About Ubuntu[sci]

The South African national R&D Strategy stresses the importance of investing in ICT to foster local development and globalisation. It specifically mentions Open Source Software (OSS) as an area where investment is desired. In line with this strategy and as an exercise in user empowerment, the South African Department of Science and Technology and the CSIR are migrating to Ubuntu Linux. These migrations have highlighted a strong need for an open source scientific computing platform based on Ubuntu. Existing initiatives fall short of fulfilling this need.

The aim of the Ubuntu^sci project is to develop an Ubuntu Linux remix for use by scientists, to enable scientific computing on Linux. The distribution will be a true Ubuntu sub-project with all work released as OSS. Ubuntu^sci differs from the standard Ubuntu desktop in that it directly supports scientists by providing applications to assist them in conducting research.

A major component of the project involves global collaboration. Formal and informal collaboration agreements will be put in place with local and international research organisations. Possible collaborators include: University of Pretoria, UNISA, Telematika Institute and other HEIs; SurfNet, South African and international science councils, e.g. MRC, CSIRO Australia, CSIR India; Other international organisations, e.g. Metalab UK; and NEPAD.

In addition, active user and developer communities will be developed around the OSS Ubuntu^sci project.