What Is Ubuntu?
Ubuntu is an operating system that is developed by a worldwide community of programmers as well as by employees of Ubuntu's commercial sponsor, Canonical. Ubuntu is based on the concept of free or open-source software, meaning that you do not pay any licensing fees for Ubuntu, and you can download, use, and share the operating system free of charge.
Being a Linux-based operating system, Ubuntu has a well-deserved reputation for stability and security. Historically, Linux has proven itself to be a workhorse server operating system, and this is where, up until now, it has been most widely used and best known. As of June, 2007, 78 percent of the world's top 500 supercomputers were running Linux, according to Top500.org.
However, in recent years, Linux has also become viable on desktop and laptop computers, making it an option for individuals and businesses. Ubuntu is generally acknowledged to be the most widely used version of Linux available, and Mark Shuttleworth, the founder and CEO of Canonical, estimates Ubuntu has between six and eight million users. Because the software is free to download and share, it is difficult to track exact usage numbers.
Ubuntu versus Windows and OS X
How does Ubuntu compare to the two best-known operating systems — Microsoft Windows and Apple OS X? The most obvious way is in the licensing and distribution terms. Ubuntu is "free software" — a term which is often misunderstood to mean only free of cost.
While Ubuntu is free of cost, the term "free software" more accurately refers to the freedom to run the program for any purpose, to study how the program works and modify it to your needs, to redistribute copies, and to improve the program and release your improvements to the public (see the Free Software Foundation's Web site for a detailed definition).
While Ubuntu is free of cost, the term "free software" more accurately refers to the freedom to run the program for any purpose, to study how the program works and modify it to your needs, to redistribute copies, and to improve the program and release your improvements to the public (see the Free Software Foundation's Web site for a detailed definition).
Ubuntu also includes many of the programs used for everyday computing at no cost, unlike Windows and OS X. Some examples are:
- Office Suite: OpenOffice.org, a full office suite with a word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation software that can read and write in .doc, .xls, and .ppt formats and can also output to PDF, and supports the ISO standard for electronic office documents,Open Document Format. (Free training for OpenOffice.org is available at LearnFree.org.)
- Desktop Email Client: Evolution, an email program with a similar interface to Microsoft Outlook.
- Web Browser: Firefox, the increasingly popular Web browser.
- Databases: The two best-known open-source databases on Linux are PostgreSQL and MySQL, but commercial databases such asOracle and IBM's DB2 are also available. There are also tools like Glom that provide an easy-to-use graphical interface for designing and editing databases.
- Others: Ubuntu's online Applications Guide lists some Ubuntu-compatible applications that allow you to edit images, listen to and manage music, edit and watch videos, read PDFs, connect to instant messaging services from MSN, AOL, Google, Yahoo, and more.
- Updates and bug fixes: Security updates and bug fixes for applications and the operating system are managed by Ubuntu, and users are notified about these updates through an icon in the taskbar, which they can click on to install. (Note that you must be connected to the Internet to receive these notices.)
You can get any information about Ubuntu at this website : http://www.ubuntu.com/ubuntu
2 comments:
ada lg dak different Ubuntu versus Windows and OS X ?? heeeee ..
thanks for the info .. now , i know about UBUNTU clearly ..
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