What I love the most about Linux is the way it’s designed for constant updates of the latest and greatest free software. My particular flavour is Kubuntu. I chose this distribution because it’s the product of our homeboy Mark Shuttleworth. I also love that it’s a technology that draws its name from an African concept “ubuntu” which loosely translates to community spirit.

In my language, Sesotho, there is a phrase “Motho ke motho, ka batho.” – a person is a person, by people. This phrase encapsulates the concept of ubuntu. I often see jokes about this name on technology forums from the very same people who wax lyrical about community, open source, collaboration and all manner of so-called Web 2.0 evangelist-speak. It’s amusing because they fail to see that the name actually captures a lot of the very paradigms they champion.

Anyway, I digress,  the nature of open source environments is to release quickly and release often.That is why there are programs such as Synaptic, Yum and KPackageit designed to simply and efficiently replace a program running on your computer with its latest incarnation. There is nothing to compare with this in the Windows world and this functionality is really one of the joys of the open source desktop.

It has turned me into a bit of a download junky. I obsess a bit… I lie,  a lot, about what next and great software is coming down the Intertubes to grace my laptop. So, on Tuesday I rushed to my laptop like a child on Christmas day and was devastated to find that there was no present for me. None! Zero! Today is much the same. My queries to google have revealed to me that I am not alone, that we all share the same despair and are clinging onto the last vestiges of patience. Yes, you guessed it, Firefox 3.5.

Mozilla, one of the poster chilrdren of the open source development paradigm has released it’s much anticipated browser. You can even go to their website and get a real time tally of the download orgy at http://downloadstats.mozilla.com/. According to TechCrunch there were 5 million downloads in the first 24 hrs. All this excitement and I can’t share in the fun. This is because before the Ubuntu team release it into the wild they must do some final checks, branding and other niceties that you can read about on https://help.ubuntu.com/community/FirefoxNewVersion. Meanwhile the sound of gnashing teeth,  techno envy and salivating lust will quietly grow into a crescendo in the background. Oh woe is I…