Webeye

May 4 2006 – Ubuntu – Linux For Human Beings

In Software on May 4, 2006 at 8:00 pm

Anyone who can afford to pay US$20 million, to the Russians, for a trip to the International Space Station, has to be rich. Mark Shuttleworth is a very rich man, a very rich man indeed, and in 2002 he did just that. In 2004, through his company, Canonical Ltd, he started to distribute his own flavour of the Linux operating system. He named this Ubuntu, from the ancient African for “humanity to others”. In 2005 he founded the Ubuntu Foundation, which pays the Ubuntu developers, with an initial investment of US$10 million.

Ubuntu has set the Linux world a-buzz, and people are converting to this free alternative, to Windows in droves. The whole concept of Ubuntu Linux is that it should “Just Work” (Trade Mark). A community-driven project, Ubuntu is bound by the Ubuntu Philosophy of Software Freedom. These ideals have helped create a distribution that is easy to install, comes with all the software you could want, with access to more downloadable software should, there not be enough on the CD for you. There is comprehensive documentation available online. If you get into a sticky problem there is a large online community ready, and willing, to assist. It all means that people, switching from Windows to Linux, should be able to cope with the transition easily.

A CD package is available from the Ubuntu website. The package contains 2 CDs, housed in a cardboard wallet. One of the CDs is the installation CD, holding the Linux operating system and all the software to run on it. The full list is too long to mention here, but there is OpenOffice.org, providing word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations. For email, there is a comprehensive program called Evolution, which provides similar functions to Outlook. Should you wish to use Thunderbird to read your mail, it is easy to switch. The web can be browsed with everyone’s favourite, open source browser, Firefox. If you like to listen to music, that is accomplished by using Totem.

There are at least two websites (Automatix and EasyUbuntu), that provide simple scripts, (small programs), to assist in the installation of software not provided during the initiall install.

For those of you wondering if you should take the plunge, the decision is made easier by the second CD in the package, which is a live CD. A live CD allows you to experience the Ubuntu system on your computer, without changing any files. You just put the CD in your CD-ROM drive and boot your computer.

Please note, I will not provide support for Ubuntu, or any problems that arise from installing the software. Ensure that you take the necessary precautions by backing up your data, and software before doing the install.

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