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New Ubuntu Foundation Announced
AccUser writes "Mark Shuttleworth and Canonical Ltd, founders of the popular Ubuntu
Linux-based operating system, have today announced the creation of The
Ubuntu Foundation with an initial funding commitment of US$10m. From the article: 'The Ubuntu Foundation will employ core Ubuntu community members to ensure that Ubuntu will remain fully supported for an extended period of time, and continue to produce new releases of the distribution. As a first step, the Foundation announces that Ubuntu version 6.04, due for release in April 2006, will be supported for three years on the desktop and five years on the server.'"
I am very impressed by Ubuntu ease of use, and even more, by their commitment. When you have such an active community and big money behind such a project, it has a very good chance to succeed. It is amazing how much the folks at Ubuntu pay attention to minor usability issues.
If Linux ever becomes mainstream, it will be because of distributions like Ubuntu.
Not sure why yours weren't sent out, but mine definitely were.
I ordered 20 x86 versions and 15 x86_64 versions, and they arrived in a semi-timely manner.
Isn't it time that some of those efforts were combined to get some kind of weight behind Linux as a whole, or are companies like IBM and Novell already moving into their respective trenches when linux on the {Desk, lap, floor}top takes off? While i can understand these companies having their own distro as has been traditionally the case, but do we REALLY need another non-profit foundation that thinks it can topple the 800 pound Red Gorilla on it's own while trying to reinvent the wheel and juggling a mix of community support and paid support? I'm not trying to be an anti-linux jerk, i'm just wondering what Ubuntu has to offer that isn't in another distro already.
Will wank off Linus Torvalds for fame.
IMO Ubuntu is the distro most likely to break out into the main stream. I recently switched from Gentoo and can personally attest to the simplicity and ease of use of Ubuntu. The typical non-nerd doesn't want a command line; doesn't want to compile a custom kernel; doesn't know what "compiling" means. Ubuntu is perfect for the mainstream, and a guarantee that the project will continue is great news.
Long live Ubuntu! (And Kubuntu too)
I'm very happy that Ubuntu has come out of the gate, and done everything right. Since I've been using linux (1998) I've never seen any company so behind Linux as Cannonical have been, and I have a good feeling about this. Funny thing is, yesterday I just recieved my free Ubuntu cds; I 'ordered' 15 x86 versions, and 6 powerpc versions. I'm giving them to friends to try the 'live' option, and dropping them off at coffee cafe's, music stores and colleges. It's a good time to be using free software, and I think it can only HELP the world in coming together.
bad_outlook
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Is this vague enough for you?
$10m will make sound work out of the box :p
I am a bit confused because I see some people here give high praise for Ubuntu over Debian, things like how Debian is way too slow to release while Ubuntu is up to date, while others have pointed out that Ubuntu has the advantage where they can cherry pick the best things out of the x86 code that have gone through the rigorous testing in Debian.
From a support standpoint, when a security flaw is found, does Ubuntu fix it themselves (and thus make it available for Debian), or do they have to wait for the Debian packages to be fixed?
3 Years of desktop support and 5 years of server? The fact that Ubuntu is looking at long-term development for their OS instead of the usual 6-month fire-and-forget releases of many other Linux Distros subscribe to is an encouraging sign that Linux is coming of age.
Longer lifespans for Linux provides a level of security that will allow many users wary of switching over from Windows to start looking at a Linux distro as a serious replacement for their current OS. Just think: there IS an alternative to warning users that they have to buy a new OS for new features and security updates.
I'm only worried that theyll spend all $10m on pretzels and beer.
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Amadaeus
The last bastion of Mathie-ism
I just got a really cheap laptop and Mandriva(running on my desktop) didn't like it. Ubuntu just worked. And installing ndiswrapper for the wireless card was a piece of cake.
I've used Ubuntu as a rescue cd at work very reliably.
Can't wait until October for the next release.
This type of (financial) commitment to linux will do great things to silence (corporate) critics of FLOSS who say that there is no "structure and support" for linux. That's alot of money, and a solid commitment behind Ubuntu now. I'm glad that there are linux distros out there that are putting such an emphasis on having a product that is long-term, stable, and that will be patched/supported for a long time.
From my experience with Ubuntu (installed it with a friend on a brand-new powerbook), it is easy to use and works well. I really hope that the momentum Ubuntu is generating will continue... it is quickly becoming the best option for converting new users over to linux.
Ok, so now we have Ubuntu, Gentoo, Suse, Red hat, Mandriva, colinux, Yellow dog, Caldera
If they merged we could have UbunTuseYellowCoDrivaDeraDogHat.
If nothing else the domains should be readily available.
I want to drag this out as long as possible. Bring me my protractor.
I've been playing with Ubuntu lately, and I like it. There are some problems though:
Sound. I have to kill -9 the ESD process to get some applications to work. A lot of applications had to be tweaked individually after install.
Synaptic. Synaptic does its job, I can say that. But the user interface leaves a lot to be desired. I upgraded to Hoary yesterday. Why did that have to involve editing sources.list by hand?
Applications. Why the hell do newly installed applications need to be added to the menus manually? This is Ubuntu's biggest flaw. When you install a new program, you'd better know how to invoke it from the command line -- and good luck finding that out from Synaptic's description, which disappears after install anyway.
Firefox. Ubuntu's web browser of choice, Firefox, is unresponsive after opening new tabs. Firefox is much nicer in Windows. And IE for Windows is far more responsive than either.
Menus. I like the start menu organization. The "Places" menu is great. I was beginning to think that Linux was congenitally incapable of setting up the most important bit of UI on the system. The menu is even better in Hoary.
Folder Navigation. I don't like the fact that there is no back or up arrow when exploring file folders. This is massively stupid UI design.
All in all, it's a nice system. It's a million years behind Windows in usability; there is clunkiness present everywhere. But there are lots of free applications. As usual with Linux, it is so impossible to install or change anything without expert knowledge that you can safely recommend the system to your grandmother without the slightest fear that she will be able to mess anything up.
You are wrong wrong wrong. Ubuntu doesn't freeze sid. They work on packages. In fact durring the Hoary dev cycle you could see packages that were in Ubuntu that were no where near in Debian. Ubuntu Main is developed by Ubuntu developers in colaboration with Debian developers. What you are thinking of is the Universe, and even that is becoming less as the Masters of the Universe get up and running.
Ubuntu is a Debian derivative, but they are not mooching off of Debian. Ubuntu is providing value to its users and Debian. If you look at the Debian Gnome 2.10 packages, you see Ubuntu finger prints all over it.
Also Debian is not worsening. Its changing. THe project has become too large for the old, informal ways to work. Debian is evolving and though there are growing pains, its getting better. With the rise of teams and more formalization, Debian is looking healthier and healthier every day. They finally released Sarge, and now it looks as though Etch will be out in a timely manner.
Seriously, Debian isn't sick, its just changing. Ubuntu and Debian also already work very well together. Reference the Gnome 2.10 packages and the upcoming switch of debian to xorg. Both have Ubuntu Developers deeply involved because they are also Debian Developers and as Ubuntu Developers have already gone through it.
"We Don't Need No Truthless Heros!" - Project 86
Mark Shuttleworth, patron of the project, is a multi (multi-multi!) billionaire, who has been in space. He has stated that he would like for Ubuntu to be able to support itself, but if it doesn't, he doesn't mind at all as he mainly considers Ubuntu to be a way of giving back to the community.
The apt suite is Debian's package management system. Actually, I'm not sure if Red Hat came up with RPM or not. RPM.org isn't immediately clear on that point. But Red Hat is the distribution most strongly associated with RPM. I wish I could offer a comparison, but I couldn't offer a fair one. I tried Red Hat a few years ago and fell into "dependency hell," which is when a package manager can't figure out what needs to be installed. But this was several years ago. From what I gather, RPM is much better now. I've had no reason to switch from Debian though, so I haven't tried it since. Still, apt is nice. :-)
Strictly speaking, "ricer" is a racist term for asian youths who extensively modify their cars. The term has been picked up other uses to mean people who obsessively customize to gain minimal performance benefits. Gentoo is a source based distribution (for the most part) -- as such, the user must compile the software he plans on using. Gentoo was designed to facilitate easy optimization for your hardware/needs during the compile phase. This tends to cause much obsessiveness among its users.
I don't know what your goals are for Linux, but for desktop use, it would be hard to go wrong with Ubuntu. Debian is great for just about everything, but ideally you'd have some more experience (or enough patience to RTFM enough to ask smart questions). There are obviously other great distributions. Once you figure out what your needs are, check out http://www.distrowatch.com/ to help you pick a distribution.
After all, I am strangely colored.
I've heard nothing but good things about 'Ubuntu'... But for some reason I can't bring myself to try it out because of the funny name.
I realise you're saying this tongue in cheek, but Ubuntu is an extremely fitting name. The concept of Ubuntu embodies exactly what the FOSS movement is/should be about.
Being South African myself I'm also very proud that someone like Mark Shuttleworth is putting us on the FOSS map.
Thanks Mark!
siener's youtube channel
I'll just lay some points down once and for all, and I don't care what anybody says, these are the facts as I observe them with my own eyes and the common-sense that logically concludes from those observations:
(a) More Linux = Big Win for everybody! I don't care what it is, how it works, how narrow it's market is, who funds it, who writes it, what they believe, or whether they make money. More Free/Open software enriches us all.
(b) Bill Gates must surely be laughing his fat moneycat ass off watching all the Linux tribes bicker and flame each other. Just try to keep this in mind, when Linux fights Linux, Bill Gates wins.
(c) Every distribution I've tried that was derived from/based on Debian worked for me. I've never heard the complaints about Debian-based distros that I've heard (and experienced) with Debian itself. It is indeed in Debian's best interest to take a backseat and continue maintaining the base packages, but leave assembling them into released operating systems up to other distros.
(d) If the above statement makes your blood pressure pop your eyeballs out of your head and steam shoot out your ears, the person you are mad at is the Debian founder as I read in his own personal blog. And you have no right to be mad about that, it's his distro and he speaks much good sense about it and I am agreeing with him and emphasizing his point. If Debian is that precious to you, then just download it's packages and make your own system, because that's all anybody else has ever done, anyway! Isn't that the selling point, you can customize it?
(e) Linux wouldn't be Linux if everybody doing something with Linux didn't have the right to do it. If you're mad at all the distros, there's nothing to stop you from downloading the tarballs and building it yourself. You can even call your arrangement the One True Linux, and say everybody else is a hypocrite and a poser and a lamer. I can download the exact same tarballs and say the same thing about my arrangement and about everybody else. The point being: The source and kernel are GNU/Linux. United! Completely! Steady as a rock! Everything else is what we make out of it, because Linux is and will always be a ball of clay. You can use that clay to build an idol to worship, or a toilet bowl, but you also can't stop anybody else from doing the same. Don't be surprised if somebody pisses on your idol or worships your toilet bowl.
(f) This has been a Public Service Announcement. Flames will be printed out and shredded into hamster litter, because /dev/null is mailing me bounce messages.