UBUNTU
Ubuntu is a computer
operating system based on the Debian Linux distribution and distributed as free
and open source software, using its own desktop environment. The word ubuntu
means humanity towards others. Ubuntu is composed of many software packages,
the vast majority of which are distributed under a free software license. The
only exceptions are some proprietary hardware drivers. The main license used is
the GNU General Public License (GNU GPL) which, along with the GNU Lesser
General Public License (GNU LGPL), explicitly declares that users are free to
run, copy, distribute, study, change, develop and improve the software. On the
other hand, there is also proprietary software available that can run on
Ubuntu.
The Ubiquity installer allows Ubuntu to be installed to the
hard disk from within the Live CD environment, without the need for restarting
the computer prior to installation. Beginning with 5.04, UTF-8 became the
default character encoding, which allows for support of a variety of non-Roman
scripts.
As a security feature, the sudo tool is used to assign
temporary privileges for performing administrative tasks, allowing the root
account to remain locked, and preventing inexperienced users from inadvertently
making catastrophic system changes or opening security holes.PolicyKit is also
being widely implemented into the desktop to further harden the system through
the principle of least privilege.
Ubuntu is composed of many software packages, the vast
majority of which are distributed under a free software license. The only
exceptions are some proprietary hardware drivers. The main license used is the
GNU General Public License (GNU GPL) which, along with the GNU Lesser General
Public License (GNU LGPL), explicitly declares that users are free to run,
copy, distribute, study, change, develop and improve the software. On the other
hand, there is also proprietary software available that can run on Ubuntu.
The Ubiquity installer allows Ubuntu to be installed to the
hard disk from within the Live CD environment, without the need for restarting
the computer prior to installation. Beginning with 5.04, UTF-8 became the
default character encoding, which allows for support of a variety of non-Roman
scripts.
As a security feature, the sudo tool is used to assign
temporary privileges for performing administrative tasks, allowing the root
account to remain locked, and preventing inexperienced users from inadvertently
making catastrophic system changes or opening security holes. PolicyKit is
also being widely implemented into the desktop to further harden the system
through the principle of least privilege.
Some of the softwares included in ubuntu are LibreOffice,
Firefox, Thunderbird, Empathy, Transmission. A large number of other softwares
can be downloaded from the ubuntu software center.
The installation of ubuntu can be done with the help of live
cds .Also the Ubuntu OS can run directly from the CD.
Users can download a disk image (.iso) of the CD, which can
then either be written to a physical medium (CD or DVD).
Some of the variants of ubuntu are
• Edubuntu,
a GNOME-based subproject and add-on for Ubuntu, designed for school
environments and home users.
• Kubuntu,
a desktop distribution using the KDE Plasma Workspaces desktop environment.
• Lubuntu,
a lightweight distribution using the LXDE desktop environment.
• Mythbuntu,
designed for creating a home theater PC with MythTV and uses the Xfce desktop
environment.
• Ubuntu
Studio, a distribution made for professional video and audio editing, comes
with higher-end free editing software.
• Xubuntu,
a distribution based on the Xfce desktop environment, designed to run more
efficiently on low-specification computers
The latest release is Ubuntu 12.10 (Quantal Quetzal),
released on 18 October 2012.
http://www.ubuntu.com/
http://www.ubuntu.com/download
No comments:
Post a Comment