Storm in a teacup
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| cmost Oct 23, 2012 7:01 AM EDT |
Frankly, who cares what Canonical and Ubuntu does at this point? Because of myriad bonehead decisions by developers who chose to ignore the once thriving Ubuntu community and "go it alone" and Mark Shuttleworth's narcissistic demands to be the center of attention, Ubuntu is quickly slipping into irrelevancy. When one has upwards of 500 Linux distributions to choose from, including Linux Mint which uses Ubuntu's base but is truly innovating and community based or Mageia another tech darling based on the once most popular Linux distro Mandriva, one quickly realizes that one doesn't need Canonical or its stupid OS-X wannabe OS. Goodbye Ubuntu developers. Don't let the door hit you on your way to that locked backroom development center. Few will be waiting or care when you re-emerge with your shiny new Ubuntu 13.04. |
| dinotrac Oct 23, 2012 12:26 PM EDT |
cmost -- I wish that were true. I see an awful lot of developers sporting Macs these days, and my guess is that a Mac-like Ubuntu might be welcomed by some of those folks. |
| tracyanne Oct 23, 2012 4:33 PM EDT |
Just another Katherine Noyes rubbish piece with the usual suspects, nothing to see, move along. |
| Steven_Rosenber Oct 23, 2012 4:34 PM EDT |
Just to save you all the time, here is hairyfeet's contribution: "Shuttleworth has already seen the users bailing, seen the 'rise of the ripoffs' like Mint," Slashdot blogger hairyfeet chimed in. "What they are doing now is throwing things at the wall and hope that they stick." |
| cmost Oct 23, 2012 5:19 PM EDT |
@ dinotrac That's true, a lot of developers are sporting Macs these days...so are a lot of former PC users. While I am the first to concede that Mac OS-X is a top notch UNIX OS, I also recognize that there's a phenomenon among Apple users that buy Macs, iPads, iPhones and iPods because to own such devices are "cool." If you're a techno geek like me, you look at the hardware specs (or review Apples somewhat draconian licensing and patent policies in the marketplace) and you say "no thanks". But, to each his own. |
| tracyanne Oct 23, 2012 5:26 PM EDT |
If Hairyfeet said "What they are doing now is throwing things at the wall and hope that they stick." then I think we can safely assume the opposite is the case. I think what Markie is doing makes perfect commercial sense, Ubuntu/Unity isn't my cup of tea, and it isn't what a great many who saw Ubuntu as an easy Debian want, but Ubuntu/Unity, and other derivatives of Ubuntu, such as Zorin, which use the Ubuntu Software centre, and the underlying GNOME 3 libraries are what impress Windows refugees, who are looking for a cheaper, more secure, more stable Windows like experience. Even if the experience isn't actually Windows like, the majority of people want something where they can buy things with some degree of assurance that waht they get is what they paid for. Ubuntu/Unity and the commercial stuff markie is adding promises that. |
| JaseP Oct 24, 2012 1:05 PM EDT |
Thing is,... Many third party packages (Hulu Desktop as one example) are released in binary for only two distros; Fedora & Ubuntu. That will keep Ubuntu relevant for some time, at least. Personally, I've switched to Kubuntu... for most of my machines, at least. I now tend to stick with LTS releases, if I can help it. Change can be too much of a hassle, when things are just working right. |
| Steven_Rosenber Oct 24, 2012 6:05 PM EDT |
Hulu Desktop? Never heard of that. I'm intrigued. |
| JaseP Oct 25, 2012 9:59 AM EDT |
Nice app, but buggy under KDE,... You have to manually tweak its config file to allow the exact screen rez and full screen. |
| vainrveenr Oct 28, 2012 3:42 PM EDT |
Quoting:I think what Markie is doing makes perfect commercial sense, Ubuntu/Unity isn't my cup of tea, and it isn't what a great many who saw Ubuntu as an easy Debian want, but Ubuntu/Unity, and other derivatives of Ubuntu, such as Zorin, which use the Ubuntu Software centre, and the underlying GNOME 3 libraries are what impress Windows refugees, who are looking for a cheaper, more secure, more stable Windows like experience.OTOH, while this commentator may insist that "what Markie is doing makes perfect commercial sense", others continue to question such decisions, e.g., author Sam Varghese in the recent piece entitled 'Mark Shuttleworth's big mistake', linked to at LXer via http://lxer.com/module/newswire/view/175606. Perhaps it may be more illuminating to focus upon the actual message of pieces such as Vargese's, rather than on the messenger(s) ?? |
| HoTMetaL Oct 28, 2012 7:23 PM EDT |
Varghese's rant is garbage, not message. He goes on and on about the many times that Shutlleworth has pizzed off the "community" and then fails to provide any examples of said pizzing, sans the Amazon Search idea. So what if Varghese "questions such decisions." Who cares, really? People will always question. It doesn't make it an important "message." It's just some guy's opinion. I don't use Ubuntu and Unity isn't for me, but I call bu11**** when I see it. Regardless of where I think Ubuntu may be heading, I hope it works out for them in the end. I'd rather see another successful, commercialized Linux desktop than another failed Lindows. |
| caitlyn Oct 29, 2012 3:23 PM EDT |
Quoting:Varghese's rant is garbage, not message.As always... This is the same guy who launched into personal attacks on me because I dared write that Ubuntu users did, in fact, have the right to ask for a decent product. Fortunately his editors pulled the libelous bits. I have yet to see anything from Mr. Varghese I'd consider credible and valuable. |
| Steven_Rosenber Oct 29, 2012 6:26 PM EDT |
If Microsoft or Apple included sponsored Amazon results, from which they stood to get a piece of the action, when you searched your drive, can you imagine the uproar FROM LINUX USERS? But it's OK if Ubuntu does it? |
| jdixon Oct 29, 2012 7:19 PM EDT |
> But it's OK if Ubuntu does it? That's for each person to decide for themselves. But for me, no. |
| tracyanne Oct 29, 2012 7:21 PM EDT |
@steven, I don't give a rats who does it. As far as I'm concerned it's a non issue. |
| Steven_Rosenber Oct 29, 2012 10:52 PM EDT |
Honestly, while this advertising on the desktop might not be as bad as it looks, a for-profit company run by a multimillionaire/billionaire, whose product is built squarely on the shoulders of non-profit, non-corporate Debian, asking for DONATIONS ... it just doesn't smell right. |
| HoTMetaL Oct 29, 2012 11:28 PM EDT |
Here we go with the generating income from free software is wrong method of thinking. My guess is that Ubuntu has costs it must cover to continue its operations, and it's ex-CEO isn't willing to shoulder said costs for eternity. I also don't care what Ubuntu does as it wouldn't affect me even if I used it. Pricey Microsoft & Apple operating systems shouldn't be given equal consideration when discussing what's right and wrong with generating revenue on the backs of its user base with that of no-cost operating systems who must seek a means to survive. |
| Steven_Rosenber Oct 30, 2012 7:42 PM EDT |
So you're saying that what's not OK for Microsoft and Apple is OK for Ubuntu because Ubuntu is available for free? What other Linux distribution is doing this to its users? Hell, what other OS in general is doing it? |
| BernardSwiss Oct 30, 2012 8:24 PM EDT |
The problem is not about Ubuntu making a profit from FLOSS -- that's a red herring. The problem is choosing to implement things like, by default, infringe user privacy in order to generate that revenue (eg. the folding of Amazon search into desktop search -- if the same "feature" had been offered as an opt-in service, easily toggled by even the techno-clueless customers that Canonical is reaching out to, no one would have minded, and many would have praised this as a small but genuine innovation). We all hope that Canonical/Ubuntu becomes a great success -- we just don't like some of the things it's done in pursuit of that goal. And additionally, since Canonical made a great deal of its ethical/moral/philosophical foundations, they can expect departures from such a standard to be criticized, as well. |
| tuxchick Oct 30, 2012 11:10 PM EDT |
Quickly, open a window-- the blogothphere is thickening. |
| Steven_Rosenber Oct 31, 2012 12:43 PM EDT |
What's it really like "inside" Canonical? I wonder. |
| DrGeoffrey Oct 31, 2012 5:24 PM EDT |
Quoting:What's it really like "inside" Canonical? I wonder. The bozone? Eh, nevermind. That's not really fair. |
| HoTMetaL Nov 01, 2012 1:42 AM EDT |
Quoting:So you're saying that what's not OK for Microsoft and Apple is OK for Ubuntu because Ubuntu is available for free?Yes I am. When I pay for an operating system, I don't expect to be (asked | forced | tricked) to continue generating revenue for Apple or Microsoft. What I'm not saying, however, is that Canonical is doing it the best way. Clearly they aren't. |
| caitlyn Nov 01, 2012 4:51 PM EDT |
The EFF called out Ubuntu for privacy and security concerns. It's not just the "blogothphere". (My brain hurts just thinking about how tuxchick's word would actually sound.) |
| Steven_Rosenber Nov 01, 2012 8:49 PM EDT |
Can we all just agree that Ubuntu never does anything wrong and should be held to a different set of standards than everybody else? |
| andyprough Nov 02, 2012 4:12 AM EDT |
Why is it always the Debian derivatives that come up with these weird ideas about how to make money? Xandros, Lindows/Linspire, Ubuntu. What's wrong with the Red Hat/SuSE model of selling support & maintenance contracts? I'm surprised after all these years that a smart guy like Shuttleworth hasn't figured out that if he really wants to make money, he needs to try to beat Red Hat at its own game. Its not as though Red Hat's systems are so hassle-free to work with that they couldn't use the competition. |
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