Well it's been another wild week here in the Linux
blogosphere, but this time the cause will come as no surprise to anyone
who cares about Linux or
FOSS. Last week, of course, was the week that included Oct. 18 -- a date
most of us have had marked on our calendars for the past oh, say, six
months. Why? Because it was none other than the
official release date of Ubuntu 12.10 "Quantal Quetzal," the newest update to
Canonical's popular Linux distribution. Not only was the shiny new OS released; moreover, it came with a
slogan that might as well have been a triple shot of caffeine for the
way it energized Linux fans. Namely, "Avoid the pain of Windows 8" was
text that appeared on the Ubuntu home page when the new release
launched, and it caused quite a stir. Whoops and shouts of joy could be heard across the land, and screen shots showing off the daring challenge
blew past 2,500 plus-ones on Google+ in no time, such was Linux geeks' pride in the bold statement.
'Your Wish Is Our Command'
It was with no small sense of disappointment, then, that it was brought
to light later in the day that the slogan had been changed. Replacing
the original proud assertion, in fact, was the strikingly underwhelming,
"Your wish is our command." But wait, there's more! A collective "WTF" was still echoing through
the hills and dales of the Linux blogosphere when another discovery was
made, and it was perhaps even more shocking. Specifically, Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth lit yet another fire of debate when he announced a
new approach for work on the next Ubuntu -- version 13.04, now named "Raring Ringtail."
'The Skunkworks Approach'
"Mapping out the road to 13.04, there are a few items with high 'tada!'
value that would be great candidates for folk who want to work on
something that will get attention when unveiled," Shuttleworth wrote in a
blog post last week.
"While we won't talk about them until we think they are ready to
celebrate, we're happy to engage with contributing community members
that have established credibility (membership, or close to it) in
Ubuntu, who want to be part of the action," he added. Shuttleworth admitted further down in the post that "the skunkworks approach has its detractors," and boy was he right.
'Shuttleworth Tires of Critics'
A storm of controversy quickly erupted in the Linux blogosphere, particularly when geeks got a load of an
article on TechCrunch entitled, "Canonical's Mark Shuttleworth Tires Of Critics, Moves Key Ubuntu Developments Out Of Public Eye." Such was the outcry, in fact, that Shuttleworth felt compelled to post
a follow-up on Friday with further explanation. The question now is, does Canonical's new approach remove part of the
transparency that's at the heart of FOSS, or is it all just a tempest
in a teapot? That's what Linux bloggers have been trying to decide.
'Totally Un-Ubuntu'
"I'm a little confused about the messages that were sent by Shuttleworth, to be honest," Google+ blogger
Linux Rants told Linux Girl.
"I kind of liked the original 'Avoid the Pain' slogan that first
appeared on their website, and I was disappointed when it was removed,"
Linux Rants added. "According to a comment on Google+ from Shuttleworth,
'That banner was totally un-Ubuntu,' which was why it was taken down. "OK. Then the news appears of Shuttleworth basically taking Ringtail
out of the public eye during development," he recalled. "That seems a
little odd for a distribution named for the philosophy 'I am what I am
because of who we all are.'"
'I'm More Than a Bit Concerned'
Linux Rants could see Shuttleworth's argument after reading his personal statement, he admitted. "Canonical just wants the opportunity to complete what they're doing
instead of being judged by partially completed projects," he concluded.
Still, "it does feel like he's removing the general community from the
development process, which, to me, feels quite a bit more un-Ubuntu than
a silly slogan." Indeed, "I'm upgrading to Quantal as we speak, but I'm more than a
bit concerned about the closing of the Ubuntu development process, which
seems to conflict sharply with any claims about wishes being commands,"
Hyperlogos blogger Martin Espinoza said. "I wish Ubuntu's process were
more open and that they
more attention to the community, not
less."
'Try Some Alternatives'
Similarly, "I suspect Ubuntu is running out of ideas," consultant and
Slashdot blogger Gerhard Mack suggested. "The new Unity doesn't add much of anything," he opined. "I can't
imagine why I would want unified online/offline search, and if I want to
buy something from Amazon, I have it bookmarked." The "newfangled" way to add Web apps as desktop icons, meanwhile, "is
simply another word for Bookmark, and Xfce and GNOME have been able to
do that for ages," Mack pointed out.
"At this point, even Debian can be installed without opening a text
editor or touching the command line, so I would encourage Ubuntu users
to try some alternatives," Mack concluded. "Shuttleworth has already seen the users bailing, seen the 'rise of
the ripoffs' like Mint," Slashdot blogger hairyfeet chimed in. "What
they are doing now is throwing things at the wall and hope that they
stick." 'Canonical, Stop Pretending' The problem with Ubuntu is that "it is in the middle: It's not a
community distro (since what Mark says is what ends up being done, so,
more like a one-man distro), and it's also not commercial (not like Red
Hat)," offered Google+ blogger Alessandro Ebersol. "Come on! Canonical, stop pretending Ubuntu is a community distro and
say the truth: 'We are into this Linux stuff for the money, we want the
best for ourselves, and we will keep for ourselves what we think is the
best, and damn the rest," Ebersol added. "I am not against the company -- it's not wrong to make money on
GNU/Linux," he concluded. Rather, Ubuntu should "just be honest and
clarify its intentions -- it would spare a lot of trouble and flames on
forums and stuff."
'They Are Doing a Fantastic Job'
What most people seem to miss "is that Ubuntu's user base is not
primarily the individual geek user the way it is for most other
distros," noted Google+ blogger Kevin O'Brien. "They are targeting large
enterprise-level and above installs, like the entire school system of a
country. So they will not do things the way Mint will, for instance." All in all, "they are doing a fantastic job of getting Linux on
desktops," O'Brien concluded. It's just that they are "doing it in a way
that annoys a certain segment of the community." Last but certainly not least, "Ubuntu is huge compared to every other distro," blogger
Robert Pogson agreed. "It has an order of magnitude more users and naturally draws more criticism for every change."
'Good for Canonical'
At the same time, "Canonical is having growing pains and may well
function better working in the attic," Pogson admitted. "It's a matter
of scale: The more information exchanged between the community and the
leadership of the organization, the more difficult it is to consider
everything and to respond to everyone." Bottom line? "Good for Canonical," Pogson said. "They will do what they feel they need to do and get on with it. "They plan to be on 5 percent of shipping x86 PCs next year," he
added. "They had better be ready for scrutiny, and that may mean more
compartmentalization."
