Ubuntu Linux
Frequently Asked Questions

The very first thing that must be understood about Linux is that it is open-source software. Think about the open nature of a chocolate chip cookie recipe and how all the people who use it are legally allowed to modify and redistribute the recipe if they wish, provided they're given permission to do so from the original author. Also, at the authors request, the recipe (original or modified) cannot be made secret or proprietary. So that's a simple definition of open-source in a nut shell. It is a philosophy that enables programmers world wide to collaborate together and work collectively on any number of projects while avoiding the red tape of property rights. But instead of a cookie recipe, it's computer source code. Linux is one of these collaborative open-source projects, and because it is open source, it is 100% free to everyone.

Open source philosophy extends a great deal outside of just computer software. There are many schools of thought about open-source philosophy as well as many kinds open source organizations. For instance, open source forms of government, open source schools of ethics, open source journalism, blogs, and social bookmarking web sites, open source intelligence, open source movies, open source hardware, open source music and art and open source education. The list goes on and on and a common attribute that seems to be present with all of these fields once they have had time to develop into larger organized groups is productivity of a higher quality. An example of this is the open source encyclopedia Wikipedia, which has shown a high level of reliability in several comprehensive studies conducted by third party researchers. So Wikipedia is a good example of what the open source model can achieve if given time to evolve. More and more people will be using the Internet to connect to each other and contribute their intellectual abilities towards any one of the above fields of thought or professions. Open source philosophy may quite possibly play a large roll in everyone's daily lives, all with the goal of making the world a more peaceful place to live, one book, one line of source code, or one chocolate chip cookie recipe at a time.

The word Ubuntu, pronounced /ùbúntù/, is a sub-Saharan African ethic or humanist ideology focusing on people's allegiances and relations with each other. Short phrases such as "Humanity towards others" and "I am what I am because of what we all are" sum up the meaning of the word rather succinctly. But the word Ubuntu also encapsulates the open-source philosophy of Linux and helps breath a common spirit into the open-source culture which drives development of Linux further and further. Hence, Ubuntu's logo illustrating three people holding hands in a circle.

There are actually hundreds of different versions, or "distributions," of the Linux operating system. SuSE, Red Hat, Debian and Ubuntu are among the most popular. Ubuntu has gained attention recently, due to its extremely easy to use interface, excellent hardware compatibility and multimedia features, including playback of proprietary formats such as Real Video, Windows Media Video, Macromedia Flash and DVD playback. By default Ubuntu comes prepackaged with many different software titles too, such as Open Office.org's software suite. And best of all, it's free. Almost seems like some kind of crazy giveaway that should have some big hitch to it. You'd think we'd make you buy vacuums or timeshare or fake Monets. Nope, free. Read the FAQ below to learn how you can download your own copy and try it today.

If you have a question about Ubuntu Linux that you would like to see answered here, please e-mail Dave with your question. Any opinions expressed in this FAQ are the sole opinions of the original author. All registered trademarks mentioned in this text are the property of their respective owners and are hereby acknowledged.