Canonical and Ubuntu may be doing the right thing

Did you ever think that Canonical/Ubuntu’s massive ambitions and accelerated technical path toward them just might work?

As I’ve said recently, Ubuntu is always in the position of making its future users happy. Whether the same things bring present users happiness is another matter. Always has been.

Despite our (and my) use of it on an all-day basis, desktop Linux computing is a saturated market. There are at least a half-dozen “major” projects along the lines of Debian, Fedora, Suse, Ubuntu and (insert names here). Many dozen derivatives follow.

That means desktop Linux, especially in the traditional manner, doesn’t need Ubuntu. And Canonical appears to know this.

It’s clear that Ubuntu can’t be a credible player on phones, tablets and TVs while keeping the desktop user base happy. There aren’t enough resources. It would be a loss of focus. Time is of the essence. And it’s money. Time, that is.

The community helped build Ubuntu — both literally and otherwise. Head of all things Mark Shuttleworth is forking the relationship.

Are you along for the ride? That’s what he seems to be saying. He will lead. The community will follow.

He’s renegotiating the relationship. Maybe it never really was what the community thought it was before now.

Apple users don’t demand things the company doesn’t give them. For the most part, anyway. Apple delivers, they swoon. And the money flows.

While the Macintosh computer did change the world, the iPod, iPhone and iPad had more impact in a shorter period of time.

Linux also changed the world. Community involvement has always been a big part of that change. But what Canonical is doing now isn’t a Linux play. Though they need the community. They want your applications. More specifically they want your apps, as in phone and tablet apps.

They’re not telling you to fuck off just that they’ll take care of the core but need help for the rest. Lots of help. Your help. Not upstream as it is now, but you, the Ubuntu fan and developer who can figure out QML.

In the world of desktop Linux and free software, Canonical is one of the biggest fish in the pond. There are plenty of other fish. Canonical is going to swim its own way. Sure there are other efforts to bring free software to the “new” world of mobile and tablet computing. But not so many that there’s no opportunity.

It’s Mark Shuttleworth’s millions that are feeding Canonical, and he’s always been the SABDFL. He’s also a gambler. He’s betting big, putting whatever success Ubuntu has into the pot and hoping for something way, way bigger.

Whether you, me or any of us stays in his game, know that we have choices. It’s perfectly OK to “drop out” now, use something else on your desktop and see what happens over the next few years.

It’s going to be something to watch, no matter what I have installed on my laptop.

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