In my last letter I explained how I wouldn't be installing Microsoft Windows on your computer, and outlined some of the reasons why. In this letter I'll talk a bit about what you will be getting, and why. I have installed Ubuntu Linux on your computer, and a whole bunch of additional software on top of that. I'll go through the individual packages in turn in another letter, but for now I'll focus on Ubuntu Linux.
Linux is at the heart of the operating system installed on your computer. It's free from cost, and free to copy, modify and redistribute. It can be seen as a competitor to Microsoft Windows that is often installed on IBM compatible PCs, and OSX which is installed on Apple Macintosh computers.
Linux was started by a crazy student from Finland called Linus Torvalds 14 years ago. He wanted to be able to use some software at home that was in use at his univeristy. Unfortunately the software in question (minix) was proprietary and very expensive to buy, so he set about writing his own version from scratch. He posted a copy of what he'd done so far on the Internet and asked for others to have a look and possibly help him out. They did, and still do. Today there are thousands of developers helping to make Linux a reliable and stable base for computer software.
As well as Linux (which we call the 'kernel') there's lots of other programs installed on your computer. These programs are also free from cost, and free to copy, modify and redistribute (with one or two exceptions). There are people out there who devote large chunks of their own time to maintaining these programs.
These developers are for the most part not paid to develop Linux and Linux-based applications, but they do it mostly in their spare time. Possibly because they feel passionately about the software, or feel that existing products don't do what they want. Maybe they like being in control of their computer, not having some large organization dictate what software they can and cannot run, and what they can and cannot do with their computer. I don't know, I've not asked them all why they do it, but they do.
Over the years various companies have been set up to package together Linux and a bunch of these free programs together into a “distribution”. They often make a CD available either to download, or buy for a nominal fee (to cover the cost of the CD itself, postage and duplication costs incurred) which enthusiasts use to install Linux (and the associated free software) onto their computers.
One such company called 'Canonical' was setup a couple of years ago by a rich South African guy called Mark Shuttleworth. You may have heard of Mark, he paid silly money to the Russians to take him into space as a tourist. Canonical have packaged up Linux and a bunch of the 'best of breed' software and they call it “Ubuntu Linux”. Ubuntu is an ancient African word that means “humanity towards others”.
The idea being that Mark (as Canonical) put a lot of time/money into the development of Linux based applications, and Linux itself. They are striving towards an operating system that rivals Microsoft Windows. An operating system that can be used by “normal” people, and not just computer enthusiasts.
Canonical releases a new version of Ubuntu Linux every 6 months. Each time a release comes out it has newer software, fixes to older software, better support for more consumer hardware, arguably better performance, and an all-round better user experience.
The current release is 5.04 (5 meaning 2005, 04 meaning April – the 4th month), the next release will be 5.10 in October 2005. Each release has a cute animal-based codename. Version 4.10 is code-named 'Warty Warthog', 5.04 is called 'Hoary Hedgehog' and the next release – 5.10 - will be 'Breezy Badger', 6.04 due April next year will apparently be called 'Perky Penguin'.
Your computer has Hoary Hedgehog installed on it. With Hoary there's a whole heap of other software installed too. There's software to allow you to get your email, browse the web, chat to friends, manage your digital photos, type letters, write web pages.. and so on. Suffice to say I think you'll be alright with what I've installed. But more of that in the next letter.
Yours
Al.