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Because privacy is a human right.

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).

This semester, we organize again events
to help you use and produce Free and Open
Science, Hardware, Software and File Formats.

guides: installation bash | courses

tux, the linux mascot

Do you like our talks? Care to support Open Source & Free Software? Come joins us at our next "Stammtisch"! Use the contact formular below to lets us know you are interested.

Install Event ETH

Tue 26.10.2021 17:30 - 21:00 | HG E7 with certificate | register

Get started with Linux by installing it on your computer.

Of course, we'll help you: Bring your laptop and charger 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.

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.

Stammtisch

Fri 29.10.2021 18:00 - 20:00 | tbd

Join our Stammtisch! We meet in a casual atmosphere, have a drink and discuss upcoming technical trends.
If you have troubles with Linux, bring your Laptop and we will be glad to help.

Linux Toolbox

Tue 02.11.2021 17:15 - 19:00 | HG E7 with certificate | register

Linux is well-known for being configurable and fitting many different styles of use. But what can you do with it?
Our goal in the Linux Toolbox course is to introduce a large range of tools and to teach you how you can profit from them. We'll show you typical tasks that Linux is good at, such as renaming hundreds of files, searching and replacing text, automatic downloading etc.. This way, you'll be able to recognize those tasks in the wild and don't have to do them by hand.
Linux has many useful tools, so we don't intend to cover them all in detail. We'll instead take a sweeping glance to cover as many use cases as possible and provide you with learning resources if you want to delve deeper into a topic. Most of the course will take place on the command line, but no prerequisite knowledge is required.

Bash

Thu 04.11.2021 17:15 - 19:00 | HG E7 with certificate | register

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.

Privacy

Tue 09.11.2021 17:15 - 19:00 | HG E7 with certificate | register

What are your facial expression when you sit on the toilet? Where did you skin itch you went to the doctor with? How cringy was the start and end of your last romantic encounter?

Privacy is a human right. If violated, you are more suspectible to manipulation, self-censoring and will stand out for anything that is "different" about you. We will properly motivate privacy, show examples of where Ad-Tech and worse wrecked havoc, read you your rights, and help you avoid exposing yourself unnecessarily.

Window Manager Workshop

Tue 16.11.2021 17:15 - 20:00 | tbd

Is your Window Manager runing perfectly fine? Do you want to change that? Join our workshop and rice your Window Manager! Whether you want a "creative" i3+polybar setup in neon or a classic fvwm, everything is possible.

TheAlternative Workshops are hands-on courses where we explore one aspect of linux by implementing a small project -- of course with the help and guidance of our expert team.

Piracy

Thu 18.11.2021 17:15 - 19:00 | HG E7 with certificate | register

Pirates come in many forms. Some violently board ships, killing the crew and taking its possessions. Others simply want to read "Analysis I - Third Edition". This lecture will be about the latter.

We will explore different ways how to find what you want in the internet, and argue for its ethical and legal standing.

view all upcoming events

view past events

noah

President
Noah Marti

alex

Vice-President
Alexander Schoch

nicolas

Président
Nicolas König

nils

Talks
Nils Leuzinger

florian

Talks
Florian Moser

We are both graduates and undergraduates from different fields of study. Together, we provide courses and other educational material around Open Source and Free Software. This lowers the entry barrier for others, and improves our own understanding.

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 exact license used, the user 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. However, when software is advertised as Open Source, it does not necessarily guarantee the rights to modify and distribute the work.

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. Depending on the exact license used, it may be enforced that all derivative software must also grant the same rights (this is called Copyleft).

Using Free Software, you are allowed to adapt it to your needs; like adding functionality critical to your workflows. If you decide to use a Copyleft license, you can additionally be sure your work will benefit all future 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 Adobe Reader.

Privacy

No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honor and reputation.

Article 12 of Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)

Privacy is fundamental to protect yourself and those around you from manipulation.

Most webpages and programs track anything you do or click. Use Open Source Software and Adblockers to be reasonably sure that you are not a victim of surveillance. Make anonymity the default to avoid making those stand out, who must stay anonymous.

Facebook reveals more about your personality than your friends could [Paper]; imagine what your browser history tells about you.
A firm called Cambridge Analytica (and probably many others) use this technique to influence outcomes of elections [Tagesanzeiger]
Edward Snowden used an anonymity service that relies on many "normal" people using the system to avoid suspicion [Twitter].