by PATRICK LEJTENYI

According to Urbandictionary.com, Linux is an operating system (OS) "that rarely crashes, runs on most hardware (yes, even that 486 you can get cheap from a blowout sale) and is the thing the Beast of Redmond (Microsoft) fears most. It's also the cheapest OS you'll ever buy."

That's because it's free, and will be given away to all comers at the upcoming McGill Linux Users Group (McLUG)'s install-fest. According to McLUG member Michael Pereira, a 30-year-old dynamic content programmer at McGill ("I don't know if that means I'm a dynamic person or whether the programming I do is dynamic"), the install-fest is an opportunity for anyone with a computer to learn about the free, open-source operating system and load it onto their machine, as well as to give the finger to Microsoft and the corporate universe of 21st-century computing.

Linux's anti-corporatism isn't the only reason why users should enjoy working on it, Pereira says. It's also about personal choice, something commercial software doesn't offer users. Because it is open-source, its source code can be modified by anyone for modification or improvement. It puts programming back in the hands of the programming public, and out of the cabal of private firms.

Microsoft beware

"As a user," Pereira says, "Linux offers a lot of choice. If you're really technically oriented, you can go for a distribution [version] that will allow you to have fine control over the computer. If you're less so, you can just point and click, making it just as friendly as a Mac or any other operating system."

The point, he believes, is to simply be allowed to do what you want to do. Because it can be run alongside other operating systems (he himself prefers Photoshop to Linux's image editing program), it allows the user the freedom to pick and choose the function best suited for the needs at hand, something that packaged software prohibits.

But Linux also symbolizes a decidedly anti-Bill-Gates philosophy of computing. Since its inception in the early "90s, the IT giants have been trying to stifle its popularity, largely, Pereira says, through scaremonger tactics.

"They put out this image [of Linux users] of Matrix, Neo-like hacker geeks staring at a blank screen creating software," he says. "In reaction to that, the open-source community says that their motivation isn't corporate. We want to give the user a choice."

But there are other reasons why McLUG - which has been around for just a year, but has over 100 members - is spreading the gospel of Linux.

"First off, it's free, which is a huge, huge thing," he says. "You get a complete operating system. Plus, there's increased security, which is a big one. In the Linux community, if someone reports a vulnerability, the community will react. Microsoft operating systems are riddled with security flaws, and it takes months if not years before they're touched. Now, with so much online banking and personal information stored on computers, having an insecure system is really dangerous."

He also says that, due to its open-source nature, Linux anti-spam software is more up-to-date than conventional corporate ones like McAfee. He names SpamAssassin as "one of the most thorough anti-spam softwares."

Opening up the university

McLUG itself was born out of a fear of encroaching closed-source products spreading throughout the university, says Pereira. "The group isn't limited to McGill, but the idea is [to address the problem of] a research institution, like McGill, that's lacking an open-source presence. They're not really taking advantage of the power of Linux, even though it's being used elsewhere in everything from genome sequencing to an administrative assistant using it for e-mail," he says.

Even though McLUG exists mainly as a mailing list - "We've got everyone from newbies to real geeks on it, but it's very much a community-type feeling," he says - Pereira hopes that the install-fest will bring Linux further into the computing public's imagination.

"I'm hoping for a big burst of attention," he says. "Basically, anyone can come in with a computer and ask for an installation, ask questions, or burn it onto a CD-ROM to take home for a quick boot just to try it out. Any questions they have will be answered by experts, but it's also a social event."