Ubuntu Wiki

About Us

Ubuntu Toronto is a local community team based in Canada's largest city and the Greater Toronto Area. We are a group of Ubuntu users who are passionate about Linux and open source, and wish to spread the freedom. "Ubuntu" itself is an African word; one translation is "humanity for others". Its founder and major sponsor is South-African-born Mark Shuttleworth, who wanted an easier-to-use Linux distribution for everyone, one that was less restrictive to users and techies alike. We all see Ubuntu, Linux, and Free Software as the future, where techies are free-er to innovate and serve their users, while still getting paid for installations, services and customizations for others. Users, typically seen as only payers who need to be controlled, "licensed" and audited, are central to Ubuntu, should have choices at every stage, and are encouraged to file bugs or modify software as much as the developers who've often started as volunteers, too, and rise through the ranks based on the merit of their solutions. All users and developers are free to become members inasfar as they want to be; there are no fees to membership.

So, to spread the universal human concept of freedom, we are determined to put human interests ahead of both the technology and the economic system our country uses, remembering that any system must serve humans first and foremost̶instead of the other way around. We meet every other Wednesday, at 6:30 pm to discuss common concerns, assist new users, share ideas and experiences, and develop projects to further our goals. Click here to find out more about our meetings.

Our goals are:

• To facilitate real choice in one's use of technology as a tool owned by humans
• To make it accessible to all, overcoming economics and other barriers
• To allow Ubuntu users to meet and support each other
• To bring a sense of teamwork and accomplishment to our collective actions
• To encourage and support new users

For more information about our role as advocates, visit our Meetings or Politics pages. For more information about the team, visit the Canadian Ubuntu Community Wiki. For more information about the technology, visit the official and/or its links to unofficial Ubuntu sites.

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• See MarkShuttleworth for the official word on why Mark started Ubuntu. (AndrewHunter)