About the name

Ubuntu (pronounced /uːˈbuːntuː/), is a computer operating system based on the Debian Linux distribution. It is named after the Southern African ethical ideology Ubuntu. 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

links

Wikipedia: Ubuntu Operating System

Wikipedia: Ubuntu Philosophy

Ubuntu Documentation: About the name