Summary: Microsoft dependency is being removed from Ubuntu GNU/Linux, based on UDS
Based on a video which is airing right night, Sebastian tells us (in IRC) that “Mono won’t be in the default install of 12.04 [but] still in repos [...] and they will switch back to Rhythmbox as well, so bye bye Mono [...] it was in the UDS video from Orlando at the moment [...] and they were just talking about it in the channel for that as well [...] I think it’s to save space really on the CD [...] and since Rythombox is good enough again now [...] they said it a little while ago in the UDS wrap up [..] and they said how they will get a certain amount of space back [...] and in the UDS channel someone was saying how that means: Tomboy won’t be there as well anymore.” █
Summary: The long term support release of Ubuntu (next release) may come with almost no Mono applications (or none) and there is discussion about getting rid of Mono altogether
Banshee coverage at Phoronix was mentioned here the other day, but we now see some reports that almost contradict it. “Apparently,” tells us Viper550, “Ubuntu devs are proposing a switch back to Rhythmbox”
Ryan insists that he “said that last night, EST… (to the tune of that Get a Mac ad) Problems? Too darned many. Patches? Not enough. Banshee has issues, it’s so glitchy, they’re leaving it, for Rhythmbox… ”
Viper550 explains the reasons as: “Banshee = not GTK3, glitchy on ARM, removing it could allow the removal of Mono from the main repository, etc.”
“I doubt Mono will be removed from the repository,” Ryan adds, “getting it removed from the supported system and into Universe would be good though… they wasted time and effort coding all their Ubuntu One crap in C# for a dead end (Mono), while complaining Rhythmbox isn’t up to their standards, instead of improving Rhythmbox”
“[T]hey said it could also save some space on the ISOs,” replies Viper550, but Ryan insists that “Red Hat has ported Rhythmbox to GTK+ 3 and gotten it in good shape, they’re thinking about doubling back and using it in Ubuntu again which means rewriting all their Ubuntu One crap that they spent man hours writing for Banshee… Ubuntu just takes leftovers… once some other outfit gets something working, Ubuntu swipes it and takes credit for installing it in the default system, which they call “integration work”…”
Having searching for some references on this matter, we got this (Viper550 says it “was discussed at UDS”).
- Rhythmbox / Banshee :
This subject was a bit of surprise for me, I didn’t expect such discussion will happen. However, the 2 applications have problems :
- Banshee : Problem on ARM (doesn’t work), no GTK3 support, and removing Banshee will remove Mono from the CD (good for the space) and probably from main (which make Security team happy, not having to maintain Mono stack for 5 years)
- RB : U1 store need to be updated, Music lense needs to be updated, it needs a release from upstream.
A quick vote on usage of both applications in the room makes approximately a 50 / 50 result (maybe a bit more for RB).
Conclusion, RB will probably be back on the CD, if no problem is raised by the other teams not present during the session. The decision was not easy, but IMO it makes sense in the context of an LTS. And, well, Banshee will still be available in the archive, will at least the same level of integration than in 11.10.
So “basically,” explains Viper550, “cliffsnotes version: Banshee may be dropped because its not a native GTK 3 application, doesn’t work well on ARM, and dropping that and Mono could save some disk space (which make Security team happy, not having to maintain Mono stack for 5 years)”
Rhythmbox Might Replace Banshee In Ubuntu 12.04 Precise Pangolin, More News
[...]
As for the second session, most people who have attended the default applications session today at UDS-P have agreed to replace Banshee with Rhythmbox by default. However, decision is not final as there are a few things that need to be checked first (like Unity Music Lens integration, etc.).
This is great news and a step in the right direction. █
Posted in Mono, Ubuntu at 6:11 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Microsoft is drilling a legal loophole into Ubuntu GNU/Linux and apathy still serves Microsoft’s plan
ONE important bug that Canonical no longer tries to squash is the Mono bug. It adds a liability which everyone is well aware of, including the company's outgoing CTO (Canonical reorganised following some important departures at the top)..
The host of TechBytes, Tim, is usually very moderate, but he too is still concerned about Mono inside Ubuntu. The other day he wrote in Diaspora: “I’ve much love for Ubuntu and whilst it’s not my desktop choice now, it’s certainly the one I will recommend to others. The community is great, the distro is great.
“It does though always sadden me when we see Canonical’s insistence to stick with Banshee and ergo Mono. Why?
“Of course removing Mono is not the problem, I just merely wish they would get over this particular dependency that I cannot see has any benefits (even if you don’t buy into a patent trap scenario)”
One of our contributors has already added a wiki page about removing Mono from the latest Ubuntu and Phoronix writes about Mono and Banshee in a new article which Tim called “a rather interesting read.”
Later he wrote: “I commented on TechBytes some time ago about its sluggishness and it’s interesting to see that its still being commented on now. Patent trap or not, we have already seen how aggressively Microsoft is hitting Android with “licenses” and I’d say it would be wise to minimize as much risk as possible and remove Mono completely, for me and what I’ve seen of it, it offers no advantages that even come close to risking another avenue of attack for Microsoft on non-MS products.”
Concerns over this Mono and GTK#-using application were raised since Banshee has had some problems on ARM (the application freezing with a white screen) and Mono issues on ARM in general.
Summary: Goobuntu received a mention in diplomatic cables
IN A CABLE from Cablegate we found the claim that “Google adopted Shuttleworth’s Ubuntu software as its in-house operating system.” The cable is generally about the South African economy and wildlife, but that last bit from 2009 is relevant to us.
It is worth noting that Google claims to have almost dumped Windows entirely, even from all desktops. Here is the cable in its entirety.
VZCZCXRO8120
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHSA #1009/01 1391453
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 191453Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY PRETORIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8520
RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
INFO RUEHTN/AMCONSUL CAPE TOWN 6863
RUEHDU/AMCONSUL DURBAN 0975
RUEHJO/AMCONSUL JOHANNESBURG 9212
Hide header
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 PRETORIA 001009
DEPT FOR OES/PCI, OES/ENV, AND AF/S
DEPT PASS EPA/OIA,
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SENV [Environmental Affairs], SOCI [Social Conditions], ETRD [Foreign
Trade], SF [South Africa],
SUBJECT: SOUTH AFRICAN ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE, AND TECHNOLOGY MONTHLY
BRIEFINGS, MAY 2009
PRETORIA 00001009 001.2 OF 004
¶1. (U) Summary: This is the South African Environment, Science and
Technology Monthly Briefings Newsletter, May 2009, Volume 4, Number
5, prepared by the U.S. Embassy Pretoria, South Africa.
Topics of the newsletter:
-- Scientists Develop New Carbon Emission Reduction Process
-- South Africa and Uganda Sign S&T Bilateral Agreement
-- South Africa Frogs Facing Extinction
-- Lion Park Forced Out by Development
-- Rare Orchid May Become Extinct
-- Environmental Group Calls for Investigation of Gauteng
MEC for Conservation
-- Municipal Health Service Sees Deterioration in Water Quality
-- Poor Water Quality Limits Business Growth
-- SANParks Opposes Mining Project at Mapungubwe
-- Monthly Factoid
-----------------------------
Scientists Develop New Carbon
Emission Reduction Process
-----------------------------
¶2. (U) Wits University Centre of Material and Process Synthesis
professors David Glasser, Diane Hildebrandt, Brendon Hausberger and
Bilal Patel, and Rutgers professor Benjamin Glasser have made a
breakthrough discovery that reduces carbon dioxide emissions from
the source and that can be applied to a range of processes. David
Glasser said that their research developed new techniques for
analyzing what causes emissions, and how to design processes to
reduce carbon dioxide emissions. He added that once these processes
are understood, it is "relatively simple to eliminate unnecessary
emissions and minimize the contributions from other sources."
¶3. (U) Glasser cited as an example a plant making liquid fuel from
coal. He said with their process the plant can reduce its overall
CO2 emissions by using CO2 and hydrogen as intermediaries. He noted
that the plant achieves higher emission reductions using CO2 and
hydrogen, even though this appears to be an inferior method.
Glasser added that there is a pilot plant running in China and a
demonstration plant in Australia, which incorporate these ideas.
Glasser said the technique can be applied to a number of different
processes, giving it a substantial impact on combustion processes.
The center at Wits has 40 post graduate students and about 20 full
time employees who are funded by industry.
----------------------------
South Africa and Uganda Sign
S & T Bilateral Agreement
----------------------------
¶4. (U) South Africa and Uganda signed a bilateral Science and
Technology Agreement on April; 16, 2009. The two countries will
jointly identify scientific and technological priorities and
consolidate resources. South Africa and Uganda have been
negotiating the agreement since 2006. Areas of cooperation include
bioscience, indigenous knowledge systems, environment and climate
change, energy research, innovation management capacity, information
technology, and human capital development. Uganda and South Africa
will continue their current joint efforts under the Group on Earth
Observation project. Science and Technology Minister Mosibudi
Mangena said that, over the past decade, South Africa's science has
been greatly enriched by collaborations with African counterparts.
------------------------------------
South Africa Frogs Facing Extinction
------------------------------------
¶5. (U) North-West University African Amphibian Conservation Research
Group Director Dr Louis du Preez warned that the South African frog
populations are rapidly decreasing. Du Preez, who is also the Head
Qpopulations are rapidly decreasing. Du Preez, who is also the Head
of the Green Trust Threatened South Africa Frog Project, is chairing
an effort to produce the first-ever conservation action plan for
South Africa's twenty-one threatened frog species. Du Perez noted
PRETORIA 00001009 002.2 OF 004
that the rapid decline in frogs is cause for alarm because frogs are
the thermometers of environmental health. He noted that frogs are
exposed to the complete range of air, water and land pollutants
since they live in both aquatic and terrestrial environments.
Several South Africa frogs are restricted to small geographical
areas and the loss of their habitat has a devastating effect on
population numbers. The habitat of the Ghost Frog in the Elandsberg
Mountains, for example, has become a pine plantation. Pine needles
acidify the water in the stream areas where the frog lives. Du
Perez and two doctoral students recently discovered the first Ghost
Frog seen in years in the Elandsberg Mountain.
¶6. (U) Du Perez says the Elandsberg forestry companies are
collaborating with the Green Trust to conserve this frog, hiring a
fulltime ecologist and bringing in expensive equipment to 'pluck'
trees from the stream area where the frog lives." Another
endangered frog is Rose's ghost frog, a rare species found only on
Table Mountain, where it lives in streams and moist, forested
gorges. It is under threat from invasive plants, increasing numbers
of visitors and the high number of fires. The construction of more
water holding areas has taken away water from the streams where the
frogs' eggs and tadpoles develop. The Western Cape NGO 'Friends of
the Western Leopard Toad' is helping to conserve this threatened
species, which lives and breeds in the urban environment of the
Tokai/Muizenberg/Fishhoek. Western Leopards are frequently killed
by cars speeding on the roads. The Friends have erected toad
crossings that say: "Caution! Western Leopard Toads."
-----------------------------------
Lion Park Forced Out by Development
-----------------------------------
¶7. (U) Lions have ranged freely throughout Johannesburg's Lion Park
for forty-one years, but a high-density development is forcing the
Park to relocate. The new development will include 1528 residence
on various sized plots. Current residents question whether the
rural area's infrastructure will be able to handle this increased
capacity. Local resident Nicci Wright, an engineer, said that the
area is a wetland fed by natural springs, and that the proposed
sewage system locates its pump at the lowest point in the area. She
said when she questioned the effectiveness of this location she was
told that Randburg Water would handle all maintenance. Wright said
she knows of three pumps handled by Randburg that are currently out
of order and pumping raw sewage into the Klein Jukskei and
Hartebeespoort Dam. Developer Golder Associates Africa's
representative said that an extensive EIA was completed and all
environmental issues were addressed with sufficient mitigation
efforts. Lion Park Acting Manager advised that the staff and
animals would move after the FIFA World Cup in 2010 when their
contract officially expires. He noted that the Lion Park is no
longer in the rural areas as it used to be, and that "we are in the
middle of the suburbs now. It's not very nice."
------------------------------
Rare Orchid May Become Extinct
------------------------------
¶8. (U) The only known population of a rare wild orchid is threatened
by development plans near the Cradle of Humankind in Maropeng.
Conservationists say the orchid could become extinct. Black Eagle
Project spokesman Arthur Alberston added that endangered or
QProject spokesman Arthur Alberston added that endangered or
threatened animals such as caracal, jackals and leopards move
through the area and the development would interrupt their transit
paths. The application for this high-density residential and
business unit project is pending with the Gauteng Department of
Agriculture, Conservation and Environment (GDACE). Albertson says
the project violates several national and provincial regulations and
policies. If GDACE does grant the permit, the NGOs say they will
take legal action to stop the construction. GDACE, Mogale City and
the Walter Sisulu National Botanical Gardens officials claim they
have been investigating the feasibility of establishing a
2,000-hectare reserve in the that areas which would safeguard the
orchid's habitat and allow restocking of wildlife.
-------------------------------------------
Environmental Group Calls for Investigation
of Gauteng MEC for Conservation
-------------------------------------------
¶9. (U) The Environmental and Conservation Association (ECA) has
filed a lawsuit seeing to overrule Gauteng MEC for Agriculture,
Conservation and Environment Khabsisi Mosunkuntu's decision to
permit permitting a new road through one of Gauteng's wetlands.
Various media reports have also raised questions about Mosunkuntu's
decision to overrule GDACE ruling that the road should not be built,
PRETORIA 00001009 003.2 OF 004
citing Musunkuntu's involvement with the developments seeking the
roadway. Gauteng Democratic Alliance Leader Jack Bloom submitted a
dossier detailing Mosunkuntu actions involving irregularities in
eight separate developments across the province to Gauteng premier
Mbhazima Shilowa last year. Bloom called for a commission to
investigate Mosumkuntu. ECA Chairman Nicole Barlow said the
wetland's road is yet another example of Mosumkuntu "sidestepping"
the law and making decisions contrary to GDACE's expert opinion.
------------------------------
Municipal Health Service Sees
Deterioration in Water Quality
------------------------------
¶10. (U) Tshwane municipal health service division tabled a report
before the Metro Council on May 1, 2009 describing the rapid
deterioration of the quality of water and food in the area. The
report contains findings by the Agricultural Research Council (ARC)
for the period July 1, 2005 to June 2008. Food and water samples
were taken and tested for compliance with the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics
and Disinfections Act. ARC samples included tap water, reservoirs,
bottled water, and water in tankers, boreholes, rivers and streams.
Food samples were taken from pasteurized milk, raw milk, dairy
products, juice and ice cream. ARC's findings indicated that 57% of
all water samples complied with legal requirements; 60% of bottled
water complied; 53% of food complied with legal requirements
regarding microbiological analysis (a six percent decline from
previous period; and that 63% of food complied with legal
requirements regarding chemical analysis (a 35% decline). The
report stated that there are serious personnel shortages in
municipal health services due to the council's alternative service
delivery (ASD) process.
-----------------------------------------
Poor Water Quality Limits Business Growth
-----------------------------------------
¶11. (U) Independent water expert Anthony Turton said South African
businesses growth could be constrained by the lack of clean water
resources. He added that business should stop the "blame game" and
act swiftly in partnership with the government to deal with the
threat. Turton said, "Business cannot sit idle any longer. We need
new partnerships between the government, organized business and the
national science councils to develop and resource a fresh strategic
vision." He advised business to see water as a business rick and to
form partnerships similar to those formed in response to crime.
Turton stated, "Companies must understand business risks in terms of
input, process and output and then develop mitigation strategies for
each of these sets of issues."
¶12. (U) Turton said the water problem SA faced was that of quality
and quantity, as well as demand and supply. He said, "By 2035 SA
will need 65-billion cubic kilometers of water and our current
national stock stands at 33-billion. Our problem is that we are
managing our water resources so badly, and are putting pressure on
available fresh water." Turton also suggested that the country's
water allocation reform process should ensure that industry - which
contributed about 80% of gross domestic product (GDP) but received
only about 20% of water allocation - should get more water at the
expense of agriculture, which received about 60% of water allocated
but only contributed about 2% to GDP . Turton resigned from the
Qbut only contributed about 2% to GDP . Turton resigned from the
Council for Scientific and Industrial Research last year after he
made controversial remarks about the implications of SA's water
situation on socioeconomic development.
---------------------------------------------
SANParks Opposes Mining Project at Mapungubwe
---------------------------------------------
¶13. (U) South African National Parks (SANParks) is challenging an
application for a R3 trillion mining operation to be established at
the entrance to the Mapungubwe World Heritage Site. SANParks
spokesperson Wanda Mkhutshulwa said on April 20, 2009 that SANParks
was opposed to the project because it threatened the environment
around Mapungubwe, particularly the quality of its water.
Mkhutshulwa noted that SANparks mandate is to ensure the environment
surrounding the national parks is protected. She stated, "From our
view, the mining project will have a negative impact on the water in
the park." Department of Minerals and Energy spokesperson Bheki
Khumalo stressed that the mining project was not a done deal.
Khumalo said, "After all objections have been registered and all
concerns considered the department will make a determination. We
are still months away from that."
¶14. (U) The proposed mining site is near the Limpopo River, which
forms the border between South Africa and Zimbabwe. The closest
PRETORIA 00001009 004.2 OF 004
town is Musina. The mine's western boundary is seven kilometers
east of the Mapungubwe National Park, and the coal processing plant
infrastructure would be twenty-seven kilometers from the Mapungubwe
World Heritage Site. The proposed colliery would have the potential
to produce five-million tons a year of coking coal, starting with
one-million tons a year and ramping up to full capacity by 2011.
The life-of-mine stretches beyond 2040. Independent Power Producer
(IPP) Mulilo Energy is considering constructing a power station in
the area, although CoAL said it was not reliant on the sale of coal
to the power station to make the project feasible. The power
station would ultimately produce about 900 MW, and initial designs
show that it would be located directly below the CoAL tenement area.
¶15. (U) The Mapungubwe National Park is a game reserve and home to
the archaeological treasure of Mapungubwe, a kingdom predating that
of Great Zimbabwe. Mapungubwe was the base of a trading empire that
traded with the people of China, India, Egypt and Persia, exchanging
ivory, gold around the year 1200. The Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape
became South Africa's fifth World Heritage site in July 2003, and in
May 2004, it was officially announced as the Mapungubwe National
Park. The site was discovered in 1933, and is said to be where an
Iron Age metropolis was ruled by an African king almost one thousand
years ago. Mapungubwe National Park Manager Tshimangadzo Nehemani
said the Park had 26 000 visitors in 2007. A new interpretation
centre will open by the end of this year, allowing the public to
view the gold work uncovered at the site, including the world-famous
tiny golden rhino, a gold scepter and gold bowl.
¶16. (U) Coal of Africa (CoAL) Chief Operations Officer Riaan van der
Merwe stated in a community meeting that the project would create
14,000 direct and indirect employment opportunities during the
construction phase and 30,000 direct and indirect jobs during the
operational phase. Local business owners have complained that the
CoAL still has not addressed concerns raised at previous meetings,
including the need for an environmental impact assessment study on
how local roads would be affected by coal-hauling trucks and dust
from the coal. Mopane Bush Lodge Manager Paul Hatty said, "We have
such a beautiful environment here. The atmosphere is clean and all
of that will be wiped out by the coal business." Hatty added that
the lodge, which is seven kilometers from the proposed mine site,
drew over one hundred international visitors last year, all of whom
visited the heritage site. He said, "We will lose our clients as no
sane person will pay money to be swallowed by coal dust."
¶17. (U) Vhembe District Municipal Councilor Mapulanka Baloi welcomed
the proposal, saying it would benefit many people. He added that
the mine would create new levels of economic development and
employment and bring the province to a new level of prosperity. Van
der Merwe emphasized that CoAL would manage the mine in accordance
with mining environmental regulations. Hatty responded that "Even
with the best environmental controls, the environmental degradation
caused by coal mining, similar to that around Witbank, will kill any
hopes of growing tourism, both international and local, to this
prime pristine area of Africa." Local businesses and residents
also fear that if this project is approved, more coal mines would be
Qalso fear that if this project is approved, more coal mines would be
established in the area. Hatty said, "Anglo Coal has already
purchased four farms even closer to the National Park and Heritage
Site, and three other farms next to Mapungubwe Park entrance show
promising signs of exploitable coal."
---------------
Monthly Factoid
---------------
¶18. (U) In 2002 South African internet entrepreneur Mark
Shuttleworth, then age 28, became Africa's first astronaut. Three
years later Google adopted Shuttleworth's Ubuntu software as its
in-house operating system.
www.southafrica.info/about/414421.htm#innovat ions
LA LIME
Summary: Mono and projects that are built with Mono are hardly maintained anymore, and some officially die
THE cult of Mono lost much of its following when it lost its sugar daddy, Novell. Banshee has not been updated in ages (it was a Novell project) and its lead developer left Novell too. According to Joey Sneddon, the Novell employee who worked on Pinta has officially given up, so we are seeing a trend here. Mono and Mono-based project from Novell staff are dropping like flies and the sooner Ubuntu realises this, the better. No distribution of GNU/Linux has a compelling reason to still preinstall the bloat which is Mono. Well, no distribution except Microsoft-sponsored ones like SUSE. Several weeks ago SUSE announced special relationship with the Mono startup, Xamarin. OpenSUSE 12.1 is now reaching beta and obviously it will include Mono.
In other news about Novell/SUSE, there is an event coming next month. The now-acquired VAR Guy writes: “6. Novell BrainShare (Oct. 10-14, Salt Lake City, Utah): Now owned by Attachmate, Novell needs to clearly communicate its partner strategy to three communities: SUSE Linux resellers, traditional Novell partners, and NetIQ partners. Those three communities now manage various products that were previously under a single Novell umbrella.” Except for Microsoft, who are those SUSE Linux resellers? █
Posted in Ubuntu, Videos at 7:11 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: The GNU/Linux distribution called “Ubuntu” is under scrutiny; it is also said to be declining among distributions. This video is a ramble which discusses what’s going on with Ubuntu this year.
Posted in GNU/Linux, Ubuntu at 7:42 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Ubuntu is no longer making waves, just ripples
Summary: Analysis of a likely scenario where Ubuntu loses its leadership among GNU/Linux distributions for the desktop
Occasionally we write about the role of Android in Linux popularisation (because it is probably the fastest-growing Linux-powered platform), yet rarely do we cover Ubuntu anymore. One of our readers, Roy, suggested that we should sometimes deviate from our focus on external threats to GNU/Linux and perhaps focus on advocacy, not just in the daily links. He did have a point and now that we do not have many posts to write (simply because there are not as many distinct threats as there used to be, at least not many that we have not tackled already), it might be reasonable to issue a commentary about Ubuntu.
“A lot of people already know Ubuntu, so they need not go to Distrowatch and browse that particular site for additional information about Ubuntu.”Well, many people are quick to point out that in Distrowatch rankings for particular time spans Ubuntu is now second or third. This has not happened in years. That site, however, is not a very valid prominence indicator as it counts a level or curiosity or exploration. A lot of people already know Ubuntu, so they need not go to Distrowatch and browse that particular site for additional information about Ubuntu. Rather, they want to know what else is out there and how it is unique (or what the homepage is and what reviewers day) Going by trends, however, it is possible to argue that Distrowatch shows decreased interest in Ubuntu.
Headlines from the news matching “ubuntu” are being accumulated by my mail client several times per day. Some of these headlines are not about Ubuntu the distribution but about cuisine and basketball for example (long story, not relevant to this post). But about 80% of the results are about the operating system, so it dominates the name. Last week I compared June of 2011 with June of 2010. In terms of news volume matching “ubuntu” there was a major decline this year. Last year there was about 50% more coverage (after merging similar headlines), This can validate suspicion that, assuming not much has changed in Google’s algorithms/spiders, among journalists there is decreased interest in Ubuntu. Is it because of Google’s Android and the Chrome family of products (these are Linux based)? It would be easy to guess but not to tell for sure. For all we know, Ubuntu has not suffered any notable departures in months and backlash against Unity has quieted down. The main question remains then, why has Ubuntu gone so quiet? And also, is this an opportunity to rival distributions such as Mageia? Your thoughts on this are welcome.
In actual news about Ubuntu, Canonical goes deeper into the whole ‘cloud’ (Fog Computing) venture, as shown in the following:
I have never been a big fan of cloud computing, due to the risk of losing ownership of my data. But, I do like the concept of a ‘copy’ of my data (not the only copy of my data) available on cloud so that I can share it with others or access it from where ever I want. Honestly speaking with 16GB Nexus S, 32GB Samsung Galaxy Tab and a 360GB Ubuntu Dell Mini along with a portable 500GB HDD, I don’t have to worry about availability of my data, I carry my it with me, just the way I carry my credit cards with me.
The Ubuntu Promise states that it will always remain free. Canonical’s Business Model is to build a set of Cloud Services around the Ubuntu OS which by itself is offered free. The cloud services will be free upto a certain limit after which a nominal fee is charged for the service that helps sustain the company that will keep on investing in Ubuntu to make it bigger and better.
Canonical’s Business Model relies heavily on the success of their Cloud Services. The company offered its first cloud service in 2009 by the name of Ubuntu One as a File Sync and Storage service free with a limit of 2GB. They made steady progress debuting new features and extending the service to smartphones as well by publishing iPhone and Android apps.
Ubuntu itself (desktop side) is working on its own changes, irrespective of the upstream:
Ubuntu 11.10 Alpha 2 is expected late next week. To help temper your appetite until its release here are a couple of recent changes in Oneiric…
Would it not have been safer for Ubuntu to just stick with classic GNOME or KDE? Mark Shuttleworth is trying to “Cross the Chasm”, but instead he is falling into it by disappointing some of the same geeks who recommended Ubuntu to friends, peers, family, and colleagues. I am going to try Unity this month and judge for myself. █
Summary: How communities of large GNU/Linux distributions are often perceived by their patrons, even if this is not explicitly stated
ONE taboo subject in the GNU/Linux community was brought up last night in IRC. People get insulted or fearful (depending on their role) if someone points out the value of communities to the company with trademarks and control over these communities. If an unpaid volunteer perceives peers as people more worthy and better rewarded, there is backlash (see what selective monetary invectives did to Debian about 4 years ago). There are certain things that just cannot be said and certain illusions that are necessary for the status quo.
Here is an example scenario. If it is said that some volunteers help with the expectation of receiving a job that way (like placements and internships), they deny this aggressively. If a volunteer is called an employee of the company which pays a wage to run its community, then too opposition comes from many directions. It’s not that the claim is untrue, it’s just not a convent one to grasp.
“It’s not that the claim is untrue, it’s just not a convent one to grasp.”But let’s face it and be true to ourselves. Companies like Novell, Red Hat and even tiny Canonical have obligations to themselves and often to shareholders. The development communities are convenient to them because they reduce the cost of doing business (key products which are carriers to the rest of the portfolio), where the toll is the time and effort of people. As long as a company maintains full control of a community and has a clear priority when it comes to strategic direction (e.g. through paid community members) it remains an integral part of this community and also its proprietor. To merely say this is not heresy; it’s common sense. Perhaps it’s just the way one says which really counts at the end.
To be critical of the above is not the same as highlighting it and to self-censor based on what is ‘safe’ to argue is to no longer care about what’s true.
Speaking of which, “NOVELL” news is very scarce now because the company no longer exists as an independent entity, a lot of the staff was laid off, and managers mostly moved on and joined other companies. With the exception of few people like one who still organises Weekly News, we hardly see OpenSUSE activities from unpaid members. Communities collapse when the volunteers base gets to grips with the reality of exploitative companies like Novell. █
