Posted by Business in Africa Online on
Original author: Gary Wilson, Business in Africa Online
…Ubuntu is an African word that is one of the founding principles of the new South Africa, and it also is the name of a new computer operating system developed by South African Mark Shuttleworth and his company Canonical… Ubuntu Linux calls itself the "Linux for human beings". In less than six months from its introduction in October 2004, Ubuntu Linux became the most popular Linux desktop distribution in the United States.
In July, PC World magazine named Ubuntu Linux one of its "100 Best Products of 2005". And it has won numerous other awards. A special version was developed by Hewlett-Packard for its laptop computers that are sold in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Linux is a computer operating system, the software that makes a computer work. The operating system most commonly found on desktop computers in an office, at school or at home is Microsoft's Windows. The second most common desktop operating system is Apple's MacOS, which at 4.5% of the market in the United States is a distant second. Linux is third at about 3.5% of the desktop computers. That's not insignificant though - it means that about one of every 28 computers in the United States is using Linux, and outside the US the figure is much bigger. Government agencies and local governments in Germany, Spain, Sweden Brazil and China have already changed from Windows to Linux. New Linux usage is picking up and its use on the desktop in the US is expected to reach six percent in 2007.
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