Friday, November 16, 2007

Ubuntu

You may have heard of Ubuntu as a Linux distribution. In fact Ubuntu is the operating system I am running right now as I type. I love Linux. Yes its weird and less compatible but its the ONLY OS that is free and supports creativity not corporate greed. There is no bottom line. Ubuntu is not a company. Linux is not a company. Linus Torvalds doesnt make a red cent off this free OS. which I must say has proven to be more stable than Windows has been, Especially Vista. I wont debate the Mac people. after all Mac OS is Darwin Linux under the hood. Lets not go there.

Anyway, Ubuntu is more than an OS. The OS is named after the African Philosophy. Basically it is a philosophy of community and doing good to one another. Many people say Jesus had Ubuntu (of course he ran the Christian Edition. LOL> Only real geeks will get that reference). Anyway. Here is what I found about the Ubuntu philosphy as described by Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu.

Here is what Nelson had to say:

A traveller through our country would stop at a village, and he didn't have to ask for food or for water. Once he stops, the people give him food, entertain him. That is one aspect of Ubuntu but Ubuntu has various aspects. Ubuntu does not mean that people should not enrich themselves. The question therefore is: Are you going to do so in order to enable the community around you to improve?

Here is what Desmond said:

A person with ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed.

I think the OS is in the spirit of Ubuntu but I believe if the world practiced Ubuntu it would be a better place. I plan to research this more. I find it intriguing. It kind of does go along with the words of Jesus "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you". You may have heard that even if you arent a Churchgoer. its known as the Golden Rule. Some people would say it as what goes around comes around.

Anyway just my weird thoughts of the day. Be blessed.

1 comment:

tkn said...

I spoke about ubuntu at the forum last winter. I'd read a poem in the LA Times while visiting my parents and was just struck with the wisdom and simplicity of the word.