It has been 20 years since the first version of Ubuntu was released. On October 20, 2004, Canonical released Ubuntu 4.10. It was a distribution whose mission was: Promote Linux adoption. The operating system, created by Linus Torvalds in 1991, has been relatively removed from the general public, although it is used in a wide variety of applications such as servers and industrial systems.

At the time, Microsoft dominated the global desktop operating system market. Windows XP has taken its place among previous versions of the system such as Windows 98 and Windows 95 with its new graphical interface and functions. If we go back in time, Ubuntu was in the top 3 most popular Linux distributions before its release. (2003) consisted of Mandriva, Red Hat, and Knoppix.

Mandriva attempted to break down one of the barriers to most non-technical users accessing Linux. An installation wizard has been implemented. intuitive guide throughout the entire process. Red Hat was aimed more at professional environments. Knoppix, on the other hand, offered the opportunity to use the system without installation, thanks to the feature called Live CD.

Ubuntu, the version of Linux that wants to conquer the world

These and other Linux distributions seemed to be on the right track, but there was still a huge difference that separated them from the average user. Mark Shuttleworth, a South African-born businessman, wanted Ubuntu to succeed. However, this meant combining many parts. It wasn’t just about offering friendly distribution, it was also about financing its development over time.

Ubuntu is based on Debian, the world’s second oldest Linux distribution, which has continued to be developed since its inception and stands out with its robustness. What started as an extremely ambitious project, but small communityIt has grown rapidly over the years and added collaborators who have played an important role in its current status.

The first Ubuntu Developer Summit took place shortly after the initial launch in Mataró, Spain, with the first local communities popping up in Portugal, Italy, France and Japan. In 2005, about a year after Ubuntu arrived on the scene, the distribution surpassed Mandriva and SUSE to top DistroWatch.com’s most visited list.

Ubuntu4.10

One of the strategies Shuttleworth used to promote Ubuntu was to launch the Ubuntu ShipIt program. I’m sure most of you will remember that this was possible in the early days of distribution. order distribution CD. The album was shipped almost everywhere in the world, completely free of charge. And it came with a sticker so you could show off the deployment.

Of course, this was a possibility that stemmed directly from the philosophy of Ubuntu. The name comes from an African word meaning “humanity towards others.” The original slogan of the project was actually Linux for Humans. Thus, regardless of your financial situation, whether you have internet or not, you can access Linux for your computer.

Ubuntu11.10

In 2006 came Ubuntu 6.06 LTS (Dapper Drake), the first release with long-term support of the distribution, followed by 64-bit versions and derived versions For specific uses, such as Kubuntu, which uses the KDE desktop environment instead of GNOME, and Edubuntu, which is designed for use in educational environments. Over time, Ubuntu even made its way into the Windows Store, something that would have been unthinkable in the past.

If you are coming from Microsoft or Apple operating system, Ubuntu has become one of the best options to switch to Linux. You were looking at a solid distribution with many interesting features. It was designed with the user experience in mind, which you can detect from the installation process to the user interface. It even had a built-in software store.

Ubuntu 23.10

Compatibility and installation of applications has become very simple. Want to use Slack? Well you can. Like Steam, Visual Studio, Telegram, Spotify and many other applications that many Windows and macOS users usually use. All this The versatility offered by the Linux system. If you wanted more, you had to start working on getting the most out of the operating system.

Although Canonical offers paid solutions to professional customers, it has kept its promise to offer the system for free. For example, Ubuntu Pro is free to use on up to five computers in the same organization. Once this limit is exceeded, it is necessary to pay to purchase a subscription that offers more security, management tools, and extended support.

Depending on how you look at it, Linux still has a long way to go, but it has seen remarkable growth in recent years. At the beginning of 2020, the desktop market share of this operating system was 1.9%. Things have changed a lot. According to Statista, in September 2024, market share 4.5% (Not counting Chrome OS’s 2.2%).

Pictures | Canonical (1, 2) | Shizhao | Kenny Strawn (Wikimedia Commons)

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