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It is said Linux was named by Linus Torvalds who had created it.

And is reported Linux means 'Linux Is Not UniX.'

I am wondering who named Ubuntu and why, researching for a book.

Would you explain?

Elder Geek
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Ohmygirl
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    Regarding the Linux name, nope. – muru Mar 12 '15 at 06:32
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    I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it has nothing to do with ubuntu OS support. – xangua Mar 12 '15 at 06:52
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    The tour page says "we're working together to build a library of detailed answers to every question about Ubuntu." That clearly goes beyond OS support as I read it. – Brian Z Mar 12 '15 at 07:03
  • http://askubuntu.com/questions/1943 – ronno Mar 12 '15 at 13:54
  • @BrianZ see https://askubuntu.com/help/dont-ask "there is no actual problem to be solved:" – Elder Geek Aug 04 '17 at 14:33
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    @ElderGeek I disagree with your interpretation of the help. That page explicitly clarifies that the kinds of questions we don't want are those that are chatty or open-ended. This is neither. The "problem" is not knowing who named Ubuntu and why. This is objectively answerable (and answered) and in the scope of our site. We're not just for "help me with X" questions. We have plenty of questions like this. They can be found by searching for phrases like what is. Do you really think narrowly scoped questions asked to gain an understanding of a concept should be closed? Should I ask on meta? – Eliah Kagan Aug 04 '17 at 15:45
  • @EliahKagan As the question has been asked, answered well and accepted, I honestly don't see that it makes a whit of difference in this instance. I'm not advocating deleting the post. If someone can give me a logical reason why this post should be re-opened to new answers, I'm always open to evaluating new information. – Elder Geek Aug 04 '17 at 21:25
  • @ElderGeek If there's no reason for this to be closed, that's good enough reason to reopen. Being answered is not a reason for a question to be closed, and non-duplicate closed questions do tend to get deleted eventually. I care less about this question than others, past and future. The reasoning that there's "no actual problem" being asked about here is what worries me. We have numerous questions like this, and I think objectively answerable questions about how things in Ubuntu work, their history, and so forth, is an important part of what we do here. – Eliah Kagan Aug 04 '17 at 22:24
  • @EliahKagan this appears to be an edge case that's not really covered specifically in https://askubuntu.com/help/dont-ask nor https://askubuntu.com/help/on-topic nor https://askubuntu.com/help/how-to-ask. The indication in https://askubuntu.com/help/dont-ask I quoted in my comment above. If we aren't to avoid asking questions where there is no actual problem to be solved, I think perhaps the documentation should be updated to explicitly allow such questions rather than explicitly disallow them, no? I'm certain that my voting record doesn't indicate a propensity for closing answered questions. – Elder Geek Aug 04 '17 at 23:34
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    @EliahKagan After reviewing both https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/157216/when-is-a-history-question-on-so-constructive as well as https://meta.askubuntu.com/questions/14831/thoughts-on-a-history-of-ubuntu-tag I've edited the post to use the appropriate tag and voted to reopen. – Elder Geek Aug 04 '17 at 23:44

2 Answers2

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This is discussed at length in The Official Ubuntu Book. Basically, ubuntu is a South African word for confidence in cooperation and collaboration with others. Shuttleworth and other founders felt that it "was a term that encapsulated where the project came from, where the project was going, and how the project planned to get there."

Brian Z
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Ubuntu is a South African ethical ideology focusing on people's allegiances and relations with each other. The word comes from the Zulu and Xhosa languages. Ubuntu is seen as a traditional African concept, is regarded as one of the founding principles of the new republic of South Africa and is connected to the idea of an African Renaissance.

A rough translation of the principle of Ubuntu is "humanity towards others". Another translation could be: "the belief in a universal bond of sharing that connects all humanity".

"A person with ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed."

— Archbishop Desmond Tutu

As a platform based on Free software, the Ubuntu operating system brings the spirit of ubuntu to the software world.

kevy
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