The sky in your computer

Operating systems and software

To no one escapes to us that, already from before the birth of well-known operating system MSDOS (Microsoft Disk Operating System), it began to appear computer science programs of user dedicated to Astronomy, although the computer science applications had been used from long time before by the Space Agencies from a professional point of view.

This first distinction between programs of user and professional programs is very important, since everybody does not have access to operating systems like UNIX (or Linux). But which are the different operating systems between which we can choose? In the first place, it is necessary to remember that the popularización of the user computer science carried out in 80 years the Microsoft company to it with its operating system Windows, for which is available a great amount of applications.

But everything is not Windows: also the operating system Mac exists, defendant at any cost by its users and with a level of development and enviable improvement by the users of Windows. During the year the 2000 Apple company, creator of the operating system Mac, has approached more and more the models of development initiated by the community of users of Linux with its operating system Mac X.

Another operating system with a development quite stable and that has been time in the market is BeOS, oriented to the accomplishment of projects multimedia and scientists: the last version of this operating system (BeOS 5) is gratuitous and it is possible to be downloaded from Internet, although it is not advisable to do it without a good manager of unloadings like GetRight or GoZilla, due to its size.

Finally, we have attended in few years the development of the movable computer science, that has entailed the appearance of different operating systems for portable devices, like are Windows EC, Psion or PalmOS, being this last one the most spread at the present time and for which is greater amount of programs.

These are, then, the different options that appear to us like users of computers at the time of choosing an operating system, which will take with himself which we pruned to execute certain programs and not others, depending on the operating system for which they have been developed.

At an advanced level more we were with the operating system Linux, derivative from UNIX: this system is distributed under a license with the name of GPL (General Public License). Simplifying very many the subject (pardon by the barbarism), we could say that he is gratuitous and the applications developed for him also. These applications are those that use, for example, the European Space Agency (ESA), the NASA or the National Astronomical observatory in the case of Spain. Usually one is programs that distribute with their source code and which they can be modified freely whenever they continue staying within the type of license GPL.

On the other hand, this operating system presents/displays great amount of distributions, and thus he is frequent to speak not of Linux, but of RedHat, Mandrake, Debian or SuSE, to mention only most well-known. A distribution is not more than a compilation of software for Linux that makes different companies and that normally it is made up of the application program, system software and mechanism of installation and configuration that it tries to facilitate the work to the user. These distributions usually are sold in format of CD-ROM to a very low price. But, we have not said that he was gratuitous? What is sold then? The company does not sell the operating system Linux fundamentally but the mechanism of installation and configuration created by her. This operating system is the used one by the professionals of Astronomy, although more and more they appear programs that can be interesting for the fan.

Within the computer science applications there is a great amount of distribution methods: on the one hand, they are the commercial programs (you accept the contract with the company, payments and you use them); on the other hand, they are the programs shareware (tests the program during a period of time and, if it interests to you, it purchases to the programmer that provides to a name of user and a record number to you); and finally, it is the disinterested work of the programmers who provide to their program to the computer science community with the distribution system freeware: this type of programs is gratuitous and, as a rule, they do not demand any type of payment by its registry, although he is very advisable to thank for to its authors its effort by means of an electronic mail. The gratefulness will never be sufficient that the users we can show the developers of this type of programs, that dedicate their personal time to put to the service of the community useful and gratuitous applications.

Return to the beginning of the page

  Copyright © 2003 Javier Sánchez Quirós