Control 14 September 2010

Content Management Systems (CMS) software makes it easy to collaboratively create and manage a website, documents, and other content. There are many software solutions available, but the new range of open source tools provide comprehensive tools to provide a fully functional knowledge production interface. Most CMS's provide a web-based front end to develop portals, wikis, and use other web-based groupware. - Lynda Thater

Content Management Systems

Learning Management Systems

Student Information Systems

  • OpenSIS - Community Edition - functional student information system which is easy of use and administrate - comprehensive implementation for multiple schools (Windows, Linux) http://sorceforge.net/projects/opensis-ce/ (GPL)
  • ClaSS - Class Student System - complete student tracking, reporting and information management system - aims to be the ubiquitous classroom information assistant for schools (Windows, MacOSX, Linux) http://sourceforge.net/projects/class/ (GPL)
  • Fedena - open source school management system ~ requires Ruby on Rails (Windows, MacOSX, Linux) http://www.projectfedena.org/ (GPL)
  • OpenAdmin - School Administration Program ~ requires Perl (Windows) http://richtech.ca/openadmin/ (GPL)
  • SchoolTool - Simple turnkey student information system, including demographics, gradebook, attendance, calendaring and reporting for schools (Linux) http://www.schooltool.org/ (GPL)

This small collection of desktop tools exists so that the distribution can be placed on multiple CDs, it can be extended by examining the tools in office tools, networking, security, business, mathematics, graphics and the arts.

Quotes

  • This guy calls in to complain that he gets an "Access Denied" message every time he logs in. It turned out he was typing his username and password in capital letters.
    Tech Support: "Ok, let's try once more, but use lower case letters."
    Customer: "Uh, I only have capital letters on my keyboard."

Desktop Help

More Office Tools

More Communications

More Tools

  • Wamp - Apache Web Server, MySQL Database, PHP and phpMyAdmin all in one (Windows) http://www.wampserver.com/en/ (GPL)
  • 7-Zip - good file archiver with high compression ratio - supports 7z, ZIP, GZIP, BZIP2 and TAR formats, and unpacking only of RAR, CAB, ISO, and more (Windows, MacOSX, Linux) http://www.7-zip.org/ (LGPL, AES code license, unRAR restrictions)

Content: wordprocessors, spreadsheets, pdf tools, todo managers, dvd tools, web browsers, email clients and chat
This collection of office tools can be extended by examining the tools in systems, networking, security, business, mathematics, graphics and the arts.

Free Office Suites

  • OpenOffice - includes Writer, Calc, Impress, Draw and Base - developed by Sun Microsystems
  • Koffice - includes word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, vector drawing, database and project management
  • GnomeOffice - includes AbiWord, Gnumeric, Evolution and Gnome-DB data access

Office Tools

Wordprocessors

Speadsheets and Publishing

PDF readers and writers

Todo and Project Management

DVD Tools

Communications

Web Browsers

Email Clients

Chat and Conference software
  • Coccinella - Chat client with whiteboard, multi-user chat, file transfer, and add contacts to Jabber, ICQ, AIM, MSN, Yahoo - requires Tcl/Tk (Windows, MacOSX, Linux) http://thecoccinella.org/ (GPL)
  • Ekiga - Open source VoIP and video conferencing (Windows, Linux) http://ekiga.org/ (GPL)
  • Linphone - Open source SIP video-phone, features - audio codecs speex, G711, GSM and iLBC; video codecs H263, MPEG4, theora and H264; support for video (Windows, MacOSX, Linux) http://www.linphone.org/ (GPL)
  • Pidgin - Instant messaging application supports AIM, ICQ, MSN, IRC, and a lot more (Windows, Linux) http://www.pidgin.im/ (GPL)
  • QuteCom - Free VOIP Softphone (Windows, MacOSX, Linux) http://trac.qutecom.org/wiki (Free)
  • Skype - Free chat and phone calls between users of skype software - phone charges apply when connecting to landlines and mobiles (Windows, MaxOSX, Linux) http://www.skype.com/ (Free chat between skype users)
  • SpeakFreely - free phone calls only between computers with speakfreely installed (Windows, Linux) http://www.speakfreely.org/ (GPL)
  • Asterisk - Open source telephone platform PBX with VoIP (MacOSX, Linux) http://www.asterisk.org/ (GPL)
  • Kopete - Internet Messaging for services such as AIM and IRC (Linux) http://kopete.kde.org (GPL)
  • OCS - Open Conference System is a free Web publishing tool, from the Public Knowledge Project (Linux) http://pkp.sfu.ca/?q=ocs (GPL)

More Maths Tools

Content: finance and accounting, resource planning, point-of-sale, data mining and workflow
More useful business tools are available in office tools, systems, networking, security, mathematics and graphics.

Quotes

  • "It doesn't matter how many times you fail. It doesn't matter how many times you almost get it right. No one is going to know or care about your failures, and neither should you. All you have to do is learn from them and those around you because... All that matters in business is that you get it right once. Then everyone can tell you how lucky you are." - Mark Cuban
  • "The successful person makes a habit of doing what the failing person doesn't like to do." - Thomas Edison
  • "Informed decision-making comes from a long tradition of guessing and then blaming others for inadequate results." - Scott Adams
  • "The secret of business is to know something that nobody else knows." - Aristotle Onassis
  • "The hardest thing to understand in the world is the income tax." - Albert Einstein

Personal Finance and Accounting Software

All businesses need financial accounting software to keep track of their finances and accounting (eg, income, expenses, payroll, A/R, A/P, financial analysis, etc.) Many small businesses do not have the luxury of having a lot of money to spend on expensive software. But there are OpenSource alternatives available that have been tried and tested. Most of the software reviewed in this site will import/export files into formats which can be imported by other proprietary software. In this section you will find OpenSource software that can be used by small businesses to manage their finances. In addition, the software is useful in teaching Accounting courses. - Lynda Thater

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software

  • Dolibarr - ERP and Customer Relationship Management CRM for small to medium companies - simple to install, use and develop - features for management of bank accounts, stock, invoices, orders, payments and shipping ~ requires PHP (Windows, MacOSX, Linux) http://www.dolibarr.org/ (GPL)
  • Adempiere - ERP Bazaar for Open Source Developers a fork from Compiere with CRM, shopfloor, Point-of-Sale, financial accounting, supply chain and business applications ~ requires Java (Windows, MacOSX, Linux) http://adempiere.red1.org/ (GPL)
  • Compiere community edition - integrated ERP and CRM solution - features Point-of-Sale software, web store, inventory management, automated accounting, order processing ~ requires Java (Windows, MacOSX, Linux) http://www.compiere.org (GPL)
  • ERP5 - ERP based on Zope application server - features accounting, payroll, budget, data management, trade, material requirements planning, CRM, project planning and doument management systems ~ requires Python (Windows, MacOSX, Linux) http://www.erp5.com/ (GPL)
  • gnuEnterprise - suite of enterprise wide business tools in development - features ERP, human resources, accounting, CRM, project management, e-commerce, and support for multiple currencies (Windows, Linux) http://www.gnuenterprise.org/ (GPL)
  • jFire - ERP, CRM, trading and billing, business analysis, issue tracking (Windows, Linux) (LGPL)
  • LedgerSMB - web based accounting, ERP and Point-Of-Sale software for small medium business (SMB) using PostgreSQL database ~ requires Perl (Windows, MacOSX, Linux) http://www.ledgersmb.org/ (GPL)
  • OFBiz - The Apache Open for Business Project that can be used OOTB (out-of-the-box) - features ERP, CRM, E-Business, E-Commerce, SCM, MRP and CMMS/EAM ~ requires Tomcat and Java Runtime Environment (Windows, MacOSX, Linux) http://ofbiz.apache.org/ (Apache License)
  • OpenBravo - Integrated web-based open source ERP Enterprise Management System - requires Java (Windows, MacOSX, Linux) http://sourceforge.net/projects/openbravo/ (Mozilla Public License)
  • OpenERP (TinyERP) community edition - web based ERP, CRM and Point-of-Sale for small to medium business, fast to implement, hundreds of modules, widely used ~ requires Python (Windows, MacOSX, Linux) http://openerp.com/ (GPL)
  • OpenTaps - features ERP, CRM, online store, accounting, finance, inventory - requires Java (Windows, MacOSX, Linux) http://www.opentaps.org (GPL)
  • PostBooks - Integrated ERP, CRM and accounting for small to midsized businesses, graphical client, PostgreSQL database, multi-language support ~ requires C++ (Windows, MacOSX, Linux) http://postbooks.sourceforge.net/ (Common Public Attribution License)
  • webERP - Integrated double entry accounting and ERP system with multi-language support, sales analysis, flexible pricing and pdf reports ~ requires PHP (Windows, MacOSX, Linux) http://www.weberp.org/ (GPL)

    Customer Relationship Managment (CRM)

  • sugarCRM - web based CRM - features sales automation, marketing campaigns, support cases, project management, calendaring ~ requires PHP (Windows, MacOSX, Linux) http://sourceforge.net/projects/sugarcrm/ (Free community edition, SugarCRM License)
  • vtigercrm - CRM built over WAMP/LAMP modified sugarCRM software - requires PHP (Windows, MacOSX, Linux) http://www.vtiger.com/ (GPL)
  • Also see ERP entries above that include CRM.

Point-of-Sale

Data Mining

Workflow and Business Processes

Definitions

  • "Accountancy or accounting is the system of recording, verifying, and reporting of the value of assets, liabilities, income, and expenses in the books of account (ledger) to which debit and credit entries (recognizing transactions) are chronologically posted to record changes in value (see bookkeeping). Such financial information is primarily used by lenders, managers, investors, tax authorities, and other decision makers to make resource allocation decisions between and within companies, organizations, and public agencies."
    - Wikipedia Accountancy 30 April 2009
  • "Customer relationship management (CRM) consists of the processes a company uses to track and organize its contacts with its current and prospective customers. CRM software is used to support these processes; information about customers and customer interactions can be entered, stored and accessed by employees in different company departments. Typical CRM goals are to improve services provided to customers, and to use customer contact information for targeted marketing."
    - Wikipedia Customer relationship management 30 April 2009
  • "Data mining is the process of extracting hidden patterns from data. As more data is gathered, with the amount of data doubling every three years, data mining is becoming an increasingly important tool to transform this data into information. It is commonly used in a wide range of profiling practices, such as marketing, surveillance, fraud detection and scientific discovery."
    - Wikipedia Data mining 30 April 2009
  • "Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is a company-wide computer software system used to manage and coordinate all the resources, information, and functions of a business from shared data stores."
    - Wikipedia Enterprise resource planning 30 April 2009
  • "A workflow is a depiction of a sequence of operations, declared as work of a person, work of a simple or complex mechanism, work of a group of persons, work of an organization of staff, or machines. Workflow may be seen as any abstraction of real work, segregated in workshare, work split or whatever types of ordering."
    - Wikipedia Workflow 30 April 2009
  • "Strategic planning is an organization's process of defining its strategy, or direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy, including its capital and people. ..."
    "All strategic planning deals with at least one of three key questions:"
    1. "What do we do?"
    2. "For whom do we do it?"
    3. "How do we excel?"
     - Wikipedia Strategic planning 31 January 2010

A few Business Acronyms

  • EBITDA – Earning Before Interests, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization
  • EPISTEL - Environment, Political, Informatic, Social, Technological, Economic and Legal
  • PEST - Political, Economic, Social, and Technological
  • ROI – Return On Investment
  • STEER - Socio-cultural, Technological, Economic, Ecological, and Regulatory factors
  • SWOT - Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats
  • TCO – Total Cost of Ownership

Content: web sites, electrical, mechanical, chemical and civil engineering
Engineering software includes analysis and design tools, such as finite element methods and graphical display of results. More engineering tools are available in mathematics, graphics, geology, chemistry and physics.

Quotes

  • "Scientists investigate that which already is; Engineers create that which has never been." - Albert Einstein
  • "Engineers like to solve problems. If there are no problems handily available, they will create their own problems." - Scott Adams
  • "The engineer's first problem in any design situation is to discover what the problem really is." - unknown
  • "Engineering problems are under-defined, there are many solutions, good, bad and indifferent. The art is to arrive at a good solution. This is a creative activity, involving imagination, intuition and deliberate choice." - Ove Arup
  • "The fastest way to get an engineer to solve a problem is to declare that the problem is unsolvable. No engineer can walk away from an unsolvable problem until it’s solved." - unknown

Electrical Engineering

Mechanical Engineering

Chemical Engineering

Civil Engineering

Definitions

  • "Chemical Engineering is the branch of engineering that deals with the application of physical science (e.g. chemistry and physics), with mathematics, to the process of converting raw materials or chemicals into more useful or valuable forms. In addition to producing useful materials, modern chemical engineering is also concerned with pioneering valuable new materials and techniques - such as nanotechnology, fuel cells and biomedical engineering."
    - Wikipedia Chemical Engineering 24 May 2009
  • "Civil Engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works such as bridges, roads, canals, dams and buildings."
    - Wikipedia Civil Engineering 24 May 2009
  • "Electrical Engineering, sometimes referred to as electrical and electronic engineering, is a field of engineering that deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after commercialization of the electric telegraph and electrical power supply. It now covers a range of subtopics including power, electronics, control systems, signal processing and telecommunications."
    - Wikipedia Electical Engineering 24 May 2009
  • "Mechanical Engineering is an engineering discipline that involves the application of principles of physics for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. Mechanical engineering is one of the oldest and broadest engineering disciplines."
    - Wikipedia Mechanical Engineering 24 May 2009

Content: pc technology, system tools, desktop, backup and virtual machines
This collection of system tools can be extended by examining the tools in networking and security.

Computer Technology

System Tools

Desktop Tools

Backup and Synchronize

Virtualization

Content: remote access, web tools and network management
More networking tools are available in office communications, security, programming and graphics.

Definitions

  • "A computer network, also referred to as just a network, consists of two or more computers, and typically other devices as well (such as printers, external hard drives, modems and routers), that are linked together so that they can communicate with each other and thereby exchange commands and share data, hardware and other resources."
    - The Linux Information Project 22 October 2008
  • "Network management means deploying and coordinating resources in order to plan, operate, administer, analyse, evaluate, design, and expand communication networks to meet service-level objectives at all times, at a reasonable cost, and with optimum capacity." - Kornel Terplan
  • "The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is a set of concepts and policies for managing information technology (IT) infrastructure, development and operations."
    - Wikipedia Network Management 22 October 2008
  • "In computing, a protocol is a set of rules which is used by computers to communicate with each other across a network. A protocol is a convention or standard that controls or enables the connection, communication, and data transfer between computing endpoints. In its simplest form, a protocol can be defined as the rules governing the syntax, semantics, and synchronization of communication."
    - Wikipedia Protocol (computing) 31 January 2010

Systems Administration involves the configuration, monitoring and control of services that run on computer systems, which are connected on a network, while providing a quality of service to end users. Network Management involves monitoring and control of the resources on the network to provide an adequate quality of service to end users, in an efficient and effective operation for systems, typically using a central console and with minimal change to the systems being managed. - Neville Richter

Remote Access

Web Tools

Network Management

Open System Interconnection Reference Model (OSI Reference Model)
Layer (Unit)Function
7. Application (Data)Communication partners identfied, quality of service identified, user authenication, and privacy
6. Presentation (Data)Data representation, compression and encryption
5. Session (Data)Establish, Maintain and Terminate connections
4. Transport (Segment)End-to-end transparent transfer of data, end-to-end error recovery, and flow control reliability
3. Network (Packet)Route and logical addressing
2. Data Link (Frame)Logical Link-layer Control frame sync, flow control, and error checking; Media Access Control
1. Physical (Bit)Media, Signal, and binary transmission

Content: anti-virus, firewalls, forensics and web sites

Definitions

  • "A computer virus is a computer program that can copy itself and infect a computer without permission or knowledge of the user."
  • "Spyware is computer software that is installed surreptitiously on a personal computer to intercept or take partial control over the user's interaction with the computer, without the user's informed consent."
  • "Spamming is the abuse of electronic messaging systems to indiscriminately send unsolicited bulk messages."
  • "A firewall is an integrated collection of security measures designed to prevent unauthorized electronic access to a networked computer system. It is also a device or set of devices configured to permit, deny, encrypt, decrypt, or proxy all computer traffic between different security domains based upon a set of rules and other criteria."
    - Wikipedia 22 October 2008

All computer systems connecting to the Internet should maintain a firewall, anti-virus software and anti-spyware software. You should apply the latest updates and patches and keep up-to-date with security by reading information from the Australian Computer Emergency Response Team web site at http://www.auscert.org.au/.

Other useful sites include US Government CERT http://www.us-cert.gov/, Canadian CERT http://www.ewa-canada.com/, Carnegie Mellon University CERT http://www.cert.org/ and Open Source CERT http://ocert.org/.

Security of systems typically require authentication systems such as login name and password, access control lists for controlling who has access to each resource, auditing to record a trail of who accessed what and when in a log file, certificates which are electronic keys used to connect client systems to servers, firewalls to restrict access into trusted networks, virus scanners, email filters, virtual private networks, secure tunnels, trusted systems, and more. - Neville Richter

How to reduce your risks for online financial transactions:

  • use a firewall, plus anti-virus and anti-spyware software;
  • use a different web browser for online banking (such as Firefox, Safari, Opera, Chrome);
  • use an on-screen keyboard (within Vista or Micro Trend Transaction Guard);
  • or use a different operating system (boot a Linux Live CD such as PuppyLinux).

Anti-Virus, Anti-Spyware, Anti-Malware and Anti-Spam

Firewalls

Computer Forensics

Security Web Documents

Linux Content: About Linux, Documentation, Administration, Management

About Linux

Pronouncing the word "Linux"

    is one of the great mysteries of the Linux world. Americans pronounce the name Linus with a long i sound, as in pie. However, because Linux was originally based on a small, PC-based implementation of UNIX called "Minix" (pronounced with a short i), the actual pronunciation of Linux preserves this characteristic - it's LIH-nucks. Think Finnish.

Linux is a high-quality, multi-user, multi-tasking, 32-bit or 64-bit, Unix-like operating system kernel developed by Linus Torvalds and thousands of other software developers cooperating via the Internet.

The Linux Kernel is distributed with an extensive range of applications and systems software in what are known to Linux users as distributions. Some of the more well known distributions are

Fedora, RedHat, Mandriva, CentOS, Slackware, Slax, Linux Mint, PCLinuxOS, Gentoo and Ubuntu
For more on linux distributions try one these sites: lwn.net/Distributions, distrowatch.com, www.linux.org/dist or shots.osdir.com.

The graphical user interface is comprised of a display manager, window manager and desktop applications. The main X11, Xorg window managers are Enlightenment, WindowMaker, Blackbox, Ice, AfterStep, Lesstif, and more Themes. The popular desktops are Gnome and KDE, small windows managers include ICEwm and Xfce.

For users wanting to try Linux or who want to fast track to a Linux system, several developers have created live Linux Boot CDs such as ADIOS, Knoppix, RSBAC live CD and Xen. For those who like a small version of Linux that runs in less than 128MBs then try Puppy Linux.

Users in Australia can access mirror copies of some these sites via the AARNet Mirror or PlanetMirror. Linux mirrors of Debian, RedHat, Slackware, TurboLinux, and window/desktop mirrors of GNOME, KDE and XFree86.

For those of you that must have MS Windows, Linux developers have created emulators and virtual machines, such as Wine, VMware. For the Linux users there is The User-mode Linux Kernel which allows you to run different versions of Linux within virtual machines.  Alternatively Xen is a paravirtualising virtual machine monitor that allows you to securely run multiple virtual machines.  The open source Qemu software allows Linux to run within Windows, MacOSX and Linux systems.

Linux users wanting trusted systems should investigate GRsecurity, LIDS, RSBAC and SELinux.  If you require mandatory access controls policies then check out Security Enhanced Linux (SELinux) from the USA National Security Agency.   If you like a simple set of rules granting subjects privileges to access objects then Linux Intrusion Detection System LIDS is for you.  While GRsecurity is probably the easiest for the beginner to trusted systems.  Where as Rule Set Based Access Control RSBAC has advanced features such as defining roles for different types of users.

Why use Linux?

When deciding which operating system is best for a particular project, you need to know about the possible candidates, the comparative features of each, and then match those features to the requirements of the project concerned. You don't just pick one on a single (trivial) issue, such as 'the market leader'. You wouldn't apply the same process to choosing a motor vehicle, house, or other major purchase.

Linux and other open source software is not just for geeks, hackers, hobbyists, or other users that you might associate with cheap software. The Internet and the open source philosophy interact to produce some of the highest quality software available. Linux is a serious computing platform which can be and is used by major organisations for mission critical computing. The major reasons given for chosing Linux systems for servers has to do with achieving the required performance, reliability and security necessary to run services.

The Linux kernel together with most other software in a distribution is protected by copyright, and made available under the GNU General Public Licence (GPL). The GPL allows you to copy the software concerned as often as you wish, and to distribute copies to others as often as you wish, provided that you do not restrict the rights of those receiving the software. Precise details can be found in the GPL that comes with Linux, or from the Free Software Foundation.

Some of the other software in a typical Linux distribution may have a different license, and could be public domain software, software under a license similar to the GPL, or software protected by a conventional pay-per-copy license.

Linux Content: About Linux, Documentation, Administration, Management

Linux Documentation

There are many sources for documentation, each Linux distribution has its own set of documents, such as Debian, there are several major collections of Linux documents such as: The Linux Document Project - guides and howtos, GNU Operating System - documentation for open source commands, Linux Online - Linux courses, Open Source Initiative - open source licenses, The Linux Kernel - documentation, The Internet Engineering Task Force - request for comments on network protocols.

The Linux Documentation Project

http://tldp.org/


Online Documents

Linux Man pages

Trusted Operating Systems

  • SELinux - Security Enhanced Linux is an implementation of mandatory access controls (Linux) http://selinuxproject.org/ (GPL)
  • LIDS - Linux Intrusion Detection System includes MAC, port scaner, file and process protection (Linux) http://www.lids.org/ (GPL)
  • RSBAC - Rule Set Based Access Control includes MAC, ACL, RC and is extensible (Linux) http://www.rsbac.org/ (GPL)

Compressed File Systems

Boot CD Development Tools

Linux Content: About Linux, Documentation, Administration, Management

Linux Administration

In today's networked environment, all servers are connected to clients via a network, so the boundaries of what is systems admin and what is network admin can be blurred. (eg some purists follow the line that network admin only involves networking hardware like routers). So, the approach we've taken is that most administrators will have to undertake systems and network adminstration tasks in their workplace. Frequently Asked Questions about networking can be http://www.faqs.org/. Linux programs and documents can be downloaded from The Public Linux Archive http://kernel.org/pub/ and ibiblio's linux archive http://ibiblio.org/pub/linux/.

In the following section, the main topics that an administrator will encounter are presented. Since it's from the administrator's point of view, the network server software (rather than client software) is discussed more. The TCP/IP protocol suite is the most widely used today, by network applications and forms the backbone of the Internet. Network software usually invloves clients commnuicating with servers over a network. The client software such as a web browser communicates with the server software such as a web server. The complexity of the software can vary from a simple program to very large multi-tasking complex programming achievements. For a summary on Networking with Linux services see the LDP Networking-Overview-HOWTO and Linux-Networking-HOWTO. For a comprehensive list of Linux Network Services see the LDP Network Administrators Guide.

Each of the following topics has hypertext links to the relevant manual, FAQ, HOWTO, online book entries, example configuration files and links to distribution files.

Diagnostic Tools

There are many tools to help you diagnose problems when using the network. For example the output from the ifconfig command can be useful after using the ping command. The number of packets transmitted out of a network interface may indicate that no packets were sent and hence you should check the routing table. Tools such as arp can display mapping between IP addresses and MAC addresses, traceroute can record the route followed by the packet traveling from the source to the destination, and netstat can be used to check your network configuration and activity. More powerful tools such as tcpdump and wireshark let you look at the contents of the packets to determine what is happening on your network. Port scaners such as nmap and nessus allow you to check how vulnerable your systems are and also informs you on how to fix problems with services, while network intrusion detection systems such as snort allow you detect possible attacks, while acid is used to display the log files.

Guide to IP Layer Network Administration with Linux http://linux-ip.net/html/

Super-Server

The concept of a super-server is to have only one process monitoring multiple ports, when a client connects the super server spawn a process to handle the incoming connection, and then goes back to listen for new connections. On Linux systems the secure super server xinetd is used to protect services such as telnet, ftp and imap. Many newer services such as ssh, vsftpd and cyrus-imap prefer to run as standalone daemons and hence are not started via a super server.  The tcp_wrappers software is still used by other services such as remote procedure calls and can be used with any service which has been built with tcp_wrappers libraries. Note: telnet is no longer used, being replaced with ssh for remote access, tools such as putty enable the creation of secure tunnels to sshd servers, allowing remote console access using VNC.

Routing

routing - In internetworking, the process of moving a packet of data from source to destination. Routing is usually performed by a dedicated device called a router.
- Webopedia Routing 6 November 2010

RIP - Routing Information Protocol, an interior gateway protocol defined by RFC 1058 that specifies how routers exchange routing table information. With RIP, routers periodically exchange entire tables. Because this is inefficient, RIP is gradually being replaced by a newer protocol called Open Shortest Path First (OSPF).
- Webopedia RIP 6 November 2010

OSPF - Open Shortest Path First, an interior gateway routing protocol developed for IP networks based on the shortest path first or link-state algorithm. OSPF Version 2 is defined in RFC 1583.
- Webopedia OSPF 6 November 2010

BGP - Border Gateway Protocol, an exterior gateway routing protocol that enables groups of routers (called autonomous systems) to share routing information so that efficient, loop-free routes can be established. BGP is commonly used within and between Internet Service Providers (ISPs). The protocol is defined in RFC 1771.
- Webopedia BGP 6 November 2010

Routing is the process of selecting a path to send network traffic over the network. The quagga/zebra software allows you to quickly setup routing using protocols such as RIP, OSPF and BGP. The quagga/zebra interface is similar to that used by CISCO systems. The gated software and documentation is included here for historical reasons.

Name Services (DNS)

Domain Name System maps the names of devices on the Internet to IP addresses. The DNS used by most unix systems is called BIND, this software has recently added some security features such as authentication between master and slave name servers. The alternative DNS name server software djbdns developed by D.J. Bernstein is worth considering.

Authentication Systems

Single sign-on systems typicalliy use a directory tree, Windows has Active Directory, Novell has E-directory and Open Source users have openLDAP and Radius servers. The database contains information about users such as name, phone, location, passwords, access privileges, etc. To validate access Linux users can use Pluggable Authentication Modules. PAM allows a common authentication scheme to be used for programs such as login, su and X windows server

The Lightweight Directory Access Protocol LDAP is based on X.500, it provides a directory database, which can be used to store information about users such as login names, phone numbers, passwords and access privileges.

Radius servers become popular again with the introduction of wireless networks.

E-mail Gateways

Electronic mail is delivered via the mail transport agent (MTA) such as sendmail.  The e-mail interface software or mail user agent (MUA) is usually run on the end-user's workstation.  The end-user downloads their e-mail  from the mail server using imap or pop protocol.  The e-mail is sent using SMTP protocol to the email server, which is effectively a gateway for the end-user's workstation.

Web Server

The Apache web server is currently very popular on Unix systems, MacOSX via Mamp and Windows via Xampp or Wamp.  Extensions such web dav allow end-users to drag and drop files to the web server file systems. Apache includes many modules for security, authentication, load balancing, logging, proxying, virtual hosting and webDAV.

Proxy Web Server

The Squid proxy web server provides a gateway by which internal network users can surf the Internet.  The proxy web sever has a large cache so that the cost of surfing the Internet can be reduced.  A squid server can also be used for external users to reduce the load a web server.  Several tools have been written to enhance Squid and provide blacklists of non-desirable sites.

Web Search Engines

You can use google to search the Internet but if you setup a web server you may wish to consider setting a search engine.  The swish-e software is used on the ADIOS Linux CD.

File Systems

Distributed file systems are used to share files between workstations and servers.  The Network File System (NFS) was developed for use between Unix systems.  The Samba software was developed to share files between Unix and Windows systems.  The Novell NetWare solution was developed to share files over the IPX protocol.  To support diskless workstations the DHCP protocol was developed so that the workstation could automatically connect to the server sharing the filesystem.

Remote Access

X Windows

The desktop environment for Unix systems has evolved on top of the X windows manager.  For Linux the two most popular desktops are Gnome and KDE.

Linux Content: About Linux, Documentation, Administration, Management

Linux Management

Network Management involves monitoring and control of the resources on the network to provide an adequate quality of service to end users, in an efficient and effective operation for systems, using a central console and with minimal change to the systems being managed.

SNMP Software

Network Management Tools

Network Management Links

Free and Open Source Sites

Open Source Kids Sites

The World of Free and Open Source Software

On the OS school DVD you will find a collection of Free and Open Source software for educational use that run on various platforms such as Windows, MacOSX and Linux. The aim of this website is to make finding the software easier by categorising them by Key Learning Areas used in Education in Australia.  In addition, under each category, links to useful websites that provide information or free resources are listed.

Run or Install software

  • Search catalog and install open source educational software for platform
    OR
  • Boot ADIOS live DVD to run educational software (requires 512MB of RAM)
    OR
  • Run DVD from QEMU virtual machine within Windows (requires 1GB of RAM)
    install accelerator Kqemu before running to acquire reasonable performance
    Note: Themed CD versions run faster and require less RAM and are online.

Reasons to use Open Source software:

  • Lower total cost of ownership (TCO) for school and students;
  • Open Source comes with Source Code that allows users to customise the software;
  • Often uses GNU General Public License http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html
    more free licenses are available at http://www.opensource.org/licenses/category;
  • Professional Product developed by companies, government departments, universities
    for example Sun Microsystems (provides OpenOffice, Java and VirtualBox), Mozilla (provides FireFox, Thunderbird and Sunbird), and Apple (provides iTunes, Safari and QuickTime);
  • Rapid development cycle - end users report problems directly back to developer;
  • Works well on older hardware as software is often built with performance criteria; and
  • Greater learning of concepts rather than products.

Open Source Software could save you!

The number of free and open source software packages available for Windows, MacOSX and Linux is growing everyday. But the best thing about this software is that it is written by professional programmers and many companies and governments are in fact funding the development of free and open source software. So the quality of the software has improved to a point where many of the packages are now preferred to the commercial alternatives.

CQU has setup a Centre for OpenSource Development, which maintains a web site at http://os.cqu.edu.au. The objective of the Centre is to support students and staff with free and open source solutions. Most people have already used open source software maybe without even knowing it. For example, more than 60% of web servers are running the open source Apache web server. Many people already use the Firefox web browser for its features such as tabs and extensions. There are many more excellent applications like OpenOffice (wordprocessor, spreadsheet, presentation and database), InkScape (vector drawing package), Xine (movie player) and Blender (3D graphics). Blender is a 3D modeler, animation and rendering tool, which has been used to create animated films and develop characters for games.

The Centre provides information on free and open source software and provides manuals and reference guides on how to use open source software. A taxonomy of free and open source software for users in the areas of Information Technology, Business, Education, Engineering and Health has been created to help users quickly find a suitable software package. Themed compilation CDs of free and open source software for Windows, MacOSX and Linux have been created for download at http://os.cqu.edu.au/pub/iso or faster from mirror at http://mirror.aarnet.edu.au/pub/adios/iso. In addition bootable Linux CDs and DVDs have been developed to demonstrate various open source software tools for engineering, business, education, software development and network administration.

If you are a Windows user and would like to add more applications to your current operating system then free and open source software does this for you at no cost. Most software has been built for multiple platforms because the source code is also freely available. The license used by the majority of open source software is the GNU General Public License which basically states that you can use the software and modify the software as long as you don't make money selling it. So people make money selling their expertise in configuring, using, maintaining and training others to use the software.

Currently the centre is developing software for bootable Linux CDs and DVDs to demonstrate free and open source software in the fields of Information Technology, Business, Education, Engineering and Health at http://os.cqu.edu.au/adios. The centre is developing open source software for education to aid children with speech difficulties as well as help children learn to speak at http://os.cqu.edu.au/helpmespeak. The centre is investigating the development of e-commerce web sites using content management systems such as drupal at http://os.cqu.edu.au/open/projects. The centre is also creating documentation and course materials which are available at http://os.cqu.edu.au/courses.

The OpenSource Development web site has people downloading open source solutions every day. The web site provides online manuals, guides and books which are regularly accessed from people around the world. As well as ISO images of live Linux systems and educational collections of open source software. In summary free and open source software is the future in many countries and you will benefit from the availability of this software philosophy.

CQUniversity