As he lays out his vision for the future of open-source software, Mark Shuttleworth is enthusiastic, but he looks tired. He has been up late negotiating yet another deal as part of his mission to bring open source to a wider audience. A successful South African entrepreneur during the dotcom era, he wants open-source advocates to lose their religion and concentrate on ease-of-use instead. And he is putting his money where his mouth is. Since 2004, he has been using his fortune to fund the Ubuntu project, which makes a user-friendly version of Linux, the open-source operating system. Ubuntu is a Zulu and Xhosa term that roughly means “universal bond of sharing between humans”. Ubuntu's slogan is “Linux for human beings”, and it is aimed at mainstream computer users. For although Linux is popular on servers, it is not, so far, used on many desktops.
In part that is because open-source software tends to polarise opinion. It has many critics who suspect that software written by idealistic guys, and made available free to anyone who wants to download it, must be some kind of communist plot. Zealous believers, meanwhile, long for open source to triumph over the evil empires of commercial software. This clash is often depicted as an epic struggle between Linux and Microsoft's proprietary Windows operating system. But the truth is that most computer users do not know or care about the politics of open-source software. Mr Shuttleworth says most people simply want to read their e-mail, browse the web and so on.
“It's very easy to declare victory,” says Mr Shuttleworth, describing the conceited attitude of some open-source supporters. “There are big chunks of the software world that depend on free software.” But Ubuntu's aim is not to conquer the software establishment and replace its products. Rather than seeing open-source software as one of two competing ideologies and focusing on the struggle, Ubuntu thinks about the user. Ubuntu is a complete bundle of software, from operating system to applications and programming tools, that is updated every six months and, says Mr Shuttleworth, will always be free. Taking the debate out of open source is intended to move adoption beyond politically motivated enthusiasts and encourage mass adoption of the software on its merits.
It is a bold scheme, but Mr Shuttleworth is not a man to think small. He was raised in a suburb of Cape Town, an unlikely place from which to join the internet revolution. Yet that was his goal from the day he first used a web browser. When he saw that the internet was switching from a text-based to a graphical medium, “I sensed that everything was going to change,” he says. He spent a couple of years looking for the right way to get involved, given his situation. “I had to find something to do that was cutting-edge, without requiring much bandwidth or venture capital,” he says. He succeeded handsomely by setting up a company, Thawte, that made digital certificates and security software to support internet commerce. He sold the firm for over $500m to VeriSign in 1999, near the peak of the dotcom boom.
注（1）：本文选自Economist, 07/7/2007
注（2）：本文习题命题模仿对象为2004年真题Text 3。
1． By the word “religion” (Line 4, Paragraph 1), the author means _______.
[A] Christianity
[B] religious advocation
[C] mysterious thoughts
[D] crazy belief
2． How does the author feel about the Ubuntu project?
[A] Objective
[B] Optimistic
[C] Discouraging
[D] Confused
3． When mentioning “Mr Shuttleworth is not a man to think small” (Line 1, Paragraph 4) the author means _______.
[A] Mr Shuttleworth does not look small.
[B] Mr Shuttleworth is very ambitious.
[C] Mr Shuttleworth does not like to think about small things.
[D] Mr Shuttleworth only cares about important things.
4． What is the difference between Mr Shuttleworth and zealous open-source advocates?
[A] Mr Shuttleworth focuses on the software’s popularity.
[B] Mr Shuttleworth does not believe in religion.
[C] Other advocates only care about the political fight.
[D] Other advocates are not aware of the software’s merits.
5． Which of the following is NOT the characteristic of the Ubuntu software?
[A] It is free to download from internet.
[B] It is updated every six months.
[C] It can only be used on server.
[D] It can be used by anyone who has access to internet.
篇章剖析
本文是一篇说明文，主要讲述了南非富商马克·沙特尔沃思意在普及开源软件的努力。第一段简要介绍了沙特尔沃思希望普及开源软件的想法和他的Ubuntu项目；第二段笔锋一转，讨论了对于开源软件的两点不利因素；第三段中沙特尔沃思辩解和阐述了他坚持自己信念和项目的理由；第四段简要介绍了沙特尔沃思的背景、经历和产生支持开源软件想法的原因。
词汇注释
advocate [`AdvEkit] n. 提倡者, 鼓吹者 chunk [tFQNk] n. 相当大的数量
bond [bCnd] n. 结合,联结 bundle [`bQndl] n. 捆, 束, 包
polarise [`pEulEraiz] v. 使两极分化 adoption [E`dCpFEn] n. 采用
zealous [`zelEs] adj.热心的，狂热的 bold [bEuld] adj. 大胆的
triumph [`traiEmf] v. 获得胜利 scheme [ski:m] n. 安排, 配置, 计划
clash [klAF] n. 冲突 cutting-edge adj.前沿的
conceited [kEn`si:tid] adj. 自以为是的, 傲慢的 bandwidth [`bAndwidW] n. 精力
难句突破
Since 2004, he has been using his fortune to fund the Ubuntu project, which makes a user-friendly version of Linux, the open-source operating system.