Surprise, surprise!
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| Grishnakh Nov 08, 2011 11:39 PM EDT |
I wonder what Mark thinks about this. I don't think Ubuntu's going to be around that much longer; eventually, the money's going to run out, or Mark will get tired of it after tons of users abandon it and his dumbed-down Unity, and it's going to disappear overnight. Mint, being the new top distro, needs to be prepared for this, and should be trying to rebase off of Debian for all its editions, not just LMDE, so that when Ubuntu goes the way of the do-do, Mint won't have any trouble with the transition. It'll be sad to see Kubuntu, Lubuntu, Xubuntu, and edubuntu go away, but they only exist at Mark's whim anyway; I wouldn't be too surprised to see more hostility toward these offshoots from Canonical as their Unity plans go up in smoke. |
| caitlyn Nov 08, 2011 11:51 PM EDT |
The direction Ubuntu has gone with Unity is the same direction Microsoft has gone with Windows 8 and Apple has gone with MacOS Lion. Ubuntu was there first. A lot of young people are used to the smartphone/tablet type interface and I expect Unity will appeal to those people. We need to remember that seasoned Linux users are not the target audience for Ubuntu. It is trying to appeal to the masses. I actually think what Mark Shuttleworth is doing is smart from a business perspective even if the existing Linux community hates it. |
| tuxchick Nov 09, 2011 12:18 AM EDT |
I think people are getting a little too berserk about Unity. Gnome 2 is dead and gone, so Ubuntu was going to change regardless. Don't forget there is whole family of good Ubuntus: Lubuntu, Edubuntu, Xubuntu, Kubuntu, Ubuntu Server. They all share the same software repos, so it's easy to try any and all of them from a single installation. Canonical have done a lot of good work, and are supportive and helpful to independent Linux OEMs, and are making inroads into various commercial channels, which is no small achievement. Mark S has a talent for antagonizing people and coming across as arrogant and elitist; he and RMS both need keepers. But with the Gnome team haring off in a completely different direction-- again-- and dumping their existing user base-- again-- the Ubuntu of old was doomed. |
| lcafiero Nov 09, 2011 12:32 AM EDT |
That's a good point, tuxchick -- let Ubuntu go where it will, vaya con dios, and if you want to use something on a machine that's larger than something you hold in your hand, there's always the other 'buntus (I have Xubuntu on one of the laptops here). |
| Grishnakh Nov 09, 2011 1:49 PM EDT |
@caitlyn: Young people who just play on Facebook all day and want smartphone interfaces aren't going to be downloading Ubuntu, or buying it preloaded either; they're just going to buy the latest Apple or Microsoft offering because that's what all their friends have, it's a well-known brand name, etc. At the best, they might buy a tablet running Android, which is something else they've probable heard of. "Ubuntu"? What's that? Seasoned Linux users are the only ones who know what "Ubuntu" is, and they don't like it any more. @Icafiero: My point earlier is that there's not always the other 'buntus: if Mark's gambit here flops, as I believe it will, and Canonical disappears, all those other 'buntus are going to disappear along with it. |
| lcafiero Nov 09, 2011 3:00 PM EDT |
Grishnakh -- I think you're wrong there, and I don't think you give the other 'buntus enough credit. Even without Canonical and/or Mark, I think these projects would still go on. Besides, it'll be awhile before Shuttleworth runs out of money, if his gambit, as you put it, doesn't work. |
| JaseP Nov 09, 2011 3:33 PM EDT |
I'd say it's 50%/50% for seasoned/new young. On one hand, that's Shuttleworth ticking off 50% more people than he could/should. On the other hand, he's betting he'll have replacements for that former 50%. Time will tell. The silver lining, any way you look at it, is that sources are still around for Ubuntu's changes, even if they go 6 feet under. I think predictions of their demise are premature, though. |
| gus3 Nov 09, 2011 5:27 PM EDT |
The project may go on, but who will host the repos? That bandwidth costs money. |
| JaseP Nov 09, 2011 5:28 PM EDT |
Who hosts the mirrors now?!?! |
| Steven_Rosenber Nov 09, 2011 5:38 PM EDT |
I think there are a lot of places -- universities, companies, even ISPs -- that provide server space and bandwidth for open-source projects in general (and Linux/Unix distributions in particular). |
| tracyanne Nov 09, 2011 6:30 PM EDT |
I think it's highly unlikely that Canonical will go under, at least if it does not because of Unity. The strategy seems quite sound to me, as much as I might dislike Unity and all the other me too tablet/touch desktops (the thing is I would probably enjoy Unity if I was using a Tablet or other handheld touch device). The majority of people will be using Tablet/touch devices. The reason Canonical might go under is if they can't get traction with the device manufacturers, and therefore get Ubuntu on Phones and Tablets and other smaller form factor devices where touch is important. If they can't do tht then they are back to the same position that all other Linux Distributions are at, after market installs, and that does not a viable business make. |
| Koriel Nov 10, 2011 1:15 AM EDT |
I think im with @Grish on this one, Im not convinced that Canonical have a valid business case as I seriously don't believe they will gain any traction in the already saturated small device market which as @tracyanne has already commented on, that unless they do they pretty much join the ranks of other Linux distro's. Unless they come up with a miracle I give them until Mark's cash runs out. |
| flufferbeer Nov 10, 2011 2:40 AM EDT |
I think that as long as any *buntu performs "acceptably" on whatever platform it must, then Ubuntu will remain popular even if Mint starts ruling the roost. If there is any chance of bigtime ongoing confusion for Ubuntu users, or if FUD-like legal attacks against Canonical gain traction, then maybe Ubuntu itself will more RAPIDLY decline even if it completely moves over to those "smaller form factor devices where touch is important" (as tracyanne writes). My 2c. |
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