Megabytes large.png  Ubuntu: a computer operating system built
around community  The Ubuntu operating system is about more than
just powering your computer -- its proponents want to change the
world.  Quick: what multisyllable word is associated with the
spirit of South Africa? No, it’s not vuvuzela, that love-it-or-
hate-it horn that provided a soundtrack for the World Cup, but
“ubuntu,” a Bantu term for “humanity to others.” Ubuntu is also
the name of -- and philosophy behind -- the most popular desktop
variant of the Linux operating system.  Linux was originally
developed by a Finnish programmer named Linus Torvalds and is
based on UNIX, the open source operating system that’s been used
on mainframes and minicomputers for decades (Linux = Linus +
Unix). It's used in web servers, appliances, phones and cars,
and runs both Google and Wikipedia. In the consumer operating
system market though, it occupies a perennial third place, with
only two percent of the market share for desktop operating
systems.  Ubuntu w