Every once in a while, that geek part of my personality forces its way to the surface. The time has come to describe Ubuntu.
I use open source software on several servers I operate (this one for example) because I have access to bandwidth, but not a lot of money. My hardware consists of older Macs (the cast-offs from computer labs) and the Mac OS is built on a linux foundation (BSD). From time to time operating this type of server requires a basic understanding of linux. Such requirements in combination with reading several accounts of the work of Linus Torvalds created a personal interest. Working with linux commands was kind of a throw back to my first experiences working with computers. You enter text command rather than interact with the computer through objects and menus.
I first heard of Ubuntu when listening to podcasts (probably Leo Laport but I can’t remember for sure). It was described as a version of Linux that could be run from a CD on a variety of hardware. The cool thing about this is that it was possible to experiment without having to worry about messing up the operating system of the computer (which was always somewhat of a concern when I was working on one of my servers).
When I finally got around to looking for Ubuntu (the holiday break), I encountered Edubuntu. The edubuntu community is attempting to develop a host of educational applications around ubuntu. Again, experimenting is low risk and no cost. You pretty much download a collection of resources associated with a CPU (e.g., Intel x86) and then burn a CD. You boot your computer from this CD. A user interface has been developed so you will have no trouble launching a variety of open source productivity (e.g., OpenOffice), Internet (Firefox) and educational apps.
The vision here is to create low cost alternatives for education and the resources are intended to be installed (not run from a CD) or run in thin client mode (programs are loaded from a file server when run).
If you have heard about open source alternatives to popular productivity tools or linux and were curious, this is a reasonable way to explore a bit. I would suggest you create a CD even if you have a specific interest (say OpenOffice). Getting OpenOffice to run on the Mac is a little more complicated than just downloading the program (e.g., you need X11 installed first), but running from the edubuntu CD just works (I must admit I did not deal with the issue of how I would store files I might create).
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