Bonum Certa Men Certa

Canonical Should Adhere to Freedom Principles, Keep Feet on the Ground (Not 'Cloud')

Matt Asay in clouds



Summary: Under new leadership, the Debian-derived Ubuntu sees a push for Fog Computing and further disposition of Freedom values

Matt Asay, Canonical's newly-appointed COO, continues to show lack of commitment to Free software. Instead, semi-Open Source, 'open' core, and an obsession with Fog Computing occasionally crop up. Here is a new article where Asay puts a question mark as he seemingly provokes opposers of 'open' core:





Another new example of provocation with a question mark:



Asay has not blogged in CNET for a long time, maybe because it caused him trouble. He does tend to say some darn things which irk Ubuntu users (or Canonical customers) at times. He also belittles some competitors, which is not appropriate in a "news" site. He can't please everyone and anyone can accept that he wants to do the right thing. Either way, regarding that latter article (in which he's consensually linking to Linux FUD from Microsoft MVP Jason Hiner, who has a track record of attacking Free software), one person among two in the comments section writes: "I thought you are done with your anti-free software crap already. You are wrong on so many levels that it’s not even funny anymore."

Separately, in ZDNet there's Canonical staff talking about a shift to Fog Computing, which the FSF is very much against (at least Canonical tries to adhere to openness, which is not necessarily the same as freedom). Published yesterday:

Canonical: The cloud shift is developer-led



Neil Levine has headed up corporate services at open source Ubuntu-backer Canonical since August 2009. Prior to that, he was the chief technology officer at Claranet, which provides managed hosting from the datacentre up to the application layer. Enthusiastic about open-source schemes within the cloud, he recently attended the launch of the OpenStack scheme, an attempt to make it easier for companies to get off the ground in cloud computing.

[...]

We've had a product on the market for over 1.5 years, and we were the first open source cloud option. We took the product to a lot of businesses and they talked to their operations people and infrastructure people who said: "yeah, we love this, this is great, but I can't just deploy it with nothing to run on top. I have to have an application". Then they talked to their application people who said: "I want to do cloud, but this is the problem I've got at the moment" — whether it's analytics or big data issues.


Canonical ought to look at the goals of the Debian project and remain somewhat loyal to that doctrine. If Ubuntu became just another brand in a group of non-Free options, not much would actually be achieved. To be fair, other distributions are also attempting this Fog Computing dabbling; they too should not lose sight of the goals of GNU and Linux.

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

IBM Misleads and Gaslights Investors With Slop Sold as "AI" (the Business is Waning, Mass Layoffs Continue)
People who do this are dishonest. They should not be put in charge.
Submit Your Suggestions for EU's Embrace of Software Freedom by Tomorrow
Time to leave GAFAM (US) hegemony behind
Slopless Weekend
This is not sustainable
 
A Day After EPO Strikes an Escalation to Heads of Delegations to the Administrative Council
They rely on the European media playing along, helping them to hide major blunders, even crimes
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, February 02, 2026
IRC logs for Monday, February 02, 2026
Gemini Links 03/02/2026: Stargazing, Development Boards, and Tcl/Tk Slop
Links for the day
Microsoft Lost 20% of Its Money in the Past 6 Months
Microsoft is hiding what's really happening while mocking critics
Great News, IBM 'Gained' Almost 10% in "Goodwill" Value After Firing Tens of Thousands in 2025
"goodwill" will be inflated despite IBM staff getting sick of IBM
Americans Move to GNU/Linux
some of the biggest American populations
I Still Like Drawing and Various Other Arts (They Help My Activism and Journalism), Slop is an Enemy of Creative People
Recognise that slop isn't intelligence; it's a generational excuse for plagiarism and privatisation of not only the Commons but also proprietary knowledge (without authorisation)
Carmen-Lisandrette Maris (Mission:Libre) Explains to Adolescents and Young Adults How Free Software Improves Privacy
Based on what we've seen and read, Mission:Libre has a solid grasp of Software Freedom
Chatbots Didn't Do Any Good for Microsoft
Google "AI" = search + copypasta
Links 02/02/2026: Cultural Cleansing by China and 'Living Behind Firewalls" in Iran
Links for the day
GNU/Linux Measured at More Than 4% in Russia
growing adoption of GNU/Linux in Russia
Gemini Links 02/02/2026: Stages of Age, Workflows, and Counting Capsules
Links for the day
Oracle's Debt Rose Over 20 Billion Dollars in Just 3 Months
Is "hey hi" becoming a synonym for debt?
Oligarchs' 'Speech Zones' Are Not the "Public Square"
The apologists of social control media, including press that got "addicted" to such fake "media", are helping dictators and oligarchs grab the public attention away from the real press
Links 02/02/2026: 'Melania' a Horror Movie "Will They Inherit Our Blogs?"
Links for the day
Doing More Detailed Series (Long-Form Works)
Long readings or book-like reading binges are only possible when parts are suitably labeled (name and numbers) if not interlinked
Mobbing at the European Patent Office (EPO) - Part II - Racism, Cocaine Use and White-Collar Corruption
When you hire people illegally, to work for cocaine users and keep quite about the cocaine use, what will be the impact on the reputation of an institution?
A Can of WORMS - Part II - Darkening the Name of RMS, Associating It With Crime
Beware projection tactics
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, February 01, 2026
IRC logs for Sunday, February 01, 2026
Gemini Links 01/02/2026: Fossil Heating Installations and Some FOSDEM Coverage
Links for the day
The State of Memory Leaks in GNU/Linux
The issue won't be solved by adding more memory
Links 01/02/2026: Nvidia's Jensen Talks Down Microsoft 'Open' 'Hey Hi' and Britain's Starmer Makes Friends With China, Japan
Links for the day
Why Microsoft Accenture Has So Many Layoffs in Recent Years
The debt of Accenture doubled a year ago
Links 01/02/2026: Public TV Gutted by Cheeto, Billionaires Fund a Cheeto Propaganda Movie in 'Documentary' Clothing
Links for the day
The New Site ("New Techrights", SSG Since 2023) Exceeds the Old Site in Requests
The "New Techrights" gets about twice as many requests as the "old" (WordPress) "Techrights", the site of 2006-2023
20 Years Ago
Some time soon all this slop frenzy will become like yesterday's "blockchain" or "metaverse"
Gemini Links 01/02/2026: Zdzisław Beksiński and Disconnected Git Workflow
Links for the day
Talks About Nadella's Microsoft Exit After Chatter About Tim Crook Leaving Apple (Years Ahead of Retirement Age)
Mass layoffs and record debt do not represent a company's health.
We Still Cover the Same Problems We Spoke of 20 Years Ago
We're not easily seduced by "novelty" (new things), we try to judge them critically
Patents Standing in the Way
They also cause environmental harm
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, January 31, 2026
IRC logs for Saturday, January 31, 2026
IBM, a Microsoft Company
Microsoft and IBM as a pair go a long way back