Ubuntu chief bids for prima-donna status

Radio Reg I'd like to live in a tub of cream cheese icing. Sadly, that's not an option for me. It is, however, an option for Canonical/Ubuntu head Mark Shuttleworth. The open source advocate has plenty of cash - enough cash to build a breathing apparatus and waste removal system for a man-sized icing pool.

I bring up the icing for no reason. I bring up Mark Shuttleworth because he's the star of Open Season Episode 4. Dave Rosenberg, Matt Asay and I reached Mark at Canonical's UK office for an hour-long chat covering all sorts of open source software topics and issues.

Many of you will care little to know that my Dell laptop with Ubuntu has arrived and is working okay. The system suffers from an insanely hyperactive touchpad. It's a real pain, and I hope some of you are working on fixing this problem because I have no idea how to fix it.

You'll find notes on this topic and all the rest in the show rundown.

As always, please send any feedback to software at theregister.com. In the meantime, enjoy.

Open Season - Episode 4

The faithful can grab the Ogg Vorbis file here, and those plagued by low-bandwidth can catch a smaller, crappier quality show here.

You can subscribe to the show on iTunes here or grab the Arse feed here.

Shuttleman Show Notes

• I finally receive my Dell Ubuntu laptop
• It's great except for the batshit crazy mouse that fires up applications and browser windows if you look at it wrong
• Apple worshipper Wall Mossface found the same thing
• Still, Compiz is outstanding and puts Ubuntu's GUI ahead of Vista and Mac OS X
• Mark calls for this R&D work to "turn into something that makes people more productive
• Is a great Linux desktop possible? - Collective shrug
• Although, it is time for the open source crowd to reinvest in web apps
• OpenOffice is "a bit of a tragedy at the moment," says Mark
• OpenOffice debacle has strained the relationship between Sun and Novell

Building Better Code

• Modularity is key to open source success
• Muleforge runs builds for you
• Ubuntu has up to 100 people with committ access - Mark sees them as concentric rings
• Oracle and Cannocial - we were close to certifying, says Mark
• Oracle will fork or buy Red Hat
• Larry is cute and quaint
• Dell's IdeaStorm site drove Ubuntu adoption but did nothing for the touchpad
• Porn diversity aided by crappy touchpad
• Let's get JEOSed

Back to the Weirdness

• Mark says, "Virtualization is the dog's bollocks. Can I have a spanking?"
• Ubuntu and XenSource at peace again
• Microsoft vs. EU matters
• Ahhh, Samba
• What happens when the crisis hits Google?
• Can I drink beer for a living?

Thanks for your ears. ®