Canonical announced the very first release of the Ubuntu Linux distribution on October 20, 2004. Five years later, Ubuntu is the star of the Linux desktop and has achieved a level of popularity and mindshare that is unprecedented among the various flavors of the open source operating system.

This ascent to stardom and growing mainstream relevance were driven by a confluence of important technical and philosophical characteristics that differentiate the Ubuntu experience. In honor of Ubuntu's fifth anniversary, we are going to look at five ways that Ubuntu has made the Linux platform more human.

1. The Ubuntu Code of Conduct

The Ubuntu Linux distribution is named after an African philosophical principle which holds that the betterment of the individual and community are interconnected. This philosophy is at the core of Ubuntu development and is formalized in the Ubuntu code of conduct, a simple set of rules that Ubuntu members commit to follow. Although the contents of the code of conduct are well within the boundaries of common sense, having a codified standard encourages respectful and considerate collaboration, making Ubuntu more inclusive and welcoming to new contributors.

The code of conduct was recently updated to boost its clarity and expressiveness. Benjamin Mako Hill, one of the original authors of the code, wrote about its conception in a blog entry today.

"On my first day working for the company that would become Canonical, I talked with Mark Shuttleworth about some ideas for community governance. Partially in reaction to some harsh behavior in other free software projects we'd worked on, Mark and I agreed that some sort of explicit standard for behavior in Ubuntu would be a good thing. Over lunch of what was my literally first day working on Ubuntu, I wrote a draft of code of conduct that was essentially the version that Ubuntu has used until today," he wrote. "The code has become a sort of constitution of our community and a widely enforced standard. People treat the code as a reflection of what 'Ubuntu'—both the concept and our project—stands for."

2. Short, time-based release cycles

Ubuntu was born as a derivative of the venerable Debian project. One of the most serious weaknesses of Debian is its long development cycles and unpredictable release schedule. Ubuntu adopted a consistent six-month cycle based on the GNOME release model. This means that users always have access to the latest desktop software. The predictability has also helped to make Ubuntu popular with hardware vendors.

3. Easy installation from a single CD image

Ubuntu can be installed from a single CD image which provides a comprehensive desktop environment, including an open source office suite. The emphasis on delivering a highly refined core environment instead of a software smorgasbord is an important aspect of Ubuntu. Users don't have to choose what software they want during the installation process. Ubuntu is largely responsible for popularizing Live CD installation, a model that has since been adopted by other distros. Ubuntu is also very easy to install alongside Windows thanks to Wubi.

4. Convenient access to useful proprietary components

Although the Ubuntu developers aim to provide a free and open desktop, the distro makes it easy to install important proprietary components that many users require to have a functioning Linux system. The difficulty of installing these bits on other mainstream Linux distributions had previously been an impediment to many prospective Linux adopters. Ubuntu's restricted driver tool will automatically detect and optionally install proprietary drivers that are required by the user's hardware. The distro also includes a codec tool that will help users install the GStreamer packages that they need to play certain video content.

5. Strong focus on improving desktop usability

The Ubuntu developers are committed to improving usability in the distro itself and in upstream projects that are used in the default Ubuntu installation. This strong focus on usability has been present since the earliest days of Ubuntu and has grown considerably over the past year. Canonical recruited a team of professional designers and interaction experts in 2008 and launched the Ayatana project earlier this year as an umbrella for various usability initiatives such as the Papercuts effort.

These aspects of Ubuntu have all contributed to the distro's remarkable success. Ubuntu has come a long way over the past five years but still has a long road ahead before the infamous Bug #1 can be closed. The upcoming release of Ubuntu 9.10, scheduled for next week, is another important step forward.

Listing image by Kattni Rembor