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A brief history of Ubuntu

It's hard to believe now that Ubuntu didn't even exist until 2004. The first release, Ubuntu 4.10, came out in October of 2004. Since then, Ubuntu has moved from just one of the many Debian-derived distros to becoming one of the most popular (some would say the most popular) Linux desktop distribution on the market.

How does a first release merit a 4.10 version number? The release numbers come from the year and month of the release, rather than the traditional 1.0, 2.0, progression. Ubuntu releases are typically better known by their code names, however. The first release was dubbed "Warty Warthog," and the next releases have followed the alliterative animal name pattern. The most recent release is "Hardy Heron."

The Ubuntu project usually releases a new version every six months. Release 6.06, codenamed "Dapper Drake", and 8.04, "Hardy Heron," are Long Term Support (LTS) releases. The standard releases are supported for 18 months, the LTS releases are supported for three years on the desktop and five years on the server.

The Dapper release was also the first to offer a distinct server edition for users and organizations looking to use Ubuntu as a server platform. The server edition features customized installs for machines running as DNS servers or to run the LAMP stack.

Ubuntu was founded by Mark Shuttleworth, the founder of Thawte, and the first African to travel in space. Shuttleworth poured approximately million of his own money into Ubuntu. Shuttleworth also started Canonical, the commercial sponsor of Ubuntu. Ubuntu follows a community development model, but is also closely associated with Canonical. The Ubuntu Foundation was formed in 2005 to ensure that Ubuntu remains free of charge for all users.

Installer and package system

You can install Ubuntu using two different installers, the live CD/GUI method, or an alternate installer for machines that have problems with the standard method. The default for Ubuntu is a desktop install, but the project also offers a server install for users and organizations that want to run Ubuntu as a server instead.

The minimum system requirements for the desktop are a x86 CPU that's 300MHz or faster, at least 64MB of RAM, 2GB of disk space, and a video card capable of 640x480 resolution. Machines with less than 192MB of RAM require the alternate installation CD.

Since Ubuntu was originally based on Debian, it uses the Debian package (dpkg) package manager, and the Advanced Package Tool (APT) frontend for dpkg. However, most users never need to interact directly with dpkg or APT, and use the Synaptic graphical package manager instead. Kubuntu uses the Adept package manager for KDE.

Derivative distros

Ubuntu has spawned a number of derivative distributions, and also comes in several flavors from the Ubuntu project itself. When Ubuntu launched initially, it defaulted to the GNOME desktop, but many users wanted to have a KDE-based version of Ubuntu. Eventually, the Ubuntu project officially started shipping Kubuntu, a KDE-based version of Ubuntu, as well as Xubuntu, an Xfce-based version of Ubuntu. Ubuntu also offers Edubuntu, a distro focused on schools and the educational market.

In total, Ubuntu serves as the base for more than two dozen distros -- ranging from niche distros like nUbuntu for network testing to mainstream distributions. The Ubuntu project maintains a full page of derived distributions, including localizations for Japanese, Italian, simplified Chinese, and many others.

Supported platforms

Because Ubuntu is focused so strongly on the desktop and mainstream server market, the project does not try to support as wide a variety of hardware platforms as Debian.

Ubuntu offers native versions for x86, AMD64, and Sun UltraSPARC hardware. Releases prior to Ubuntu 7.04 also included official PowerPC support, but that was dropped because of decreasing demand for Ubuntu on PowerPC.

To get Ubuntu, visit the Ubuntu download form which will let you check the options to get the image best suited for your machine. You can also download images for Kubuntu, Xubuntu, and Edubuntu.

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