Hi All
I have posted this to the Sounder list since it is OT (maybe not) but also cc'ed
the User list since I think a lot off people might be interested.
Mark Shuttleworth and Ubuntu made the front page of the business section of a
big daily newspaper here in South Africa yesterday. On the front page was a big
photo of Mark with the heading "The enemy of expensive software" (loosely
translated)
Unfortunately I could not find an online version of the article so have included
a loosely translated version of the article that was published in Afrikaans (one
of the 11 official languages in South Africa) -- Maybe I should consider
translating Ubuntu in Afrikaans :)
<Translation>
*Shuttleworth put back into community with open source*
Mark Shuttleworth, the South African IT-billionaire, is ready to take on the IT
heavyweights, this time with a South African version of the Linux operation system.
Ubuntu is created by Shuttleworth and Canonical, a group of developers of which
he is the head, to provide an easy and free alternative to Windows.
Although Linux is free, most organizations developed products and service that
is not free. Lots provide the system free but charge money for installation and
support.
Here Ubuntu is different. The software, with 1000 free programs, are provide
free on CD. Another 12000 to 16000 programs are available online at the free
Linux repository. Shuttleworth and his team does not make any money from it.
Shuttleworth say that Ubuntu can be differentiated from other distributions in
that it gets updated every 6 months with a new version with the guarantee that
it will always be free.
The CD is easy to install and provide everything that most users need like word
processor, e-mail, internet-programs and lots of games.
Mark say's "I would never been able to start Thawte (the company from which he
made his millions) if it was not for Open Source. I believe this is a way of
giving something back."
He promised to invest more in the community by making sure that every library in
the country has the latest version of Ubuntu and that people can take it out to
install. A version will be available in shops at a nominal cost which covers
the shop's profit margin.
To prove how serious he is about the project, he allocated $10million
(R61million) to it. That cover future development and the salaries of about 37
Ubuntu developers.
The developers is across the world but the core "is in my flat in London".
Shuttleworth explain that anybody can use the software and distribute it as they
wish. He says that since there is no license fee or restrictions, anybody can
make money by added development and support services.
Canonical will only ask money when special services and support is requested.
According to Shuttleworth it is not obvious whether his newest project, which
according to him will need between $2million and $5million, will be successful,
but he says that there is a huge future for open source software.
</Translation>
Hope that my translation is not too bad. I am just quoting the article here so
the facts are not mine. I would love to claim Ubuntu is South African but
except for Mark and Louise (Lu) I do not know how many of the other Canonical
staff is South African.
Hope you enjoyed :)
maskie
--
Marius Bock -- marius@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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