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# 2008 apr 25 (fri) 11:28 :: Ubuntu 8.04 released yesterday

FYI, the Ubuntu just released version 8.04 of their Linux distribution. I run Ubuntu on the servers and my desktop at work, and on my personal laptop, and I wholeheartedly recommend it. If you've heard that Linux is just for geeks, it's totally not true any more. Linux is a rock-solid operating system that runs well even on old computers, and the Ubuntu team have packaged it so that it's really easy to use and pretty easy to install.

I could go on about how Linux is free and open, and lets you monkey around with the source-code of your programs, and that's all true. But the best thing about Linux and other open-source projects is the people.

Open-source projects are collections of PEOPLE, not just faceless corporations. It's a folk history of people writing programs that they want to use and then sharing them with other people. Sometimes they do it for selfish reasons, but a lot of people in the community do it because they want to give something back, and to create a technology commons to benefit everyone.

PMC folks: If you're reading this because you checked out the blog after visiting the Jennifer & Kent site, Linux reflects a lot of good Anabaptist values. Ask me or Bob N or David C or Mark E about it sometime. Grace and peace to you.

UPDATE: Ubuntu's site is pretty swamped today with people downloading the new version. If you want to give something back, know how to use Bittorrent, and have a computer that you can leave plugged in for awhile, consider downloading Ubuntu using Bittorrent and then leaving it on for awhile. This will help Ubuntu and the other mirror servers handle the load.

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