What does "Ubuntu" mean?

Question

What does "Ubuntu" mean, and why did they choose that particular name?

Solution 1

The word of Ubuntu is very difficult to explain in one word in English. Some people say it means "humaness, to be human", some describe it as "Humanity in humility".

See the discussion in the ubuntu forum

Bishop Tutu has describe Ubuntu as:

A person with Ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed.

and

One of the sayings in our country is Ubuntu - the essence of being human. Ubuntu speaks particularly about the fact that you can't exist as a human being in isolation. It speaks about our interconnectedness. You can't be human all by yourself, and when you have this quality - Ubuntu - you are known for your generosity. We think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole world. When you do well, it spreads out; it is for the whole of humanity.

Nelson Mandela describes it as

A traveler through a country would stop at a village and he didn't have to ask for food or for water. Once he stops, the people give him food, entertain him. That is one aspect of Ubuntu but it will have various aspects. Ubuntu does not mean that people should not enrich themselves. The question therefore is: Are you going to do so in order to enable the community around you to be able to improve?

found in wikipedia

Solution 2

To quote the About Ubuntu page on the website:

ubuntu |oǒ'boǒntoō|

Ubuntu is an ancient African word meaning 'humanity to others'. It also means 'I am what I am because of who we all are'. The Ubuntu operating system brings the spirit of Ubuntu to the world of computers.

To quote Benjamin Mako Hill:

Ubuntu's original name was, and I'm serious, "no-name-yet.com"

Finally, Mark settled on the name Ubuntu which he though represented the spirit of sharing and cooperation that he found appealing in Free Software.

And finally, to quote Mark Shuttleworth himself in the Ubuntu 4.10 Warty Warthog announcement:

"Ubuntu" is an ancient African word for "humanity towards others", and we think it's a perfect name for an open source community project.

Hopefully, these quotes help clear up any confusion about the name, 'Ubuntu', that you might have had.

Solution 3

Don't forget the humorous definition! :)

Ubuntu is an ancient African word that means "I can't configure Slackware"

Solution 4

When I started using Ubuntu I have also found this definition:

I am who I am, because of who we all are.

Slightly shorter than the previous answer ;-)

And the name was chosen by SABDFL.

Solution 5

Ubuntu means: "A man can't be a man without the help of other men"

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Comments

[Admin]

Ubutnu explained by Nelson Mandela

[Dirk Eddelbuettel]

No, "cannot configure Debian" is the generally-accepted humorous answer.

[Colin Watson]

We called it $DISTRO for quite a while too ... I wonder if anyone has a picture of the whiteboard at the original London meeting that we covered with possible distribution and company names.

[ryanpcmcquen]

Personally, I've heard vh1's version more.

[Vitaly Dyatlov]

The most awful answer on the Askubuntu.

[Braiam]

This is funny, but not an answer.

[Jonas Byström]

This is an answer, but not funny.