I am always amazed at how wonderfully well Scott Hanselman is able to separate the fact from the fluff... He penned a great article on the latest Linux distribution - Ubuntu. The article doesn't actually focus so much on the distribution itself, but rather the use, err... misuse of the word Ubuntu to market the latest distribution and the etymology of the word. He also makes a couple of great points regarding the ethnocentricity of American News/Marketing and our short sightedness when referring to African nations collectively.

I had actually heard that the word Microsoft in Swahili translates (loosely) to "Scary Behemoth with 1 Head, 4 eyes and 144 toes" - but, then again, some say potato some say tomato.

"Ubuntu" is an ancient African word, meaning "humanity to others". Ubuntu also means "I am what I am because of who we all are". The Ubuntu Linux distribution brings the spirit of Ubuntu to the software world.

So I have a few problems with this.

There are 54 African countries. Ubuntu is a Zulu and Xhosa word, from the Bantu language family. At least say "Southern Africa." Whilea half-dozen African countries would understand the word, don't include the whole continent. I am continually shocked - especially on American news - that Africa is refered to as if it were a country and not a continent with 1/5 of the planet's total land mass. Ubuntu's benefactor is South African and should know better.

[Via ComputerZen.com - Scott Hanselman's Weblog]