Boston Celtics' Secret Battle Cry: Ubuntu

The Boston Celtics are closing in on another NBA championship after having adopted ubuntu as their rallying cry at the beginning of the season.This may come as a disappointment to Linux devotees, but it's not the popular open source operating system that's inspiring headliners Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett to gracefully sink the ball through those hoops over and over again.

Rather, it's the concept behind the name of that particular flavor Linux that's helped put the team 2 - 0 over the Los Angeles Lakers.

Canonical, Ubuntu's maker, says ubuntu is "an African word, which has been described as 'too beautiful to translate into English'. The essence of ubuntu is that 'a person is a person through other people'. It describes humanity as "being-with-others" and prescribes what "being-with-others" should be all about."

For now, the Celtics are keeping ubuntu away from the marketing spotlight. But if they bring another NBA championship home to the 'Gahden' this month, we may see other teams muscling in on the powers of ubuntu.

Read more about how coach Doc Rivers brought ubuntu to his team, and listen to a report about the Celtics and ubuntu here.

Follow the team's progress through the finals here.