Mark Shuttleworth - Agenda Setters 2008
Name: Mark Shuttleworth
Title: Ubuntu project founder
Position: 38 Last year: Not ranked
Why? Making Linux desktops easy to use
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While Linux has met with success for servers, on the desktop the open source operating system is often perceived as being held back by a lack of usability.
But not for long, if this Agenda Setter has anything to do with it.
Mark Shuttleworth is the man behind Ubuntu Linux, by many accounts the most popular Linux distribution for the desktop. His campaign for ease of use could be just what Linux needs to finally take on Windows and Mac operating systems for everyday users, according to the Agenda Setters panel.
Breaking through this barrier into mainstream use would send waves through the IT industry - and that's why Shuttleworth earns a spot on the Agenda Setters list.
A serial entrepreneur who sold his security company Thawte to VeriSign in 1999, he has not been idle. Along with his open source efforts, he runs a not-for-profit to promote education in South Africa and in 2002 became the first African in space.
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