Homework 1
CS101A1
(due Monday, February 10, 2003)

IMPORTANT REMINDER:  Per the Syllabus, you must submit your homework using the gsubmit program on the csa system.  Printed or emailed homeworks, and homeworks on floppy disks or other media, will not be accepted.

In 1000 words or fewer, compare and contrast the following operating systems:
  1. Microsoft Windows XP Professional (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/)
  2. Apple Mac OS X (http://www.apple.com/macosx/)
  3. Red Hat Linux 8.0 Professional (http://www.redhat.com/software/linux/professional/)
  4. Debian GNU/Linux Version 3.0r1 (http://www.debian.org/)
In particular, address the following issues:
  1. Software Cost
    1. for one computer
    2. for several computers in the same household
    3. for numerous computers in a small/medium-sized business 

  2. Minimum Requirements
    1. processor speed (e.g., 300 MHz)
    2. memory (e.g., 128 MB RAM)
    3. disk space (e.g., 1.2 GB)
    4. any other requirements

  3. Hardware Cost:  Go on the internet and find out how much it costs to buy a system that meets the minimum requirements.  Give at least two price quotes for each system.

  4. Training:  Is training available for how to use the software?  How much would it cost to train, for instance, a dozen employees to use the system?

  5. Applications
    1. What applications come with the operating system?
    2. Choose three software applications you are interested in (e.g., word processor, mp3 player, video editor, spreadsheet) and determine whether they are available for the operating system and how much they cost?

  6. Reviews:  Find at least two reviews for each system (ideally one positive and one negative).  Summarize and compare them.

  7. Your thoughts:  After conducting all of this research, what do you think?  What operating system would you advise a friend to get?  How about someone starting a small business?  What do you think about the Open Source idea?  Does it make economic sense for a computer user?  For a small business?
With respect to issue 7, please listen to the discussion of open-source software on the Science Friday radio show on National Public Radio.  You can find the show here: http://www.sciencefriday.com/pages/2003/Jan/hour1_011703.html  I also put copies of the show here:
This is the first homework, so I do not expect your paper to show a lot of technical sophistication.  Rather, I am looking for evidence that you did some research and thought about the questions I posed.  With regards to issue 7, I am not so much interested in your conclusions, but your reasoning.

Feel free to discuss issues in this assignment and share research with anyone you choose.  The writing you submit, however, must be entirely original.  All homeworks will be submitted to http://www.turnitin.com to check for similarity to each other, to other papers submitted to turnitin.com (perhaps from other schools), and to documents found on the web.

Use proper citations.  Any table, image, quotation, or fact that you got from someone or somewhere else must be properly attributed.  In the case of web addresses, provide a link to the exact page.  Do not, e.g., give a link to http://www.microsoft.com and expect the grader to search the entire web site for your source.  In the case of books or magazines, give enough information so that the grader could easily find the book in the library; and include the page number.  In the case of personal conversations or the like, indicate precisely who you spoke to and the date.  Here are examples:
  1. "The Debian distribution holds a unique place among Linux distributions."   http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/reviews/1370/1/

  2. "[S]ome people feel strongly that Macs are more 'media friendly.'"  Rick Schmidt, Feature Filmmaking at Used-Car Prices, p. 290 (3d ed. Penguin 2000)

  3. "I use Windows 2000 for my home network."  Conversation with Tim Halvorsen (co-inventor of Lotus Notes), Dec. 26, 2002.