Ubuntu in the News: New York Times

[Sef]

Mark Shuttleworth and Ubuntu (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/11/business/11ubuntu.html) get a lot of press here.

From the article:


The technology research firm IDC estimates that 11 percent of American businesses have systems based on Ubuntu. That said, many of the largest Ubuntu customers have cropped up in Europe, where Microsoft’s dominance has endured intense regulatory and political scrutiny.

Note: Registration needed.

[kavon89]

Good read, thanks for the link.



“I want to find out what it’s like to have a gigabit connection to the home,” he said. “It is not because I need to watch porn in high-definition but because I want to see what you do differently.”

What?

[metromari]

I thought the article was a bit harsh on Linux with the "rough around the edges" business and how updates can break things. Both are true, but both are also true of the leading proprietary operating system. Linux really has gotten to the point where it is just as easy to use as Windows--in some respects, this is not saying much, as Windows is hard to use. However, what retards bigger Linux adoption is inertia and Windows hegemony, not any lack of ease-of-use.

Nonetheless the big news is that Linux is getting such prominent treatment in the NY Times. Any publicity will spur some downloads, which is always a good thing. In a few years Linux has gone from something found only in the geek press to something seen in decidedly non-geek publications like the NY Times.

[MikeTheC]

I don't think anyone in the news media really wants to upset Microsoft. Microsoft is a giant that they really don't know what to do with, and moreover has been heavily "in bed", so to speak, with the news and journalism industries for some time.

Besides, it's not like the news journalists are all that hip. They're themselves jaded.

Oh, and did you notice how Mark's Star Wars reference went unnoticed by Ms. Vance?


"Look, I have a very privileged life, right?” Mr. Shuttleworth said. “I am a billionaire, bachelor, ex-cosmonaut. Life couldn’t easily be that much better. Being a Linux geek sort of brings balance to the force." [Emphasis added.]

Oh well, it's not like I'm expecting genius from the NY Times. And I surely don't need them to tell me what I can see with my own eyes. And while I'd like to say I appreciate the external validation, I don't appreciate the implied and explicit F.U.D. that this little reporterette seems to prefer spouting.

[albinootje]

Oh, and did you notice how Mark's Star Wars reference went unnoticed by Ms. Vance?

Interesting to read this.

[Technoviking]

It is a good article. Nice to be in the main stream press.

[zmjjmz]

It is a good article. Nice to be in the main stream press.

It's not so great when we're being represented as Che Guevara-like revolutionaries, trying to "undermine Microsoft’s Windows operating system for PCs".
Oh, and why are we controversial software developers? Is software development a controversial subject now? Should we stay away from it?

[joninkrakow]

And I am surprised I get to post it! I hope.....
LINK to article (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/11/business/11ubuntu.html?_r=1&th&emc=th)

I think you may have to register--at least after today. If somebody doesn't want to register, PM me, and I'll send you the pdf. :-)

-Jon

[daverich]

nice link thanks :)

Kind regards

Dave Rich

[Swagman]

Open Source is gaining momemtum

I was bowling down the M5 on Thursday night (I am a Night Trunk Trucker) on my way to Taunton and couldn't get a decent signal on the radio. I think the aerial on that vehicle was borked. The strongest signal I could get was Radio 4 !!

W T F !!

I was just about to switch the radio off and start humming to myself when they started talking about Open Source. I couldn't believe what I was listening to.

To the uninitiated, Radio 4 is a Boring old farts business talky show so to hear this being aired was pretty kewl exposure.

Details here.... http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio/worldbiz/worldbiz_20090108-2030a.mp3

[MooseDog]

Overall a positive and compelling presentation of Ubuntu, Canonical and Shuttleworth. What struck me as the most heartening thought is this:


But Mr. Shuttleworth contends that $30 million a year is self-sustaining revenue, just what he needs to finance regular Ubuntu updates. And a free operating system that pays for itself, he says, could change how people view and use the software they touch everyday.

I.O.W. Canonical is financially in this thing for the long haul!

Don't understimate the impact a NYT article can have on your small business, nor overestimate the occasional snarkiness of a NYT reporter (their milieu in Manhattan demands it :) ).

Congratulations to Canonical and you coders out there, you guys are heroes and deserve it.

[uberdonkey5]

yeh, cos of companies like google (who every one knows) I think people are starting to understand what open source is.

Great review, except for some parts. Couldn't help laughing at this though..

- “Look, I have a very privileged life, right?” Mr. Shuttleworth aid. “I am a billionaire, bachelor, ex-cosmonaut. Life couldn’t easily be that much better. Being a Linux geek sort of brings balance to the force.”

lol, I presume he is talking about the same force that Luke Skywalker is trying to bring balance to. he he.

[Half-Left]

Most millionaires get press when they want it, you get listened to when you have vast amounts of money. :p

[albinootje]

It's not so great when we're being represented as Che Guevara-like revolutionaries, trying to "undermine Microsoft’s Windows operating system for PCs".
Oh, and why are we controversial software developers? Is software development a controversial subject now? Should we stay away from it?

Since years mass media (and also computer magazines) do write about "browser wars", "Linux is a threat to Microsoft" and nonsense like that.

I guess it's an USA government style of talking.

The mass media could have been writing that MS-IE browser has been terrorizing the Internet since many years, but I haven't read something like that yet. :| :)

[ithanium]

great.. ubuntu strikes again :)) in the news

[cardinals_fan]

Poor writing + poor journalism + poor understanding of the topic = poor article.

[zmjjmz]

Poor writing + poor journalism + poor understanding of the topic = poor article.

+1
Must've been an intern.

[Frak]

Poorly written IMHO. Liked it, mostly, but poorly written.

EDIT

Ultimately, however, parts of Mr. Shuttleworth’s venture continue to look quixotic. Linux remains rough around the edges, and Canonical’s business model seems more like charity than the next great business story. And even if the open Ubuntu proves a raging success, the operating system will largely be used to reach proprietary online services from Microsoft, Yahoo, Google and others.

The author needed to keep his/her opinion out of the conversation. I doubt s/he knows they're talking about.

[mayagrafix]

I am a newbie of sorts to Linux based OS... in the beginning I was a big MAC zealot, then I tried Red Hat in 1996 but gave up on it, and have been on Windows ever since till about 6 months ago. Now Ubuntu has showed me the light.

If I wasn't convinced enough by this great OS (and accompanying software) on it's own merits then this article has really made a believer of me! I always wondered who and what Canonical were.

Of course the real credit goes to all the developers in the world whom have contributed their time and energy to the project.

So Apple has the charismatic Steve Jobs, M$ has Gates (the devil reincarnate) and Ubuntu the kewl Mr. Shuttleworth (cue Star Wars music).

VIVA UBUNTU!

Just one more thought: way back in the day, Steve Jobs maintained that software should be free... his business was making (way back then) computers. Ubuntu would have been the perfect fit for Apples boxes and maybe M$ would have never stood a chance... Ubuntu just missed the boat by 24 years. :KS

[mikewhatever]

And I am surprised I get to post it! I hope.....
LINK to article (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/11/business/11ubuntu.html?_r=1&th&emc=th)

I think you may have to register--at least after today. If somebody doesn't want to register, PM me, and I'll send you the pdf. :-)

-Jon

You do have to register so I don't know why you posted the link, just post the pdf.

[smartboyathome]

This was posted already. Do a search.

[|eafhound]

this was posted already. Do a search.

+1

[Insane_Homer]

I thought the article was a bit harsh on Linux with the "rough around the edges" business and how updates can break things. Both are true, but both are also true of the leading proprietary operating system. Linux really has gotten to the point where it is just as easy to use as Windows--in some respects, this is not saying much, as Windows is hard to use. However, what retards bigger Linux adoption is inertia and Windows hegemony, not any lack of ease-of-use.

I have to agree. A balanced article while pointing out Ubuntu weaknesses should also have pointed out the plethora of endless security holes in *******, IE and other MS products.

Further it should also have highlighted MS's lack of innovation and vision - they are really good at stealing or bully/buying other's idea and products rather than coming up with their own (windows, excel, word, sql, server os, browser, IM, codecs, games consoles, mice, keyboards and other hardware peripherals etc etc etc). I can't think of a single MS innovation that was truly their own that's been successfully adopted - the paper clip & dog 'helpers' come to mind and they were annoying failures to say the least.

Ubuntu and Linux failings pale into insignificance when compared to the shyte that was Windows ME and Vista or the beast that was NT. M$ have however performed a life saving recovery with 2008 server and Windows 7 which are turning out to be the products that Vista should have been.

[p_quarles]

You do have to register so I don't know why you posted the link, just post the pdf.
That does not comply with the copyright restrictions on the article in question.

P.S. Threads merged

[MikeTheC]

poor writing + poor journalism + poor understanding of the topic = poor article.

+1

[days_of_ruin]

Ouch! That article is so bad its painful to read.
Who wrote that, A baby-boomer npr host?:confused:

[cardinals_fan]

So Apple has the charismatic Steve Jobs, M$ has Gates (the devil reincarnate) and Ubuntu the kewl Mr. Shuttleworth (cue Star Wars music).

Did Mr. Gates kill your puppy with his bare hands?

[albinootje]

Ubuntu and Linux failings pale into insignificance when compared to the shyte that was Windows ME and Vista or the beast that was NT. M$ have however performed a life saving recovery with 2008 server and Windows 7 which are turning out to be the products that Vista should have been.

+1 !

I'd like to add that objectively speaking MS-Windows95 was a big jump from MS-Windows 3.x

However W95 was so buggy that I'm surprised that noone has ever successfully sued MS for this. It was in my opinion MS worst OS ever.

I clearly remember the hyping in the media, MS hiring the Rolling Stones to use their "Start me up" song.
(I've read that the band R.E.M. said NO to MS when MS asked them to do some song for a later MS campaign.)
I remember seeing photos in the news of people in sleeping bags outside computers at the night before W95 was for sale for the first time here.

Especially the plug and play in W95 was terrible, but all the Windows users I knew where already caught in the mantra of rebooting and reinstalling and of course chiming the "defrag, defrag, defrag!" on the rhythm of Steve B.'s "Developers,developers,developers".

I remember I was amazed, and had to laugh when I read that Slackware96 came out! :)

[-grubby]

And even if the open Ubuntu proves a raging success, the operating system will largely be used to reach proprietary online services from Microsoft, Yahoo, Google and others.


http://stashbox.org/358490/1/picard-facepalm.jpg (http://stashbox.org/358490/picard-facepalm.jpg)

[sydbat]

http://stashbox.org/358490/1/picard-facepalm.jpg (http://stashbox.org/358490/picard-facepalm.jpg)Nice Picard maneuver!

[smoker]

And even if the open Ubuntu proves a raging success, the operating system will largely be used to reach proprietary online services from Microsoft, Yahoo, Google and others.

yeah, comments like above confound me also:confused:

still, it is great to get some press in the established media. a few years back whenever i mentioned linux, or ubuntu, i got a puzzled bewildered look in reply. now, most people seem to know what i am referring to, even if they haven't tried it themselves. i'm sure at least a few people will investigate more about ubuntu after reading this article. :-)

[etnlIcarus]

Reading the article, I was beginning to suspect that it's author was one of these self-identifying, "independents", who, even if they can't find anything explicitly wrong with what someone is doing or saying, by mere virtue of something being ideologically motivated, they look upon it with suspicion and cynicism.

However, a quick wiki search (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashlee_Vance) later reveals that he's a pretty standard IT writer; smug and 'edgy', in general so I doubt he has any specific agenda to fulfil with his strange and disproportionate little pot-shots aimed at Ubuntu, Linux and it's charitable contributors.

[MikeTheC]

http://stashbox.org/358490/1/picard-facepalm.jpg (http://stashbox.org/358490/picard-facepalm.jpg)

+1

[MikeTheC]

It's not so great when we're being represented as Che Guevara-like revolutionaries, trying to "undermine Microsoft’s Windows operating system for PCs".
Oh, and why are we controversial software developers? Is software development a controversial subject now? Should we stay away from it?

It's playing politics, and a cub reporterette who thinks she's being "edgy" or some s*** like that. Not only is she not helping, but she's also implicitly supporting Microsoft.

But then again, anyone on here remember the days of the agenda-less, unbiased news reporter? Hmm?

[jrusso2]

You all have the same conspiracy theory if someone says whats bad about Linux true or not.

Since I have been using Linux 13 years I have not seen an article outside the Linux press that did not mention the same problems with Linux.

[zmjjmz]

yeah, comments like above confound me also:confused:

still, it is great to get some press in the established media.

The people who regularly read the Business section will look at it, say "I remember Linux from 1999. I guess it hasn't changed much, they're still trying to get things working...", and subsequently not care.

[p_quarles]

You all have the same conspiracy theory if someone says whats bad about Linux true or not.

Since I have been using Linux 13 years I have not seen an article outside the Linux press that did not mention the same problems with Linux.
I don't think anyone here is denying the problems, just objecting to the way in which things are stated in this particular article.

But, in general, yes: there are a lot of Linux proponents who seem to be in denial about the graphics/wireless issues. Saying "blame the manufacturers" doesn't really help anyone.

[kevdog]

Did we read the same article?? I really didn't feel the author had an axe-to-grind at all. I thought it was really more about Shuttleworth then linux in general. Maybe I should read it again. But first reading the comments in this thread AND THEN reading the article, I was pleasantly surprised.

[albinootje]

But, in general, yes: there are a lot of Linux proponents who seem to be in denial about the graphics/wireless issues. Saying "blame the manufacturers" doesn't really help anyone.

In my opinion the "Linux s*cks because my hardware doesn't work" is too simple and an insult to Linux developers too.
Pointing out that various hardware vendors are not willing to support Linux is informative news which is *not* found in the mass media at all.

And phoning, emailing, and writing letters, handing over petitions to hardware vendors might help.

I clearly remember the story about that person from Australia with the Toshiba laptop, who wanted a MS refund. That person continued till a refund was given (By Toshiba, not MS).
After that the yearly MS refund day was born.
It was perhaps not a big world shocking thing, but it was still a snowball in the process of raising awareness about vendor lock-ins and anti-competitive behavior.

[jrusso2]

In my opinion the "Linux s*cks because my hardware doesn't work" is too simple and an insult to Linux developers too.
Pointing out that various hardware vendors are not willing to support Linux is informative news which is *not* found in the mass media at all.

And phoning, emailing, and writing letters, handing over petitions to hardware vendors might help.

I clearly remember the story about that person from Australia with the Toshiba laptop, who wanted a MS refund. That person continued till a refund was given (By Toshiba, not MS).
After that the yearly MS refund day was born.
It was perhaps not a big world shocking thing, but it was still a snowball in the process of raising awareness about vendor lock-ins and anti-competitive behavior.

It would be nice if all the hardware mfgs would open up but there is no rules saying they have to and it seems most won't.

The mfg's will jump on when Linux desktop use reaches a certain level though and is installed by OEM's like Dell who have "talked" to their suppliers. That makes more difference then any petition.

We can't blame the mfg's for Linux problems.

[MikeTheC]

On the one hand, it's nice to see that Apple is no longer getting torn apart by the news media and tech industry rags; but on the other hand Linux now occupies much of that position.

I'd given some thought to taking that article and re-writing it as though I'd done it myself, but what would be accomplished?

[albinootje]

It would be nice if all the hardware mfgs would open up but there is no rules saying they have to and it seems most won't.

The mfg's will jump on when Linux desktop use reaches a certain level though and is installed by OEM's like Dell who have "talked" to their suppliers. That makes more difference then any petition.

We can't blame the mfg's for Linux problems.

Why not ?
I can imagine that legal action is possible against producers of win-modems and win-printers etc.
And if I look at what the European Union has done so far with sanctions against MS, I don't see why this is not possible.

And hardware vendors don't have to come with drivers, and they don't even have to open up. Already years ago I read about non-disclosure contracts for software developers. What is their problem ?

I think the big different with Ubuntu and almost all Linux distributions in the past is that Ubuntu has a rich sponsor.
The snowball is running faster now.
That might make hardware vendors more talkative ;-)

I wish that the quality of the free Ubuntu installation cdroms was a little bit better though.
I started wondering whether those cdroms are created with high speed cd-burners ;-)

[I-75]

It says we have to register to read the article. I'll pass... I get enough spam as it is.

[albinootje]

It says we have to register to read the article. I'll pass... I get enough spam as it is.

Bugmenot helps :
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/6349

[days_of_ruin]

On the one hand, it's nice to see that Apple is no longer getting torn apart by the news media and tech industry rags; but on the other hand Linux now occupies much of that position.

I'd given some thought to taking that article and re-writing it as though I'd done it myself, but what would be accomplished?


When?And what country.Maybe I am not old enough but apple has gotten millions if not billions of free advertising and when any show shows
someone using a computer its almost always a mac and the camera will
ZOOM UP on the apple logo.

[sharp65]

When?And what country.Maybe I am not old enough but apple has gotten millions if not billions of free advertising and when any show shows
someone using a computer its almost always a mac and the camera will
ZOOM UP on the apple logo.

That's not free advertising, they just don't chose to use apple computers for the sake of it. Apple pays a good amount of money to make that happen.

[I-75]

Bugmenot helps :
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/6349

Thanks, didn't work with Firefox 3. I'll have to find a throw away email address to use. I really hate this registration crap. A proprietary story about a free and open source operating system. Amazing....

[albinootje]

Thanks, didn't work with Firefox 3. I'll have to find a throw away email address to use. I really hate this registration crap. A proprietary story about a free and open source operating system. Amazing....

I don't understand, for me the page was visible right away, didn't have to register at all ..
Is the NY Times only forcing USA citizens to register ? ;-)

Here's the printing version :
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/11/business/11ubuntu.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print

[Swagman]

I don't understand, for me the page was visible right away, didn't have to register at all ..
Is the NY Times only forcing USA citizens to register ? ;-)

Here's the printing version :
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/11/business/11ubuntu.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print

I read it straight off the click too.
I hope you don't have to register coz I emailed my boss the link !!

[Edit]

I'm in the U.K

[sydbat]

But then again, anyone on here remember the days of the agenda-less, unbiased news reporter? Hmm?Nope. Because it is a fantasy. There has ALWAYS been some type of agenda...regardless of the reporter. Even Edward R. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_R._Murrow) had an agenda...

But it is good to have an article of this type in a major newspaper. At least it gives the readers an idea that there is something other than Microsoft and Apple.