There are many different operating systems based on Linux: Debian, SuSE, Gentoo, RedHat, and Mandriva are examples. Ubuntu is yet another contender in what is already a highly competitive world. So what makes Ubuntu different?

-Based on Debian, one of the most widely acclaimed, technologically advanced, and well-supported distributions, Ubuntu aims to create a distribution that provides an up-to-date and coherent Linux system for desktop and server computing. Ubuntu includes a number of carefully selected packages from the Debian distribution and retains its powerful package management system which allows easy installation and clean removal of programs. Unlike most distributions that ship with a large amount of software that may or may not be of use, Ubuntu’s list of packages is reduced to a number of important applications of high quality.
By focusing on quality, Ubuntu produces a robust and feature-rich computing environment that is suitable for use in both home and commercial environments. The project takes the time required to focus on finer details and is able to release a version featuring the latest and greatest of today’s software once every 6 months. Ubuntu is available in flavours for the i386 (386/486/Pentium(II/III/IV) and Athlon/Duron/Sempron processors), AMD64 (Athlon64,pteron, and new 64-bit Intel processors), and PowerPC (iBook/Powerbook, G4 and G5) architectures.

To top it all UBuntu is completely free of charge,and users also enjoy free support both official and from a large amary of users that form the community.

The numbering scheme of each release is the year of release followed by the month of release.These releases referred to by their nicknames, usually involving alliteration, an adjective, and an animal.

The latest Stable version of Ubuntu is Feisty fawn 7.04 earlier version include :

• 6.10: October 2006 (Edgy Eft)
• 6.06: June 2006 (Dapper Drake)
• 5.10: October 2005 (Breezy Badger)
• 5.04: April 2005 (Hoary Hedgehog)
• 4.10: October 2004 (Warty Warthog)

The forth coming version expected in Octorber this year is Gutsy Gibbon 7.10.

The name Ubuntu is a South African ethical ideology focusing on  people’s allegiances and relations with each other. The word comes from the Zulu and Xhosa languages. Ubuntu  (pronounced “oo-BOON-too”) is seen as a traditional African concept, is regarded as one of the founding principles of the new republic of South Africa  and is connected to the idea of an African Renaissance.

A rough translation of the principle of Ubuntu is
“humanity towards others”. Another
translation could be: “the belief in a
universal bond of sharing that connects all
humanity”.

“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.”

Archbishop Desmond Tutu

As a platform based on Linux, the Ubuntu
operating system brings the spirit of ubuntu to the software
world.

These is the reasonale behind the logo which symbolizes three people holding hands in unity.the different colours of the icons represent the different race,ethnicity,and language of the world.

what is Ubuntu

Ubuntu is an entirely open source operating system built around the Linux kernel. The Ubuntu community is built around the ideals enshrined in the Ubuntu Philosophy: that software should be available free of charge, that software tools should be usable by people in their local language and despite any disabilities, and that people should have the freedom to customize and alter their software in whatever way they see fit. For those reasons:
Ubuntu will always be free of charge, and there is no extra fee for the “enterprise edition,” the best work is made for every individual and available to everyone on the same Free terms.  —Canonical will actually ship Ubuntu CDs (worldwide) and pay for the shipping as well. Granted, these freely shipped CDs can take around two months to arrive, but you can’t really complain if you’re not paying for postage.

Ubuntu includes the very best in translations and accessibility infrastructure that the free software community has to offer, to make Ubuntu usable for as many people as possible.

Ubuntu is released regularly and predictably; a new release is made every six months. You can use the current stable release or the current development release. Each release is supported for at least 18 months.

Ubuntu is entirely committed to the principles of open source software development; we encourage people to use open source software, improve it and pass it on-Open source here means that the source code used in building Ubuntu and the many programs on it are non-proprietary which means that You won’t be bogged down with all sorts of licensing issues, and if you know something about programming, you can take a look at the source code of the applications and modify them as you see fit.

Ubuntu comes with a lot of productivity software—an office suite, a music player, a Photoshop-like graphics editor, an instant messaging program, an email client, an internet browser.And the are thousands of programs available in the community that can be used with Ubuntu.