Ubuntu

The recent Debian-based Linux distro Ubuntu has been getting good reviews. The name is an intriguing one: according to their home page "Ubuntu" is an ancient African word, meaning "humanity to others". Ubuntu also means "I am what I am because of who we all are". According to Linux User & Developer magazine Archibishop Desmond Tutu (Nobel Peace Prize laureate) said: 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.
What is the relationship between software development and Ubuntu? Because I feel that software development is essentially a human activity I believe that having more Ubuntu in yourself increases your capacity to be an inspirational coach or mentor, and having more Ubuntu in your team increases your capacity to collaborate in creating great software. I'll be revisiting this theme in my next post: a review of Geoffrey Bellman's excellent book The Consultant's Calling: Bringing Who You Are to What You Do.