A while back I had posted on the sub-$100 laptop in development, the intention was to develop a technology that would be useful and cheap enough to provide computer resources throughout Africa, enabling development. Although I have not heard much about the machines in recent date … There are groups of people developing the free software to power the machines.
Ubuntu is one of these software groups.
The word Ubuntu comes from an Bantu (Southern African) language roughly meaning ‘belonging to the whole’. Nelson Mandella better explains the philosophy of the Ubuntu as follows;
A traveller through a country would stop at a village and he didn’t have to ask for food or for water. Once he stops, the people give him food, entertain him. That is one aspect of Ubuntu but it will have various aspects. Ubuntu does not mean that people should not address themselves. The question therefore is: Are you going to do so in order to enable the community around you be able to improve?
Now, not quite as articulate as Mandella (but who is), the Ubuntu website says … Ubuntu is a community developed, Linux-based operating system that is perfect for laptops, desktops and servers. It contains all the applications you need – a web browser, presentation, document and spreadsheet software, instant messaging and much more.
Now I am not sure what a Linux-based system is … although I think it has something to do with the stability of the background ‘surface’ on which the programs are built … but the rest of the stuff makes sense. Free browsers, free software to write documents (IE Word), and figure out numbers (IE excel) … plus all the esoteric stuff like ftp clients and torrent downloaders …
Interesting how this material is being developed for free, with regular updates, and fixes … brilliant!
check out the Ubuntu site here
