We are students of ETH who help you with linux
at our events and in our office. For free!

Because we love Open Source and Free Software
and want to help you to get started (here's why).

course materials | bash guide

tux, the linux mascot

Install Event 2

Thu 17.10.2019 17:00 - 21:30 | ETH Zürich, Rämistrasse 101, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland, HG E 7 | register

Did we wake your interest? Then get started with Linux by installing it on your computer.

Of course, we'll help you: Bring your laptop and charger to one of the two Install Events and we will personally assist you with the installation of Linux as well as with your first steps and basic customization. You can choose to keep your existing operating system and install Linux next to it. Still, it's important to back up your data before you come, just to be on the safe side.

Note that you can sign up in one of 4 time slots each day. You may of course stay longer than the indicated time should we encounter issues with installing Linux on your laptop.

ChromeBooks (all versions), Apple MacBook Pros (after Oct. 2016) and Apple MacBooks (12" model) are not well supported by Linux due to hardware restrictions, and we do not recommend installing Linux on those devices. If you intend to buy a new laptop to install Linux on, stay away from these devices altogether.

Console Toolkit - Part 1

Mon 21.10.2019 17:15 - 19:00 | ETH Zürich, Rämistrasse 101, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland, HG F 7 | register

Now that you have your Linux system up and running, it's time to make the best out of it. Learn how to utilize the console and work towards mastering it in this two-part course. We will start with the basics, and present you some useful terminal applications designed to simplify your workflow. Furthermore, you may directly solidify the abilities you learn by solving short exercises.

This way, you will feel comfortable with using the console in no time!

Console Toolkit - Part 2

Fri 25.10.2019 17:15 - 19:00 | ETH Zürich, Rämistrasse 101, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland, HG F 7 | register

Now that you have your Linux system up and running, it's time to make the best out of it. Learn how to utilize the console and work towards mastering it in this two-part course. We will start with the basics, and present you some useful terminal applications designed to simplify your workflow. Furthermore, you may directly solidify the abilities you learn by solving short exercises.

This way, you will feel comfortable with using the console in no time!

Bash Scripting Workshop

Tue 29.10.2019 17:15 - 19:00 | ETH Zürich, Rämistrasse 101, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland, HG E 7 | register

Take your new abilities a step further: Learn how you can use Bash to program simple scripts that can save you a lot of work. Bash is a scripting language that is designed to interact with other programs and your system easily. Whether you want to backup your newest files to a hard drive or quickly download a lot of PDFs—with Bash, you can do it at a keystroke.

Note that we highly recommend visiting "The Console Toolkit" if you have no prior experience with the Linux terminal.

Stammtisch

Thu 31.10.2019 18:00 - 22:00 | Katholische Hochschulgemeinde Zürich AKI, ground floor, Hirschengraben 86, 8001 Zürich, Switzerland

We meet in a casual atmosphere, have a mead and discuss upcoming technical trends. Come join us!
If you have troubles with Linux, bring your Laptop and we will be glad to help.

Spotlight 1 - Debugging on Linux

Tue 05.11.2019 17:15 - 19:00 | ETH Zürich, Rämistrasse 101, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland, HG E 33.1 | register

Linux is known for its exceptional tooling when it comes to software development. This talk will highlight the part of the tooling related to debugging by showing off some of the most important tools, explaining the basics of their functionality and usage. From segfaults to deadlocks, it will hopefully give you the tools to deal with any of them.

The talk only requires familiarity with C.

Spotlight 2 - Software Management for Open Science

Mon 11.11.2019 17:15 - 19:00 | ETH Zürich, Rämistrasse 101, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland, HG F 7 | register

Software is an indispensable tool for data analysis in particular and science in general. To the modern researcher, the computer is like an extension of the mind. Just like an efficient mind is free of second-hand preconceptions and hidden assumptions, an efficient software environment is free of second-hand precompiled code and hidden dependencies.

In this lecture you will learn how dependency management puts YOU in the driver's seat, and makes the scientific software you use and the work you use it for clean, transparent, and reproducible.

Stammtisch

Fri 15.11.2019 18:00 - 22:00 | Learning Spaces on the E Floor of ETH Building CHN, Universitätstrasse 16, 8006 Zürich, Schweiz

We meet in a casual atmosphere, have a mead and discuss upcoming technical trends. Come join us!
If you have troubles with Linux, bring your Laptop and we will be glad to help.

Stammtisch

Tue 26.11.2019 18:00 - 22:00 | Katholische Hochschulgemeinde Zürich AKI, ground floor, Hirschengraben 86, 8001 Zürich, Switzerland

We meet in a casual atmosphere, have a mead and discuss upcoming technical trends. Come join us!
If you have troubles with Linux, bring your Laptop and we will be glad to help.

Stammtisch

Wed 11.12.2019 18:00 - 22:00 | Learning Spaces on the E Floor of ETH Building CHN, Universitätstrasse 16, 8006 Zürich, Schweiz

We meet in a casual atmosphere, have a mead and discuss upcoming technical trends. Come join us!
If you have troubles with Linux, bring your Laptop and we will be glad to help.

Stammtisch

Fri 20.12.2019 18:00 - 22:00 | Katholische Hochschulgemeinde Zürich AKI, ground floor, Hirschengraben 86, 8001 Zürich, Switzerland

We meet in a casual atmosphere, have a mead and discuss upcoming technical trends. Come join us!
If you have troubles with Linux, bring your Laptop and we will be glad to help.

view all upcoming events

view past events

alex

President
Alexander Schoch

nicolas

Vice-President
Nicolas König

nils

Events
Nils Leuzinger

florian

Sponsoring
Florian Moser

The Alternative
CAB E14
Universitätsstrasse 6
8092 Zürich

github | gitlab

a part of SSC

Open Source

The term "open source" refers to something people can modify and share because its design is publicly accessible.

opensource.com

Open Source software encourages others to understand how something works exactly because the inner workings of the program are published. Depending on the license used, one may also be allowed to run, modify and distribute the work.

Using Open Source, you can check that the program does not execute something on your device you do not want; like surveilling your activities or stealing your computational power for its own purposes.

Examples include Firefox and Python.

Free Software

Free software developers guarantee (...) (that) any user can study the source code, modify it, and share the program.

fsf.org

Free Software guarantees the rights to run, modify and distribute the work and requires that all users of the derivatives are granted the same rights (called Copyleft).

Using Free Software, you are allowed to adapt it to your needs; like adding functionality critical to your workflows. Due to the Copyleft, your can additionally be sure your work will benefit all furture users of the software in the same way.

Examples include VLC Media Player and Linux.

Proprietary Software

Only the original authors of proprietary software can legally copy, inspect, and alter that software. To use proprietary software, computer users must agree (...) that they will not do anything with the software that the software's authors have not expressly permitted.

opensource.com

Proprietary Software severely restricts how users can interact with the software running on their device and does not allow them to read, modify or distribute its source code.

Using Proprietary Software, you are in danger to lose functionality critical to your workflow (because the owner chose not to provide it anymore), to no longer being able to open your files (because the filetype is no longer supported) or to pay excessive license fees (because there are no comparable alternatives).

Examples include Windows and iOS.