New Ubuntu Foundation Announced

UbuntuLiunx.org ^ | 2005-07-08 | UbuntuLiunx.org

[N3WBI3]

Mark Shuttleworth and Canonical Ltd, founders of the popular Ubuntu Linux-based operating system, have today announced the creation of The Ubuntu Foundation with an initial funding commitment of US$10m.

The Ubuntu Foundation will employ core Ubuntu community members to ensure that Ubuntu (www.ubuntu.com) will remain fully supported for an extended period of time, and continue to produce new releases of the distribution. As a first step, the Foundation announces that Ubuntu version 6.04, due for release in April 2006, will be supported for three years on the desktop and five years on the server.

The Foundation was established on July 1st 2005 with an initial funding commitment of US$10 million, to ensure the continuity of the Ubuntu project and create a legal vehicle that represents the community structures of the project.

"It's important for us to distinguish the philanthropic and non-commercial work that is at the heart of the Ubuntu project, from the commercial support and certification programs that are the focus of Canonical Ltd." said Mark Shuttleworth, who is founder of the project and is making the initial $10m commitment to the Foundation. "The core team members employed by the Ubuntu Foundation will ensure that we can meet public commitments to keep Ubuntu entirely free of charge, as well as meeting commitments of support for extended periods. I'm very excited at the progress that has been made in bringing free software to the global marketplace, and pleased to continue my support for the project in this way."

Ubuntu has quickly become a leading distribution in the free software world, taking the #1 place in DistroWatch popularity rankings over all timescales which are published. The distribution focuses on usability, security and stability on desktops and servers, and on making free software widely available for individuals and organisations who are ready to switch from proprietary platforms, such as Microsoft Windows.

Ubuntu has also become the basis of many other derivative distributions, particularly those backed by govenments for widespread deployment. The government of Andalucia, Spain recently announced that its own version of Linux would be based on Ubuntu, and deployed in all educational operations.

[N3WBI3]

Ive never used Ubuntu, but I have heard many freepers say its pretty good..

[N3WBI3]

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[cloud8]

Shuttleworth is the guy who plunked down $20 Mil to fly with the cosmonauts to the space station. He's a venture capitalist and philanthropist interested in improving education in Africa. Here's his page.

I haven't tried Ubuntu either. It's a zulu word that means "humanity towards others."

[porkchopexpress]

I use Ubuntu. I highly advise it for anyone looking to get into the Linux world. I'm a linux newbie and I installed it fairly easily in less than 30 minutes.

[goldstategop]

You can get the discs for free. There's a KDE offshot called Kbuntu. If you like KDE, its easy enough to install it over Ubuntu if that tickles your fancy.