What's Ubuntu?

Here I am for my first serious post!

Let's start explaining the meaning of the keywors you'll find on this blog, and talking about the reasons why I started this adventure in the Linux world leaving for a moment the well known Windows lands.


Since I'm a beginner, a newbie, this pages could be interesting for other newbies, while more expert people, I guess, will find them boring...so I'll start with a trivial question:

What is Ubuntu?

Ubuntu is one of the many different distributions, usually called Distro, of GNU/Linux (Linux is only the Kernel of this operative system, but since humans are lazy we usually skip the first part of the complete name). Each Distro has some peculiar features like a different desktop environment, different applications provided with the installer, and so on..Some distro are known for their stability, others for their efficiency and performance, and others for being easy to use and that's the case when you talk about Ubuntu.

Then, why Ubuntu? 

Since I'm a newbie I preferred the easiest path: Ubuntu has an easy and guided installation, it supports most of the hardware, the application management is really easy thanks to its Package Manager, and, most importantly, his community is immense and always available to help everyone! (This works for any Linux distro...but the Ubuntu community is really immense!)

How does it look like?

 There's no easy answer here... It is really customisable, it can look like Windows, MacOS, like a really old nerdy computer, it depends on your taste and your creativity! I just changed the background and here's what I got. As you can see it's pleasant and not scary at all! Linux doesn't necessary mean "complicated" or "just for nerds" but it can also be fashionable and cool. You can see amazing deskops here: Desktop Gallery of the Italian Ubuntu Community

Is it really free?

Of course! It's an Open Source project and this means that all the source code of the OS and of its applications is available for everyone. The philosophy behind Linux and the GNU License is that everyone can contribute to the project, and that's why the community around it is always active and enthusiastic, because they're not just talking about an OS, but they're also part of it.

I'll be back soon with some more info about Ubuntu and my first impression using it!