| “ | A person with Ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed. | ” |
The "Ubuntu" distribution of the Linux computer operating system is inspired by the concept, arguing that it "brings the spirit of Ubuntu to the software world."
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Ubuntu (IPA: [uːˈbuːntuː] in English,[1] [ùbúntú] in Zulu) is a computer operating system. It has consistently been rated among the most popular of the many Linux distributions.[2][3][4][5] Ubuntu's goals include providing an up-to-date yet stable Linux distribution for the average user and having a strong focus on usability and ease of installation. Ubuntu is a derivative of Debian, another free operating system. Ubuntu is sponsored by Canonical Ltd, which is owned by South African entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth. The name of the distribution comes from the African concept of ubuntu which may be rendered roughly as "humanity toward others", "we are people because of other people", or "I am who I am because of who we all are", though other meanings have been suggested.[6] This Linux distribution is named as such to bring the spirit of the philosophy to the software world. Ubuntu is free software and can be shared by any number of users.
Kubuntu and Xubuntu are official subprojects of the Ubuntu project, aiming to bring the KDE and Xfce desktop environments, respectively, to the Ubuntu core (by default Ubuntu uses GNOME for its desktop environment). Edubuntu is an official subproject designed for school environments and should be equally suitable for children to use at home.[7] Gobuntu is an official subproject that is aimed at adhering strictly to the Free Software Foundation's Four Freedoms.[8] Ubuntu JeOS (pronounced "Juice") is the newest official subproject. JeOS is a concept for what an operating system should look like in the context of a virtual appliance.[9]
Ubuntu releases new versions every six months, and supports those releases for 18 months with daily security fixes and patches to critical bugs. LTS (Long Term Support) releases, which occur every two years,[10] are supported for three years for desktops and five years for servers.[11] The most recent version, Ubuntu 8.04 LTS (Hardy Heron), was released on April 24, 2008 although an update, Ubuntu 8.04.1 LTS, was released on July 3, 2008. The next version will be 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex) and is scheduled for release in October 2008.Features
Ubuntu focuses on usability,[32] including the widespread use of the sudo tool for administrative tasks.[33] The Ubiquity installer allows installing Ubuntu to the hard disk from within the Live CD environment without the need for restarting the computer prior to installation. Ubuntu also emphasizes accessibility and internationalization, to reach as many people as possible. Beginning with 5.04, UTF-8 became the default character encoding.[34] The default appearance of the user interface in the current version is called Human and is characterized by shades of brown and orange.
The most recent version of Ubuntu comes installed with a wide range of software including: the OpenOffice.org productivity suite, the internet browser Firefox, the instant messenger Pidgin (formerly known as Gaim), the BitTorrent client Transmission and the raster graphics editor GIMP. Several lightweight card, puzzle games, and board games are pre-installed including Sudoku and chess. Ubuntu has all networking ports closed by default for added security, although its firewall, which offers more fine-grained control of incoming and outgoing connections, is installed but not enabled. Ubuntu is available in many languages. GNOME 2.22—the default desktop environment of Ubuntu 8.04—offers support for 46 languages.[35] There are numerous ways to install Ubuntu.[36]
Response
Ubuntu's popularity has climbed steadily since the software's release in 2004. Ubuntu has been the most viewed Linux distribution on Distrowatch.com three years running, including 2005,[2] 2006,[3] 2007[4] and is currently the most viewed for 2008.[108] This popularity is borne out by a rise in Google searches for "Ubuntu" since 2004 as compared to a shrinking or plateauing number for terms related to other major desktop Linux distributions such as "Fedora", "Debian" or "SUSE" over the same period.[109] In an August 2007 survey of 38,500 visitors on DesktopLinux.com, Ubuntu was the most popular distribution with 30.3% of respondents claiming to use it.[5]
Ubuntu was awarded the Reader Award for best Linux distribution at the 2005 LinuxWorld Conference and Expo in London,[110] has been favorably reviewed in online and print publications,[111][112][113] and has won InfoWorld's 2007 Bossie Award for Best Open Source Client OS.[114]
Mark Shuttleworth indicated at least eight million people used Ubuntu by the end of 2006,[115] resulting in a large up-spring of non-Canonical websites. These websites include general help sites (Easy Ubuntu Linux[116]), dedicated weblogs (Ubuntu Gazette[117]), niche websites (Ubuntu Women[118]) and online publications (Full Circle[119]) as opposed to simply offering only .debs for Debian.[120][121][122]
Ubuntu has received a few negative assessments. Ars Technica concluded in their review of Ubuntu 8.04 that while it was a clear improvement over Ubuntu 7.10, the failure to fix glaring issues detracted from the value of the release.[123] Specifically, Ars Technica felt that Transmission (a BitTorrent client) was too simple and lacked features, that Tracker was vastly inferior to Beagle which Tracker had been chosen ahead of, and that the PulseAudio configuration that shipped is buggy.[123] PC World criticized the lack of an integrated desktop effects manager, although this did not prevent them from naming Ubuntu the "best all-around Linux distribution available today".[124] ChannelWeb criticized the Wubi installer, noting that it hung Windows Vista after the installation was complete.[125] ChannelWeb also noted that while they were able to connect to Microsoft Active Directories, the process was not seamless.[125] In their preview of Ubuntu 8.04 InfoWorld stated that they felt Brasero's CD/DVD burning was lackluster as compared to similar programs available for Windows or OS X.
The Free Software Definition,
written by Richard Stallman and published by Free Software Foundation (FSF), defines free software - free in the "free as in freedom" sense.
The definition published by FSF in February 1986 had two points:
The word "free" in our name does not refer to price; it refers to freedom. First, the freedom to copy a program and redistribute it to your neighbors, so that they can use it as well as you. Second, the freedom to change a program, so that you can control it instead of it controlling you; for this, the source code must be made available to you.[1]
The modern definition has four points, which it numbers zero to three. It defines free software by whether or not the recipient has the freedoms to:[3]
- run the program, for any purpose (freedom 0)
- study how the program works, and adapt it to your needs (freedom 1)
- redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor (freedom 2)
- improve the program, and release your improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits (freedom 3)
It also notes that "Access to the source code is a precondition" for freedoms 1 and 3.
Later definitions
In July 1997, Bruce Perens published the Debian Free Software Guidelines.[4] This was also used by Open Source Initiative (OSI) under the name "The Open Source Definition", the only change being that use of the term "free software" was replaced by OSI's alternative term for free software, "open-source software".
