Vietnam IT students before

In the past 2000-2005, 'Open Source' in general and Linux operating system in particular, are the terms mentioned a lot on the mass media in Vietnam. Also from here, the software products, technical solutions, projects . when developing are in one of two lines: Open Source and Closed Source.

In the past, IT people in our country only knew Windows operating system, Microsoft Office software, and some of the majority of utilities had to buy to have the right to use, that is the closed source code. However, everyone, from a normal computer user, to agencies, organizations, around the world, using Windows and non-copyrighted facilities has become very popular. .

But with the introduction of laws related to Intellectual Property, tightening copyright for computer products, and at the same time with the trend of world integration, the path of joining WTO, we, the births Vietnam IT staff, must know which way is suitable for the IT development career of the country.

Most computer users in Vietnam are familiar with using Windows for both entertainment and work purposes, on workstations, or servers, so the trend of using and developing according to closed source still is the first choice. But 'funding' is still a big problem for us, simply counting the number of computers multiplied by the amount of money to buy a Windows operating system, is a very large number, that is not to mention utilities. attach. Therefore, 'Open Source' has exploded in our country, as a new direction, a new solution for IT development in Vietnam.

In the domestic and foreign newspapers, discussed a lot about Open Source, this article summarizes and focuses on stating how the new trend affects IT students.

What is open source

Open source is the term for publicly available source code software products. Users do not have to pay a fee, moreover they have the right to view, modify, improve, upgrade according to some general principles specified in the license of open source software General Public License - GPL. The Open Source ancestor is Richard Stallman, who built the GNU project, and released the GPL Open Source license, two key foundations for the development of Open Source.

Dr. Nguyen Chi Cong - Project Leader 112 - said: ' Open source is the software that the authors have published, which has provided code for others to reuse and develop. Open source software vendors have the right to require users to pay some of the costs of warranty, training, upgrading, consulting, etc. services that are actually implemented to serve users, but may not sell open source products because it is the property of common wisdom, not a vendor's own property . '

Unlike other side products Closed source, including purchased software and free software, when distributed, these products only provide packaging for users to install, without the right to view the source code. .

Main open source products

Product The first open source must include the Linux operating system (exactly GNU Linux), with the father Linus Torvald. Linux is known as a free, stable, secure, flexible, high-performance operating system, and is developed by a huge community on the Internet. However, Linux is just the name of the kernel, 'heart' of the operating system. When we use the Linux operating system, it's actually distributions (distribution, referred to as distro) of different organizations. Currently, there are many distros with their own characteristics and features, for specific purposes, we can refer to http://www.distrowatch.com. The distros of Redhat / Fedora, Debian, SuSE, Gentoo, Mandrake, Slackware, Ubuntu .

On the market for servers, these distros meet very well in terms of performance, safety, security, and have a large market share; But in the workstation market, for end users, most distros do not convince users because of the graphics and ease of use are poor compared to Windows. However Ubuntu - a new distro that is considered to be quite user-friendly, and other distros that have a lot of development efforts to bring convenience to users.

Second, Apache web server software. On Windows operating systems with integrated IIS server software, along with SQL Server database server and ASP website programming language, has created a complete web system. In parallel with the above system, the Open Source product has an Apache web server, combining MySQL database, and PHP, Perl, Python programming languages, creating a very flexible web server system, Safe and stable, and this system has been used very commonly on both Linux and Windows operating systems.

In recent years, the web server system on Open Source has always been highly appreciated by experts. According to Netcraft statistics in December 2004, 68% of websites on the Internet ran Apache, and only 21% ran IIS, and 47 of the top 50 websites had a lifetime (ie the time between restarting the machine). The longest is running on Apache web server. In the future, LAMP systems (Linux + Apache + MySQL + PHP / Perl / Python) will increasingly assert their position in the web server market in the world.

Web browser Firefox with features of speed, security, compact, feature-rich and free, Firefox is gradually taking over the market for web browsers in the world, and is IE's biggest competitor. (Internet Explorer). Many IT experts have evaluated, most of Windows' security vulnerabilities are derived from IE, so replacing IE with Firefox is a good choice for Windows operating system installers. Even the world's largest search firm, Google, has launched a movement to "erase" IE, supporting Firefox based on members of Google Adsense.

In addition, open source software is also very popular, competing strongly with closed source code in the same application: Open Office text editing applications - Microsoft Office , Gaim Messages - Yahoo Messenger , Furniture GIMP - Photoshop , Mail Mail Exchange Server service - Qmail / Postfix / Courier , .

Benefits of Open Source with Students

IT students have two main concerns, which are knowledge in the learning process and employment after graduation. On both sides, Open Source is a new, but worthwhile, option.

In terms of knowledge. Most students are familiar with working on Windows, an operating system announced by Microsoft Corporation is very easy to use, easy to administer for experienced people, as well as beginners. For office workers, in organizations, this is a convenience, alleviating the difficulty of the job, but for the administrators, it may bring ease of use. Use, update, protect, but the risk is also very high due to the instability, safety of Windows (compared to Linux).

As for IT students, the purpose of learning is important, the use of Windows brings simplicity, because most operations with the system are simply ' Clicks '. These are mostly 'habitual' actions, rather than user knowledge. The fact is that there are many books, newspapers, tutorials that instruct users according to the step-by-step method, without focusing on teaching users to understand why this operation must be done, to do it. what results .

When working with Linux, you really own your system. A secure, stable Linux system, surely its owner must be knowledgeable and experienced. In the process of learning how to use Linux, learners have many opportunities to learn, access knowledge about systems and services. To use Linux fluently, you must master basic computing knowledge, such as Operating System Principle, Basic Network, . In short, when you first use Linux, you will encounter many difficulties. However, these are all conditions for you to learn and learn more knowledge necessary for future work.

Students using software Closed source code can only know what the software is used for, how to use it, which is only suitable for end users. But the quality of students is eager to learn, explore, discover, and knowledge of programming language, technology, about the structure of a software, then the closed source line does not meet.

Not only that, when working on Open Source products, students can customize and edit their own style, which is creativity; Students can use small program segments to contribute to their products, such as receptive . A Vietnamese movement, or editing the source code of the forums, the portal is written in Programming languages ​​Open source (PHP, Perl) has become very popular.

In terms of employment, the Open Source movement in Vietnam is still a new trend. Demand for human resources Open source is still urgent. Currently, in Vietnamese organizations and businesses, the number of Linux servers (Redhat, Fedora, Debian, etc.), like Linux (like FreeBSD, Sun Solaris) and Open Source applications (Apache, MySQL, Firefox) , BIND, .) are increasingly chosen, because of its superior characteristics: security and stability, flexibility and flexibility. An important reason why businesses want to use Open Source products is the low cost of use and maintenance (very suitable for small and medium businesses) and especially not having to worry about piracy. rights, a reason that may cause cooperation restrictions between domestic businesses and foreign businesses.

In addition, e-commerce in Vietnam is developing, especially, will be very strong in this year, so the need to develop websites on the Open Source platform is very urgent. In fact, the number of websites written on PHP, Perl, communicating with Apache web server and MySQL database system, is increasingly popular. In addition, when participating and using and distributing Open Source products, businesses can integrate into an Open Source community around the world, which grows most strongly in Asia. It is also a major trend in Vietnam today. At the same time, from this environment, developing, providing and supporting Open Source services, as well as building reputation, has given businesses a lot of profit.

Open source is growing throughout our country, across the continent and spreading all over the world, which is a fairly wide 'job market', which, in contrast to it, is the lack of capable human resources on the Code. Open source, this is a great opportunity for IT students. If a student graduates with Linux system administration experience, that student probably doesn't have to worry about job issues at large organizations and companies. In fact in Vietnam, the number of employees who are knowledgeable about Open Source, good Linux system administrators is very small, so the need to recruit experienced employees working with Open Source code is more urgent.

In the overall project of Open Source Application and Development in Vietnam in the period 2004-2008, there are 9 project groups approved by the Government, in which the human resource training project is one of the projects. key. 'IT students are directly responsible for the mission of developing PM Open Source. So next year, we will devote adequate funds to students who wish to participate in open source PM research, 'said Nguyen Trung Quynh, Head of MNM PM Project Management, Ministry of Science and Technology. said.

Want to learn about Open Source?

a. Community Open source code on the Internet is very large, with an unlimited number of articles, tutorials about Open Source applications, learners can easily search this resource through search engines like Google, Hotbot.

b. Vietnam Open Source Software Open Source Software (VNOSS) has set a goal: ' VnOSS was created with the desire to be a place for Vietnamese people interested in open source software. VnOSS creates an equal and friendly playground for everyone, thereby helping each other in installing and using OSS, promoting the use of open source software '. You can go to website http://vnoss.org to learn useful information.

c. Linux Vietnam Favorite Forum http://www.vnlinux.org. This is a very useful environment with articles on how to use Linux and Open Source applications. The forum is also a place to exchange and learn knowledge and experiences for all who wish to study Linux.

d. Open Source Group of University of Technology - VNU was established in September 2003 with the aim of helping students in the school to familiarize and use the Open Source application. (Website: http://osg.vnu.edu.vn)