Ubuntu Linux overview

The Ubuntu Linux distribution, a user-focused version of Debian Linux, originated in South Africa, founded by Mark Shuttleworth, the outspoken and widely respected self-made software developer, entrepreneur, space tourist, and open source software advocate. His company, Thawte, made a big splash in the earlier days of the internet by building a "web of trust" for secure online transactions. In 1999, he sold Thawte to VeriSign, the American internet security company, for US$500 million.

Shuttleworth has always credited his success to the availability of open source software - in fact, much of Thawte's infrastructure was built with it, and he believes it made his business success in South Africa possible. As a mark of gratitude to the open source community, and in hopes the it would create a focal point for advancing IT in Africa, he created the non-profit Ubuntu Foundation which supports a team of open source developers and helps to coordinate a worldwide developer community and distribution infrastructure. In addition, he founded a commercial services company, Canonical Ltd, to develop business relationships in conjunction with Ubuntu Linux and to provide enterprise support for those businesses and governments requiring it. Both the Ubuntu Foundation and Canonical support an international network of affiliated support organisations - Egressive is proud to be one of the New Zealand-based affiliates.