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<title>Introduction</title>
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Welcome to Edubuntu! You're about to embark on a journey of discovery
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and empowerment. Though it might seem like an uphill battle now, you'll
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soon be the master of your Edubuntu lab, with a roomful of computers
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humming along and a community of users making them work hard.
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This book is meant for anyone who would like to set up a computer
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laboratory using only free software which makes the best use of old or
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obsolete hardware. Edubuntu is designed to be easy to administer and
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is well documented (for example, in the book you're reading now).
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There is also a growing Edubuntu community to whom you may turn for
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help if you get stuck.
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Although Edubuntu is primarily aimed at schools, Edubuntu labs are not
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only useful in a school environment. Any kind of community organisation
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may benefit from a secure and powerful computer laboratory, so feel free
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to pass on this book to anyone who can use it.
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<h2>How to use this book</h2>
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This book is intended to serve a couple of different audiences. If
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you do not yet have an Edubuntu lab, this book will provide a
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step-by-step guide to installing one. Anyone with enough enthusiasm,
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as well as access to some old computers and the other equipment
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necessary, can use this book as a blueprint for setting up computer
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labs in their community.
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If you already have a working Edubuntu lab, it serves to document what
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you have, and to help you understand it in order to keep it in good
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The book is also meant to introduce you to the concept of a computer
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laboratory, and to give you some insight into what it takes to run
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<h3>For the impatient</h3>
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If you are in a hurry to get up to speed with Edubuntu, the following
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list may come in handy:
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<li>If you're getting ready to install Edubuntu, turn to Chapter
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..., ..., for information on obtaining the Edubuntu software and
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setting up your lab.</li>
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<li>If you already have an up and running lab, you'll want to skip
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to Chapter ..., ..., to find out what was installed and how it all
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<li>If something is not performing right in your Edubuntu
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installation, check out Chapter ..., ..., for some troubleshooting
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tips and fixes. You'll also find information here on where to get
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further assistance for problems not covered in this edition of the
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<h2>Why we wrote this book</h2>
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The ultimate aim of Edubuntu is empowerment: to place state of the art
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Information and Communication Technology within the reach of everyone.
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However, computers and networks are complicated things, and simply
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knowing how to ask the right questions can be very hard if you don't
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already have a lot of experience.
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This book is intended to help you to be self-sufficient, and to enable
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you to ask for help effectively. It gathers together information about
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all the components that make up a lab, and it tells the story behind
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the global, grass-roots free software movement that created all the
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software, millions upon millions of lines of code, that make it work.
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The book sketches a big picture, relating your Edubuntu lab to the
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growing network of Edubuntu users.
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<h2>Vision and goals of the Edubuntu project</h2>
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There are many ideas that beckon to be explored, and to be discussed
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and debated with other people in the emerging global community.
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Computers and information technology provide the critical tools to
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make this global conversation possible.
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Publishing and distributing information on paper is expensive, and
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unless you are in a big city with the means to travel around easily,
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it is awkward and costly to take part in the global conversation.
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Information technology offers us a chance to leapfrog these problems
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by providing access to vast resources of texts, curricula, art and
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music via the Internet, and allows us to stay in touch by electronic
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means, even in remote areas. Since the technologies used play a
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direct part in defining what kinds of conversations are possible, the
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community must have control over these technologies, including the
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freedom to improve and modify them to meet unforseen challenges and
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opportunities. They must be able to take ownership of the computers
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and the software that they run, and to create new learning material to
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share with each other and with society as a whole. Only <em>free
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software</em> can provide this control.
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To accomplish the objective of using technology for social innovation
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and empowerment, and to further the uptake of technology in schools
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around the world, Edubuntu has been created. The Edubuntu project
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aims at improving educational opportunities for children the world
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over by making affordable, state of the art information technology
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available to schools everywhere.
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<h2>Edubuntu and Ubuntu</h2>
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Edubuntu is a derivative of the Ubuntu GNU/Linux distribution and is
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maintained as part of the Ubuntu project.
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<h3>About Ubuntu</h3>
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<b><q>Ubuntu</q>, is an ancient African word meaning <q>humanity to
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others</q>. The Ubuntu distribution brings the spirit of Ubuntu to
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the software world.</b>
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The Ubuntu community is built on the ideas enshrined in the Ubuntu
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Manifesto: that software should be available free of charge, that
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software tools should be usable by people in their local language and
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despite any disabilities, and that people should have the freedom to
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customize and alter their software in whatever way they see fit. For
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<li>Ubuntu will always be free of charge, and there is no extra fee
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for the <q>enterprise edition</q>, we make our very best work
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available to everyone on the same Free terms.</li>
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<li>Ubuntu includes the very best in translations and accessibility
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infrastructure that the Free Software community has to offer, to
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make Ubuntu usable by as many people as possible.</li>
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<li>Ubuntu is released regularly and predictably; a new release is
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made every six months. You can use the current stable release or the
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current development release. Each release is supported for at least
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<li>Ubuntu is entirely committed to the principles of open source
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software development; we encourage people to use open source
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software, improve it and pass it on.</li>
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<h2>Join us on the journey</h2>
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The Edubuntu community is made up of software developers, translators,
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folks who love to write documentation, and most importantly the
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students, teachers and other people who use Edubuntu every day. We
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invite you to join this community and help to make Edubuntu the
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operating system schools everywhere will love to use. Help to
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translate Edubuntu into your own language, test it on new laptops,
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servers and other exciting hardware, improve the web site with hints,
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tips and FAQ's, or help to define the set of software and educational
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materials that are installed by default for future Edubuntu releases.
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