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Talk to the GNUWin II Team
imevil writes "GNUWin II is a collection of Free Software for Windows, and it also includes articles about Free Software and explanation pages. It is multilingual (it was born as a Swiss product). You can browse the CD online or download the ISO from one of our mirrors. The GNUWin II team is ready to answer to your questions, about GNUWin II, and also about GNU Generation, the student association at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne who gave birth to the GNUWin project."
Actually, GnuWIN includes Cygwin, as well as several packages that aren't in Cygwin. For example, LiteStep, which only makes sense on Windows (since it's an alternative Windows shell - that is, litestep.exe runs instead of explorer.exe). Not all of the stuff in GnuWIN is actually GNU. It's just a convenient collection of free/gratis (are all these free/libre?) apps for Windows.
The site's moving at a crawl, so here's the FAQ and software list (what I just happen to have open when I noticed its slashdottedness):
...), typesetting software (LaTeX), calculus environments, games, ...
:
Q1: What is GNUWin II ?
R1: GNUWin-II is a free software distribution for MS-Windows. It includes a large spectrum of programs, notably a whole office suite (MS-Office compatible), Internet utilities, development tools (C, C++,
Q2: Who made GNUWin II ?
R2: GNUWin-II was made and is still being improved by GNU Generation, a team of students of the EPFL who promote free software and operating systems. It is a collaborative and voluntary project.
3: What is the purpose of GNUWin II ?
R3: The purpose of GNUWin-II is to help Windows users discover the free software and Open Source world. After using free software on MS-Windows, it is easier to migrate to a free operating system (GNU/Linux for instance), where the same programs are used.
Q4: How much does GNUWin II cost ?
R4: GNUWin II is free (as a "free beer"). The programs included on the CD are free software (here, free is to be understood as free in "free speech"). The edition work and HTML pages that contain GNUWin-II are themselves copyrighted under a free license.
Q5: Why GNUWin II and not GNUWin 98 ?
R5: Because GNUWin-II is the second version. The first one can be seen here. GNUWin is not a Microsoft product, and we do not count "3.1, 3.11, 95, 98, 2000" !
Q6: May I copy this CD ?
R6: Yes, you are encouraged to do so, and to distribute copies of this CD.
Q7: May I lend this CD to a friend ?
R7: Yes, you can give / lend / copy / distribute this CD as often as you want to.
Q8: Where can I get the licenses so that I can use the programs included on the CD ?
R8: You do not need to buy licenses, as all applications on the CD are free software or Open Source software.
Q9: May I use the programs included on this CD for professional or commercial purposes ?
R9: Yes you may. There are no restrictions on the use of the programs.
Q10: What is the difference between the programs included on this CD and freeware that can be found on the Internet ?
R10: Most freeware programs are "free" in the sense that they don't cost you money ("free" as in "free beer"). This is your only freedom. On top of this, these programs are often watered-down versions of commercial products (be it with limited functions or limited time of use). The programs that are included on this CD are "free" in all senses of the term : they are "costless", they are unlimited, you have the right to distribute them, and most important, their source code is freely available, and you may modify it to improve the program or fix bugs.
This ensures that the program will always be costless in the future, and allows to keep the program alive, even if its original developers lose their interest in it.
Q11: What is "source code" ?
R11: Source code is a text written in a programming language that was used to create the program. The source code is often kept secret by companies so that nobody can understand how the program works, nor check what it actually does. All programs on this CD are "Open Source", that is their source code is available; thus, everybody can improve, correct or check the program.
Q12: Where can I get the source code for the software included on this CD ?
R12: The source code is available on the Internet on the official program site. The link to the site in available at the description page of the program.
Q13: Can I install the programs included on this CD on my Macintosh computer ?
R13: No you cannot, for technical reasons, unless you have a PC emulator. There is already free software distribution for Macintosh, like fink. In addition, MacOS X can be turned into a full GNU system, using GNU/Darwin.
Q14: Can I install the programs included on this CD on my Linux/Unix computer ?
R14: No you cannot, for technical reasons, unless you have a MS-Windows emulator. But most of the programs included on this CD were initially developed for Unix or GNU/Linux. In this case, you can download the GNU/Linux version or the source code on the official site. The link to the program official site is available at the description page of the application.
Q15: Do I need to install Linux to use GNUWin-II ?
R15: No, you do not need to. On the other hand, most of the programs included on this CD were originally developed for GNU/Linux; if you want to migrate to Linux, you can go on using the same applications on the Linux platform.
Q16: What version of Windows is needed to run GNUWin-II programs ?
R16: GNUWin-II should not require any particular version. But we cannot test all applications on every available Windows version, and it might happen that some programs work badly, or even not at all, on some Windows version. Should this case arise, we would be grateful if you report the problem to us.
Q17: Who can I contact if I have questions or problems ?
R17: Please send an e-mail to gnuwin@listes.epfl.ch
Q18: Why is the XXX software not on GNUWin ?
R18: There might be several reasons for this
o The software might not be free. It's not enough for a software to be free of charge to be on GNUWin, the source code must also be available to the public.
o There might already be an application on GNUWin that has the same features. There is no need to have half a dozen of FTP clients, for instance.
o The software might have a very specific use. GNUWin is aimed at a wide public who have discovering free software, not at specialists.
Anyway, GNUWin also holds a list of links to similar projects that cannot be o n the CD itself, but deserve attention.
Q19: Why is software XXX on GNUWin even though it's not free software ?
R19: GNUWin promotes free software in the sense of the FSF, and advocates use of the GPL. However, we do claim our right to decide by ourselves whether or not an application is "free enough" to be part of GNUWin.
To be part of GNUWin, a software must be free to execute, the source code must be available freely and widely, and redistribution must be authorized without restriction. Freedom to distribute modified Source, although a valuable and esteemed feature, is not required. Thus you can find for instance Scilab and Povray on GNUWin.
--
Quick start:
* OpenOffice
* 7-Zip
* Mozilla
General purpose:
* The Gimp
* Zinf
* X-Tractor
* HTTrack
* WinJab
* Sylpheed
Engineer:
* MiKTeX
* Dia
* GnuPlot
* R
* Scilab
* Maxima
* PuTTY
* HTTrack
* GPG
Developper
* SciTE, Vim or XEmacs
* GNAT Ada Compiler or Mingv32 or Python
* MySQL
* HTTrack
* GTK+ or Simple Direct Media Layer or wxPython
* Inno Setup
* MiKTeX
Kids:
* TuxPaint
* TuxType
* Jump'n'bump
* TuxRacer
Webmaster:
* Apache
* MySQL
* Python
* The Gimp
* iXplorer
* PuTTY
* CatFish
--
http://nemilar.net - Not your grandmother's soup kitchen
I have set up us the Google cache of every page. Just keep clicking 'next' to view each page of their site in various languages.
g nuwin.epfl.ch/en/&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe =off&start=10&sa=N
http://www.google.com/search?q=link:codwwioy63YC:
Reply or e-mail; don't vaguely moderate. Ex-O'Reilly/MIT employee, now a full-time Google employee.
Um, no, in fact, Windows IS VERY scriptable. In fact, I've gotten quite a bit of use out of VBS that does some really cool things. For example, I have a machine that runs Windows Media Encoder 24 hours a day. Well, in case of power outage, system reboot, etc, I want it to automatically log in as a user, start Encoder, select the appropriate settings, click the "Start Encoding" button, then lock the machine using NT's workstation lock command (usually ctrl-alt-del, then click Lock Workstation). Sound impossible? One might think that, but with the super coolness of the Win32 API, I have a script that does just that. It 'talks" to the application, and virtually clicks all the buttons necessary. Totally automated.
And that's just one example.
GNU Win II is an excellete project. Good job guys! Also, check out The Open CD as well.
www.theopencd.org
Karma: The shiznight, mostly because I am the Drizzle.
I particularly liked "incohesive jumble of software" comment. By downloading a Windows program, it might be dependant on something else that I don't have. So I have to go and get that. In Debian, I apt-get and have everything I need and nothing I don't. Authors of Windows programs generally adhere to no standards except their own. Open source projects are pretty predicatable.
"Nature doesn't care how smart you are. You can still be wrong." - Richard Feynman
That answer question is answered on the site, there's a The GNUWin team [en] page. Her name appears to be Thi Ngoc Tu Ho and then a little search on Google seems to reveal she has a Home Page and if you go there, and click on My Life Partner you'll see that her life partner is one Ivo Blöchliger and if you cross reference back to where it all started, the GNUWin team page, you'll see that this guy is the first guy on the GNUWin team. Maybe they can add it to the FAQ now that I've done the legwork.
GNUWin does Not use SCO libraries.
There is no liability to SCO.
There is no registration.
Nobody is tracking you.
--------
Some legacy SCO applications were ported to Linux using SCO libraries. Those are the ones with legal libabilities. GNUWin did not do that.
Hmm, I don't think that's the same girl.. her picture doesn't seem to match up with "logiciels".
Perhaps it's Vicky Rezzonico (see the picture on the team page, and here)? The hair colour matches at least, there. But I'm probably wrong, there are several women on that team list who have no pictures up.
Okay, next person gets to go hunt down photos of all the photo-less people on the team page =)
Bitchslapped. Neat.
The first guy had it correct. The team photo however is shocking, though most of the others aren't much better. She's just got her reading glasses on.
DCOM is an object-oriented enhancement to
DCE/RPC - a system developed by DEC and standardized
by the Open Group.
The LUG I occaisionally attend also takes a dim view of stealing software. They basically tore a mailing list poster a new poop chute for defending some warezing he was doing. Ditto on the typical LUG reaction to copyright infringement.
LUGs are largely polpulated by sysadmins, programmers, technical managers and highly computer literate users. I don't think the higher respect for software licensing comes from greater intelligence. It comes from a higher awareness of the issues around licensing. A sysadmin who doesn't want warez showing up on HIS network is going to take a dim view of stolen software. Ditto for anyone who has spent more than an hour worrying about licensing.
It is also the flip side of the outrage these people feel when a high profile GPL violater is outed. How can we expect the likes of MS and Adobe to respect (phobic paranoia in MS' case) our licences if we don't respect theirs? Linux users also often feel that draconian licensing terms are Linux' best advocates. If users can just steal software for whatever reason then why try out the free stuff?