About Ultima Linux

Ultima Linux is a free operating system for Intel- and AMD-compatible personal computers. It is designed to be fast, stable, secure, and above all, convenient. Originally intended as a lightweight, techie-oriented desktop operating system, it has since evolved into one of the most “user-friendly” Linux distributions available, and is (in our opinion, anyway) a great alternative to proprietary systems such as Microsoft Windows.

Ultima Linux was originally developed by Martin Ultima, and is now maintained by an active user community on the Ultima Linux forums. It is available for free download from this Web site, via the BitTorrent file-sharing protocol. Ultima Linux contains no viruses or spyware.

Ultima Linux uses the Slackware package format, and is compatible with recent Slackware releases. However, it is an independently-developed distribution using a separate source tree, and has been extensively patched to provide features such as 64-bit support that Slackware does not include. (More on our relationship to Slackware.) Ultima Linux emphasizes “convenience” over “ease of use”: It does not try to hold your hand, but rather does what you tell it and gets out of the way.

Although it is marketed mainly as a desktop operating system, Ultima Linux also includes a fully-functional software development and network server environment. Developer and server features are not included on the standard LiveCD due to space limitations, but can be installed from separate package sets, and are available on the LiveDVD.

About this Web site

UltimaLinux.com is the official homepage of the Ultima Linux operating system. Along with the primary homepage, it includes a user-maintained wiki, and a technical support forum, both of which are home to a very active user community. The Web site is hosted on a Linode 360 running Ultima Linux 8.3; BitTorrent downloads are hosted externally by LinuxTracker.

The current site design, titled “Evil Penguin Invasion,” was completed on October 14, 2007. It is designed to work best in popular Web browsers such as Konqueror, Opera, Firefox, and Internet Explorer, but is also fully usable in text-mode browsers such as Elinks and Lynx. It uses dark backgrounds (to reduce eyestrain and display energy consumption), and minimal, entirely optional JavaScript; there is absolutely no Flash or other proprietary content on this homepage.

This site supports and encourages the use of strong cryptography. A secure HTTP connection is available (warning: self-signed certificate), and all developer access is maintained over secure protocols such as SSH. Needless to say, this cryptographic functionality is included by default in every Ultima Linux release.

Copyright information

The majority of the programs included in Ultima Linux are covered by the GNU General Public License version 2, among other open-source licenses. Complete license details for each package are provided under /usr/doc. Original code is copyright © Martin Ultima and/or The Ultima Linux Project. All other code is the property of its original authors or copyright owners.

The complete source code for all current Ultima Linux release(s) should be available from the Get Ultima! page. If source code is not available, please contact the developers as described below to request a copy.

With the exception of the documentation wiki, which is covered by the GNU Free Documentation License, the contents of the Ultima Linux Web site are copyright © by their respective authors, and may not be copied or redistributed without said authors’ explicit permission. This includes text, image, and video content on the main Ultima site, and all support forum posts. This does not apply to the Ultima Linux product itself, the licensing of which is described above.

Funding the project

Ultima Linux is funded primarily through advertising on the Ultima Linux.com site. All advertisements are handled via Google AdSense. For technical reasons, we currently do not take donations via PayPal or other payment mechanisms, although we hope this will change sometime in the near future.

Contacting us

The preferred means of technical support is the Ultima Linux Support Forums. Please DO NOT e-mail the developers with support requests. This allows us to process queries more quickly, saves duplication of effort for common issues (chances are good your question’s already been answered), and makes it easier to archive and reference past discussions. Our forum allows, and will always allow, anonymous posting if – for whatever reason – you cannot (or don’t wish to) register an account.

If you are not looking for tech support, all official communications regarding Ultima Linux should be directed to our generic contact address, <info@ultimalinux.com>. If secure communication is necessary, please contact Martin Ultima <multima@ultimapcs.dyndns.org> directly using his PGP public key.