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60.

Please bear in mind that this guide is still very much a work in progress and always will be. It is written specifically for Ubuntu 10.04 \acronym{LTS}, and although we have aimed to not limit our instructions to this version, it is unavoidable that some things will change over the life of Ubuntu. Whenever a new version of Ubuntu is released, we will incorporate any changes into our guide, and make a new version available at \url{http://www.ubuntu-manual.org}.

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\emph{Getting Started with Ubuntu 10.04} is not intended to be a comprehensive Ubuntu instruction manual. It is more like a quick-start guide that will get you doing the things you need to do with your computer quickly and easily, without getting bogged down with technical details.

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If you are after more detail, there are excellent resources available at \url{http://help.ubuntu.com}. Ubuntu's built-in system documentation is also very useful for accessing help on specific topics, and can be found by clicking \menu{System\then Help and Support} in Ubuntu. \marginnote{More information about Ubuntu's online and system documentation can be found in \chaplink{ch:learning-more}.}If something isn't covered here, chances are you will find the information you are looking for in one of those locations. We will try our best to include links to more detailed help wherever we can.

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The term ``Ubuntu'' is a traditional African concept that originated from the Bantu languages of southern Africa. It can be described as a way of connecting with others\dash living in a global community where your actions affect all of humanity. Ubuntu is more than just an operating system: it is a community of people that come together voluntarily to collaborate on an international software project that aims to deliver the best possible user experience.

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Ubuntu comes with full commercial support from \gls{Canonical} and hundreds of companies from across the world.

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Ubuntu provides the best translations and accessibility features that the free software community has to offer.

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Ubuntu's core applications are all free and open source. We want you to use free and open source software, improve it, and pass it on.

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Ubuntu was conceived in 2004 by \Index[Shuttleworth, Mark]{Mark Shuttleworth}, a successful South African entrepreneur, and his company \Index[Canonical]{\gls{Canonical}}. \marginnote{Canonical is the company that provides financial and technical support for Ubuntu. It has employees based around the world who work on developing and improving the operating system, as well as reviewing work submitted by volunteer contributors. To learn more about Canonical, go to \url{http://www.canonical.com}.} Shuttleworth recognized the power of Linux and open source, but was also aware of weaknesses that prevented mainstream use.

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\Index[Shuttleworth, Mark]{Shuttleworth} set out with clear intentions to address these weaknesses and create a system that was easy to use, completely free (see \chaplink{ch:learning-more} for the complete definition of ``free''), and could compete with other mainstream operating systems. With the \Index{Debian} system as a base, \Index[Shuttleworth, Mark]{Shuttleworth} began to build Ubuntu. Using his own funds at first, installation \acronym{CD}s were pressed and shipped worldwide at no cost to the end user. Ubuntu spread quickly, the size of the community rapidly increased, and it soon became the most popular Linux \gls{distribution} available.

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With more people working on the project than ever before, Ubuntu continues to see improvement to its core features and hardware support, and has gained the attention of large organizations worldwide. For example, in 2007, \Index{Dell} began a collaboration with \Index{Canonical} to sell computers with Ubuntu preinstalled. Additionally, in 2005, the French Police began to transition their entire computer infrastructure to a variant of Ubuntu\dash a process which has reportedly saved them ``millions of euros'' in licensing fees for Microsoft Windows. By the year 2012, the French Police anticipates that all of their computers will be running Ubuntu. \Index{Canonical} profits from this arrangement by providing technical support and custom-built software.