The VAR Guy

Just when I thought Ubuntu developers were going to take a break from reinventing the user interface to focus on other pursuits, such as Ubuntu TV, Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth announced a new endeavor, the Head-Up Display, designed to replace window menus. Here’s a look at the plans and what they could mean for the Linux world.

It’s official: Canonical’s foray into the world of phones, tablets and even TVs has begun. Or at least, that’s what the introduction of formal development channels for these categories suggests. Here’s the latest, and what it says about Ubuntu’s future.

For at least five years, Ubuntu has been the pre-eminent Linux distribution for desktop users. None of the other polished distros, such as Fedora or Debian, came close to capturing Canonical’s market share or mind share in the open source world. But writing on the wall is beginning to suggest that the Age of Ubuntu could be coming to an end, at least on the desktop. Here’s why.

It’s the buzz heard around the Internet, Ubuntu’s evangelist and founder Mark Shuttleworth has made a bigger push at the Ubuntu Developer Summit to put the Ubuntu Linux operating system on mobile devices, from phones to tablets. But is this realistic talk or just hypothetical hype? Here’s why I think this idea is already dead in the water.

Speculation in recent days suggests Ubuntu plans to adopt a “rolling” release schedule, pushing out upgraded applications constantly rather than in six-month increments.  Such a policy would mean major changes in the Ubuntu experience, for both personal and commercial users.  Here are some thoughts.

Close on the heels of the controversial announcement two weeks ago that Unity would replace GNOME as the default desktop interface in the next version of Ubuntu, Canonical’s independent streak continued recently with news that it plans to move Ubuntu away from its dependence on X.org.  Here are the details, and what this means to Canonical’s larger plans.

Many Ubuntu users will undoubtedly have strong opinions on Canonical’s recent proposal to replace the GNOME desktop with Unity in the Ubuntu 11.04 release.  But for the programmers behind GNOME, one of the open-source community’s most important projects, the announcement might prove to be even more upsetting.  Jon McCann, lead designer for GNOME Shell, recently shared his thoughts on this topic with us–and he was none too charitable in his comments on Canonical.  Read on for details.

The latest Ubuntu Developer Summit has only just begun, but Canonical has already announced objectives for the next Ubuntu release that could drastically alter the look and focus of millions of Linux desktops around the world.  Here are the details, along with some thoughts on how this news affects the rest of the open-source ecosystem.

Amid heightened competition in the Linux market, Canonical — the promoter of Ubuntu Linux — is growing up and pushing beyond the massive shadow of founder Mark Shuttleworth (pictured). Here’s the evidence and some perspective from The VAR Guy.

A few weeks ago, we took a look at how Ubuntu use varied by country.  I’m still on a bit of a demographic kick, so I decided to do some research on another pertinent topic: the median age of Ubuntu users.  Here’s what I found.

It’s official: Ubuntu 10.04 Long Term Support arrives April 29, and this particular blogger was privy to the press conference about it. Canonical Chairman Mark Shuttleworth and CEO Jane Silber discussed the plans and progress of new operating system, and then fielded some Q and A. The key news:  More than 80 ISVs are supporting Ubuntu. But here’s what it means for the desktop users and Canonical as a whole…

As Ubuntu 10.04 nears its official launch later this week, the Ubuntu hype could become overwhelming. There’s a lot to like in Canonical’s latest Linux distribution. But Canonical’s partner program remains a work in progress. Here are three steps Canonical will need to make in order for Ubuntu to gain critical mass with channel partners.

The official stable release of Ubuntu 10.04 is only days away.  That means we can finally list all of the new features to expect in the next longterm-support version of Ubuntu, without having the developers change them every other day.  With that in mind, here’s a look at what to expect when you upgrade to Lucid Lynx on Thursday.

It’s one small step for Dell, and one big strategic win for Canonical’s Ubuntu Linux cloud strategy. Specifically, Dell on March 24 said it would support Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud (UEC) as an infrastructure solution. Apparently, Canonical and Dell have been developing this UEC relationship for more than six months. Here are the details and the implications for channel partners.

I must concede: Sometimes I worry Canonical is trying to do too much too soon with Ubuntu. From mobile devices all the way to enterprise servers and cloud computing, founder Mark Shuttleworth has big aspirations for Ubuntu. There are times when I think Canonical is stretched too thin on multiple fronts. But just when I get really worried, the company makes a major move that impresses me. A case in point: Open source expert Matt Asay has joined Canonical as chief operating officer. It’s a big move for Canonical, Ubuntu and Asay. Here’s why.

The major Linux distribution providers — Red Hat, Novell and Canonical — are preparing to attend IBM’s Lotusphere 2010 conference (Orlando, January 17-21). The VAR Guy is keeping a particularly close eye on Canonical, backer of Ubuntu. Here’s why.

Mark Shuttleworth, founder of Canonical and Ubuntu, sat for a video interview with Dell Cloud Computing Evangelist Barton George. In it, Shuttleworth takes a “service pack” shot at Windows 7 and covers numerous questions about Canonical’s business and cloud strategy. Here’s the video — plus some perspectives from WorksWithU.

Canonical CEO Mark Shuttleworth announced objectives for Ubuntu 10.04, a.k.a “Lucid Lynx,” to attendees of the Atlanta Linux Fest (more conference coverage) last week.  Here’s a look at the major points highlighted by Shuttleworth, and what they mean for the future of Ubuntu.

Launchpad, a Web application developed by Canonical for managing software development, was finally open-sourced last week.  But with a number of its other products remaining proprietary, what are Canonical’s real intentions towards living by the free-software ideology that drives projects like Ubuntu?

Over the last few years, various figures have been put forth as measures of Ubuntu’s desktop market share, with some sources contradicting themselves and most sources contradicting the other ones.  Below, we take a look at different attempts to put a number on Ubuntu’s popularity, and explore the various shortcomings and ambiguities involved in all of them.

One of the greatest problems hindering desktop Linux is its diversity.  With 800+ distributions, dozens of user interfaces and lots of different applications that do the same things, it’s no secret that the Linux world is convoluted for developers and users.  But if Mark Shuttleworth has his way, the free-software community might become a little saner.

Unlike proprietary platforms, Ubuntu allows end users to interact directly with developers through Launchpad’s bug-reporting system. In some cases, this approach allows bugs to be discovered and resolved quickly. In most situations, however, open bug tracking is a fiasco that Ubuntu would be better off without. Here’s why.

Hats off to the Ubuntu Podcast team for this video podcast with Canonical CEO Mark Shuttleworth. Solid conversation about the future of Ubuntu.