Mark Shuttleworth facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Mark Shuttleworth
|
|
|---|---|
Shuttleworth in Dublin, 2011
|
|
| Born |
Mark Richard Shuttleworth
18 September 1973 Welkom, Orange Free State, South Africa
|
| Nationality | South African and British |
| Occupation | Entrepreneur |
| Space career | |
| Space Adventures Tourist | |
|
Time in space
|
9d 21h 25m |
| Missions | Soyuz TM-34/TM-33 |
|
Mission insignia
|
  |
Mark Richard Shuttleworth was born on 18 September 1973. He is a South African and British businessman. He started a company called Canonical. This company is known for creating the Ubuntu Linux operating system.
In 2002, Mark Shuttleworth became the first person from Africa to travel into space. He went as a space tourist. He has citizenship in both South Africa and the United Kingdom.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Mark Shuttleworth was born in Welkom, Free State, South Africa. His father was a surgeon, and his mother was a nursery-school teacher.
He went to Western Province Preparatory School. Later, he attended Bishops/Diocesan College. He was the Head Boy at both schools.
He studied at the University of Cape Town. There, he earned a degree in Finance and Information Systems. While he was a student, he helped set up the university's first internet connections for students living on campus.
Starting Businesses
Thawte Consulting
In 1995, Mark Shuttleworth started his first company, Thawte Consulting. This company focused on digital certificates and Internet security. Digital certificates help make sure websites are safe to use. Thawte became one of the biggest companies in this field.
In December 1999, he sold Thawte to another company called VeriSign. This sale made him a lot of money.
HBD Venture Capital
After selling Thawte, Mark Shuttleworth started HBD Venture Capital in September 2000. This company helps new businesses grow. It invests money in promising new ideas.
Canonical Ltd.
In March 2004, he created Canonical Ltd.. This company supports and promotes free software projects. Its most famous project is the Ubuntu operating system.
Ubuntu is a type of computer software. It is free for anyone to use and change. Mark Shuttleworth was the CEO of Canonical for many years. He stepped down in 2009 but returned as CEO in 2017.
His Work with Linux and Free Software
.jpg)
Mark Shuttleworth has been very involved with free and open-source software (FOSS). This type of software allows people to use, study, change, and share it freely.
In the 1990s, he worked as a developer for the Debian operating system. Debian is another popular free operating system.
The Shuttleworth Foundation
In 2001, he started the Shuttleworth Foundation. This is a non-profit group. It helps new ideas that benefit society. It also supports educational and free software projects in South Africa. One project was the Freedom Toaster, which helped people get free software easily.
Funding Ubuntu
In 2004, Mark Shuttleworth decided to fund the creation of Ubuntu. Ubuntu is a version of Linux based on Debian. His company, Canonical Ltd., developed it.
In 2005, he also started the Ubuntu Foundation. He invested a large amount of money to help it grow. In the Ubuntu community, people sometimes jokingly call him the "Self-Appointed Benevolent Dictator for Life" (SABDFL). This shows his important role in guiding the project.
He even took Debian software archives with him on a trip to Antarctica. He used this time to find people who could help with the Ubuntu project.
Other Contributions
In 2006, Mark Shuttleworth became the first patron of KDE. KDE is another important free software project. He supported Kubuntu, which is a version of Ubuntu that uses KDE.
In 2010, he received an honorary degree from the Open University. This award recognized his work in the field of free software.
Journey to Space
Mark Shuttleworth became famous worldwide on 25 April 2002. He was the second person to pay for his own trip to space. He was also the first South African to go to space.
He flew with a company called Space Adventures. He launched aboard the Russian Soyuz TM-34 mission. He paid about US$20 million for this amazing journey.
Two days later, his spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station (ISS). He spent eight days there. During his time on the ISS, he took part in scientific experiments. These experiments included research on AIDS and genomes.
On 5 May 2002, he returned safely to Earth on Soyuz TM-33. To prepare for his spaceflight, Mark Shuttleworth trained for a whole year. Seven months of this training took place in Star City, Russia.
While in space, he spoke to Thabo Mbeki, who was the president of South Africa at the time. This conversation was part of the Freedom Day celebrations. He also had a radio chat with Nelson Mandela and a young South African girl.
Transportation
Mark Shuttleworth owns a private jet. It is a Bombardier Global Express. People sometimes call it Canonical One. The plane has a dragon painted on its side. This dragon is named Norman, and it is the mascot for his HBD Venture Capital company.
Images for kids
-
Soyuz TM-34 mission logo
-
Soyuz TM-33 mission patch
See also
In Spanish: Mark Shuttleworth para niños
