openDemocracy: Open Source Ubuntu

“I have lost count of the many seminars, conferences and talks
I’ve attended recently where that magic phrase
‘the-open-source-operating-system-Linux’ has resounded. Whether
uttered by a New Labour policy wonk or a Polish art historian it
has the same effect: the crowd of academics, bloggers and civil
servants goes gooey, basking smugly in the image of thousands of
bearded geeks quietly subverting the capitalist beast from the
comfort of their bedrooms, chewing caffeine gum and trotting out
code that rivals Microsoft’s.

“But it’s a bit more complicated than that. Linux comes in all
kinds of different flavours, called distributions or ‘distros,’ and
with each distro the code-base, licensing terms, support model,
philosophy and community or company organisation varies…”

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