The Cathedral and the Bazaar

This seminal text by Eric S. Raymond is a explains the fundamental dynamics of the open source approach. He used the story of the development process of the FetchMail e-mail program to illustrate the advantages of open source development (Bazaar model). Special emphasis is given to Linux and its originator Linus Torvalds.

Free as in Freedom

This well-crafted book by Sam Williams is a biography of Richard M. Stallman, founder of the GNU project and programmer of legendary abilities. It makes clear the idealogical differences between the original Free Software movement and the more recent concept of Open Source.

Open Source Essays

A collection of 20 essays on the history of Free and Open Source software by various authors, including Larry Wall, Bruce Perens, Tim O'Reilly, Linus Torvalds, and Richard Stallman.

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Ubuntu page @ opencd

Ubuntu Linux

Ubuntu Linux is a complete open source desktop operating system. The base system and all included software is available for free. Support is available from the community or by professional support providers. "Ubuntu" is an ancient African word, meaning "humanity to others". Ubuntu also means "I am what I am because of who we all are". The Ubuntu Linux distribution brings the spirit of Ubuntu to the software world.

TheOpenCD and Ubuntu have teamed up to support each other's development and distribution. The recently released LiveCD version of Ubuntu contains a slimmed down version of TheOpenCD prepared by our team. With the LiveCD you can run Ubuntu directly from your CD drive without installing anything on your system. If you are ready to leave the frustrations and worries of Windows behind, we recommend the Ubuntu LiveCD as the next step on your journey to software freedom.

A brief tour

The standard user interface is based around the Gnome desktop environment. When you start the system for the first time you are greeted by a desktop that is unusually clean and tidy. No desktop icons by default! Even the recycling bin has been moved down to the taskbar. The default theme Human is designed to be easy on the eye. But Linux is inherently flexible; you can customise the look and behaviour of the desktop in a range of ways, from simply changing the default theme to selecting a different desktop environment altogether, such as KDE.

The Applications menu gives you access to a selection of useful programs, while the Computer menu contains system settings. Ubuntu includes more than 1,000 supported pieces of software, starting with the Linux kernel version 2.6 and Gnome 2.8, and covering every standard desktop application from word processing and spreadsheet applications to internet access applications, web server software, email software, programming languages and tools and of course several games. If you should require more software, simply use the Synaptic package management tool to download and install programs from the freely available software repository. The Universe repository features a further 10 000 applications from the venerable Debian project.