Mark Shuttleworth steps down as Canonical CEO

[z0mbie]

In a morning press call on December 17th, 2009 Mark Shuttleworth announced that he was stepping down as head of Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu. In his place, Jane Silber, the current Chief Operating Officer who has been with Canonical since 2004 will take over as CEO.

computerworld.com (http://blogs.computerworld.com/15275/shuttleworth_steps_down_as_ubuntu_ceo)

[Ms_Angel_D]

In a morning press call on December 17th, 2009 Mark Shuttleworth announced that he was stepping down as head of Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu. In his place, Jane Silber, the current Chief Operating Officer who has been with Canonical since 2004 will take over as CEO.

Shuttleworth added that he will not, in any way, shape, or form be leaving Ubuntu. In an interview, Shuttleworth said that he's will stay head of the Ubuntu Community Council and the Ubuntu Technical Board. Instead of managing the business, he will be "Working closely on product design and our enterprise customers. I will also be working more closely with partners, especially in Asia. I will also work more closely with larger enterprise customers in our new cloud offerings. I will be spending more time on the areas that interest me the most and where I feel I can do the most good."

Specifically, "I will focus on my passions of product design and development. I want Ubuntu to succeed as the open platform of choice for almost all use types whether on netbook, notebook, desktop, server, embedded device or wherever people compute. That is a large undertaking and being able to focus on that, thanks to Jane, is a great privilege. I will also spend more time talking to and visiting partners and customers about what they demand from an open platform and feeding that back into the product through the community and Canonical."

Neither Ubuntu nor Canonical will be changing its direction. Looking ahead Shuttleworth will still set the overall goals, but Silver will be in charge of implementing the strategy to reach these goals and day-to-day business management.

In a blog posting, which isn't published yet, Shuttleworth added that "No, it doesn't mark a change of direction. Jane and I have worked closely together over the last 5 years, and while in her new role as CEO she will have the authority to make decisions which may differ from those I would make, we are broadly aligned on our strategy and direction. This change does mark our commitment to continually optimize our operations and offerings, and as Canonical matures as an organization I believe that Jane brings the skills and experience that we need in the CEO role."

Silber added that "This move will bring about is a clearer separation of the role of CEO of Canonical and the leader of the Ubuntu community. It will be two different people now, which I think will be helpful in both achieving their joint and individual goals more quickly."

Shuttleworth indicated that this move is not, in preparation to taking Canonical public anytime soon. It's really more about putting the best people in the best place for the benefit of both the company and the Linux distribution.

As for the business itself, Shuttleworth said that Canonical has three lines of revenue: OEM sales of Linux-powered netbooks and PCs. Shuttleworth said that this Linux desktop business was "growing nicely." In addition, both the enterprise server offerings and service support are also growing. Shuttleworth added that while Canonical is still not profitable but that it's on the right trajectory. He added that he was quite comfortable with the business, which now has more than 300 employees. Mark and Jane did indicate that the company will continue to work on growing its enterprise business.

Shuttleworth also added that while its work with Google on the Chrome OS isn't Canonical's main direction, they're looking forward to doing more work on Chrome OS. He added that Ubuntu is looking forward to gaining more of the desktop market with its own Ubuntu offering "right under Windows 7's nose."

This changeover will have finished by March 1st, 2010. Silber added that "We intend the transition to be a smooth one so in the immediate term it will be business as usual. Over the medium and long term we think this will better align the skills that each of us has and therefore there should be positive benefits for all who are involved in the Ubuntu and Canonical universes."


Source (http://blogs.computerworld.com/15275/shuttleworth_steps_down_as_ubuntu_ceo?source=rss_b logs)
Canonical Blog Q & A about the change (http://blog.canonical.com/?p=307)

[n0glu3]

Didn't see that coming.

[Tristam Green]

What happens when rich boys get tired of their toys?

SABDFL, riiiight.

[~sHyLoCk~]

cool

[benj1]

interesting

i doubt it'll make a huge difference, certainly not one that we will notice, he will still have the final say.

[kevin01123]

Neato.

[AllRadioisDead]

Cool.

[Mr. Picklesworth]

Here is Mark's blog post: http://www.markshuttleworth.com/archives/295

[jeyaganesh]

It is nice. He wants to concentrate only on spreading Ubuntu than the business. It is good for Ubuntu. Good decision.

[Странник]

I myself was a bit shocked, but after a minute of thinking all I can is that this is truly a good decision

[gnomeuser]

I think this will do a lot to lessen the cult of personality that has arisen around him, make him a mortal man once more which is healthy for everyone involved.

Aside that I wish Mr. Shuttleworth good luck in him new endeavors and hope they will prove fruitful for him and the community alike.

[motang]

Not really a bad thing. As Mark wants to work on shaping Ubuntu into next big OS so he needs more free time from the day to day stuff the CEO need to do (which I know nothing of).

[Merovius]

Sounds like he want's to focus on Ubuntu developement and expansion. Sounds good to me. Focus is usually a good thing.

[DeadSuperHero]

I'm just surprised. What will Mark be doing now?

[Tristam Green]

I'm just surprised. What will Mark be doing now?
Hardware market? It's just about the only thing he hasn't done.

[mivo]

Silber referred to him as the "leader of the community". He doesn't seem to interact with the community all that much, and I don't really see many suggestions being implemented, either. To me, he appears more of combination of a figure head (representing the distro and the company, not the community) and a PR/marketing manager. That, too, is important, but it's not the same as what a "community leader" does (that is, if you consider what community directors and community managers usually do).

[days_of_ruin]

He is just doing this before it gets out that his cars windows were broken with a box of ubuntu live cds, at 2 am.

[LinuxFanBoi]

Silber referred to him as the "leader of the community".

A company commander in the Military doesn't interact much with their rank and file soldiers either, they lead through delegation to their lieutenants. This could be the way he is "leading" Us into the future of Ubuntu. Of course this is just one possibility.

[Sealbhach]

This is good news.

The administration involved in running any organisation takes up a lot of time and energy, so this frees Mark up to do the entrepreneurial stuff he does so well.

.

[Tristam Green]

A company commander in the Military doesn't interact much with their rank and file soldiers either, they lead through delegation to their lieutenants. This could be the way he is "leading" Us into the future of Ubuntu. Of course this is just one possibility.

A Company Commander is the equivalent of a Drill Instructor - they have extremely close interaction with their own rank-and-file.

[Sporkman]

This is kind of what Bill Gates did in his final years at MS, right?

[ericab]

lol...

[Mr. Picklesworth]

Oh dear, some people here really don't understand what happened.

To clarify for those who don't have the time to read the blog post:

Mark is not stepping down from his (very significant) role in the Ubuntu project or the free software community; just from his role as CEO at Canonical.

[wojox]

This is kind of what Bill Gates did in his final years at MS, right?

Yes and then things at Microsoft totally went to hell in a hand-basket.

[Mr. Picklesworth]

Yes and then things at Microsoft totally went to hell in a hand-basket.

Except for the part where Bill Gates wasn't the CEO at Microsoft in the first place, and that position (Steve Ballmer) never changed ;)
(Not that he didn't play an enormous role, of course).

Edit: Well, "never changed" was cluelessness on my part. Wikipedia says Ballmer became CEO in 1998.

[Tristam Green]

Yes and then things at Microsoft totally went to hell in a hand-basket.
Really? They just released an insanely successful operating system, have one of the most successful game systems on the planet along with one of the most successful game franchises in history, and they're going to hell in a handbasket?

[phrostbyte]

Except for the part where Bill Gates wasn't the CEO at Microsoft in the first place, and that position (Steve Ballmer) never changed ;)
(Not that he didn't play an enormous role, of course).

Bill Gates was CEO of Microsoft for most of it's history.

[KiwiNZ]

It is better to think of Mr Shuttleworth as the Chairman of the Board. It frees him from the day to day Admin work that the CEO has to labour through and pursue the work he is better suited for .

Its a good decision .

[HappinessNow]

It is better to think of Mr Shuttleworth as the Chairman of the Board. It frees him from the day to day Admin work that the CEO has to labour through and pursue the work he is better suited for .

Its a good decision .

^ This.

...and I am overjoyed that Jane is CEO now.

[LowSky]

I'm just surprised. What will Mark be doing now?

Maybe he will be going back into space?

[Tristam Green]

It is better to think of Mr Shuttleworth as the Chairman of the Board. It frees him from the day to day Admin work that the CEO has to labour through and pursue the work he is better suited for .

Its a good decision .

Yup. I agree. (Still think it's a rich boy bored with his toy though)

[KiwiNZ]

Yup. I agree. (Still think it's a rich boy bored with his toy though)

I'm still here ;)

[HappinessNow]

I'm still here ;)Good thing! :P

[karlmp]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Silber

[DeadSuperHero]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Silber

It, uh, doesn't have an article.

[NoaHall]

It, uh, doesn't have an article.

I think that might be the point.

[cprofitt]

I am a little shocked... but this happens with companies... so no need to panic folks.

[murderslastcrow]

Wow, that's actually kind of an awesome reason to step down. And I bet it exhausts you to focus so much on an overall view of the company, rather than focuses on a smaller, important part and making some real changes.

I think this will be an awesome opportunity for him, and hopefully the new CEO will do a good job. This may very well improve things overall.

I really didn't expect this, though.

[sgosnell]

LinuxFanBoi, you need to get a little experience before you pontificate. Your knowledge of company commanders seems rather limited. In a former life, I was one. I interacted with my troops all the time, every day. If you don't, you will not be a successful commander, or officer at all. Canonical, Inc is obviously not a unit of the military, though.

[seeker5528]

Yup. I agree. (Still think it's a rich boy bored with his toy though)

I think it's the other way around, Mark is a developer, so during his time as CEO he probably didn't get to 'play with his toys' as much.

So if you actually read the stuff that's been linked to, you see:


I’ll focus my Canonical energy on product design, partnerships and customers.


I’ve become very passionate about design and quality, and want to spend more time figuring out how we harness the collaborative process to build better, more insightful products.

In other words, talk to partners and customers to determine what would make things better for them in order to help better define and prioritize what the development goals should be and be more hands on in moving things in the direction of reaching those goals.

Later, Seeker

[Chame_Wizard]

:o Time to follow the end user ideas.:lolflag:

[m4tic]

How do they make money? I feel bad for the company, 300 employees is a lot or is Canonical a charity

[dragos240]

Didn't expect this!

[DeadSuperHero]

How do they make money? I feel bad for the company, 300 employees is a lot or is Canonical a charity

I had no idea they even had that many!

Kind of makes me want to go work for them, now...

[Mr. Picklesworth]

Oh, gee, no wonder people were (and no doubt still are) being mis-led here. The topic title is completely wrong!

Could a moderator, or someone, please change the word "Ubuntu" to "Canonical" in the topic title?

[KiwiNZ]

Oh, gee, no wonder people were (and no doubt still are) being mis-led here. The topic title is completely wrong!

Could a moderator, or someone, please change the word "Ubuntu" to "Canonical" in the topic title?

Good point , done

[Primefalcon]

I was shocked but I see he wants more involvement in Ubuntu itself rather than the company, and I trust him

[stinger30au]

no doubt Mark will have a plan up his sleeve to "WOW" us all with in the next few months:)

[ThirdMonkey]

computerworld.com (http://blogs.computerworld.com/15275/shuttleworth_steps_down_as_ubuntu_ceo)
I went ahead and updated Wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Shuttleworth

[starcannon]

After reading the article, and Mark's blog, I think he is making a great choice.
Cheers Mark, I look forward to seeing what you and Jane do with Canonical, and Ubuntu in the coming months and years.

[amitabhishek]

He is the guy who signs paychecks IMO he will always be in-charge of things at Canonical.

[PaulReaver]

SPACEMONKEY


This is why OSX and Windows kicks our a**

They have a human face,
the "trandy wnkr" Steve Jobs
or Stange Uncle Bill
Who does Canonical have?
No offense meant: Camera shy "legend" Mark Shuttleworth.



Maybe stepping down is a good thing for Mark's products though.
A company needs a figurehead that loves to be in front of the camera, a figurehead that never shuts up about his/her latest product.
I cant remember the last time I saw Mark on T.V, or even in a magazine, I think it was when he went into space? years ago anyway.

Bill Gates is never off of the Television telling us how great the new windows is. Its not great, its virus riddled crap.
And Steve Jobs is always ramming the latest "cool" product down our throats. How would Jobs know whats "cool"? he's old.
Verisign thawte? whats that?

Merry Christmas peeps

[andrew.46]

It will be very interesting to see what the implications for Ubuntu might be as Mark Shuttleworth announces that he will step down as CEO of Canonical in March of 2010:

Shuttleworth Steps Down as Canonical Restructures
http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/reports/6935/1

Interesting times indeed!

Andrew

[Crunchy the Headcrab]

Yeah. It'll be interesting to see what happens. I don't think it will be very noticeable at all for the average user, but it could mean some interesting changes for the company. We'll see.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1357601

[user1397]

'tis a sad, sad day for ubuntu...but oh well, there are no such things as BDFL's!

[HappinessNow]

'tis a sad, sad day for ubuntu...but oh well, there are no such things as BDFL's!BDFL's?

[user1397]

BDFL's?
benevolent dictators for life!

[KiwiNZ]

SPACEMONKEY


This is why OSX and Windows kicks our a**

They have a human face,
the "trandy wnkr" Steve Jobs
or Stange Uncle Bill
Who does Canonical have?
No offense meant: Camera shy "legend" Mark Shuttleworth.



Maybe stepping down is a good thing for Mark's products though.
A company needs a figurehead that loves to be in front of the camera, a figurehead that never shuts up about his/her latest product.
I cant remember the last time I saw Mark on T.V, or even in a magazine, I think it was when he went into space? years ago anyway.

Bill Gates is never off of the Television telling us how great the new windows is. Its not great, its virus riddled crap.
And Steve Jobs is always ramming the latest "cool" product down our throats. How would Jobs know whats "cool"? he's old.
Verisign thawte? whats that?

Merry Christmas peeps

He has been in the press quite a lot ,

Thawte ? that made him a Billion ( NZ$) , how many billion have you made?

[amitabhishek]

In Zimbabwean dollar it must be trillions ;).

[HappinessNow]

He has been in the press quite a lot ,

Thawte ? that made him a Billion ( NZ$) , how many billion have you made?


In Zimbabwean dollar it must be trillions ;).

R(South African rand) 3.5 billion (about US$ 575 million at the time)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Shuttleworth

Interesting that they haven't updated Mark's wikipedia page yet, their usually pretty fast about such things.

[marchwarden]

It is better to think of Mr Shuttleworth as the Chairman of the Board. It frees him from the day to day Admin work that the CEO has to labour through and pursue the work he is better suited for .

Its a good decision .

I wholeheartedly agree.

[mivo]

This is why OSX and Windows kicks our a**

Ubuntu is just a distro, it isn't the equivalent of Linux, nor is Shuttleworth somehow a Linux legend. Ubuntu surfaced in 2004. Linux's figure head is Linus Torvalds, if Linux has something like a figure head. People like the Debian founders, RedHat, etc. have done a lot more for Linux development than Cannonical have, except that Cannonical have the money for marketing. Cannonical have taken much more from the Linux developer community than given back to it (in terms of code), which is an on-going issue that has caused so much resentment outside of the Ubuntu community.

He has done much for Ubuntu and quite a bit for Linux awareness. But a Linux legend? No. Money doesn't buy you that (though it seems to impress people). Linus lived at home when he started working on what would become Linux.

[Kyugetsuki]

Wont see bill gates doin the same thing....haha blargh

[Regenweald]

Mark Shuttleworth is a high class programmer that has made hundreds of millions because he made software that people really wanted to buy. In recent times he's seemed really excited about the atayana project and this move is a sensible one. He's probably thinking "**** it, if they can't get it right yet i'll do it myself..."
I'm looking forward to where the Ubuntu desktop will go :)

[forrestcupp]

I think he secretly got a job as a Windows 7 evangelist. :)

[benj1]

Ubuntu is just a distro, it isn't the equivalent of Linux, nor is Shuttleworth somehow a Linux legend. Ubuntu surfaced in 2004. Linux's figure head is Linus Torvalds, if Linux has something like a figure head. People like the Debian founders, RedHat, etc. have done a lot more for Linux development than Cannonical have, except that Cannonical have the money for marketing. Cannonical have taken much more from the Linux developer community than given back to it (in terms of code), which is an on-going issue that has caused so much resentment outside of the Ubuntu community.

He has done much for Ubuntu and quite a bit for Linux awareness. But a Linux legend? No. Money doesn't buy you that (though it seems to impress people). Linus lived at home when he started working on what would become Linux.

i suspect all distros are 'code negative', even red hat. I agree they could probably do more but they aren't aiming to be red hat, so it isn't their aim to make the changes to the kernel and other low level things, theyre focussing much more on high level stuff, plus comparing canonical and redhat isnt fair due to the huge size differential, canonical is a relatively small loss making company, red hat is a huge multibillion $ company.
At the end of the day they have 300 employees so i assume a fair number of those are contributing code, how many other distros have that many employees?

[RiceMonster]

At the end of the day they have 300 employees so i assume a fair number of those are contributing code, how many other distros have that many employees?

Nope, they aren't. Go watch the video of GregKH talking about Canonical's contributions. Mandriva, who has less employees and money makes more contributions. Even gentoo, made up entirely of volunteers makes more contributions.

Edit: here's a synopsis of it. The video is on google video (and goes more in depth).
http://www.kroah.com/log/linux/lpc_2008_keynote.html

[Old Marcus]

Wont see bill gates doin the same thing....haha blargh

Last time I checked he hasn't been CEO for about 11 years...

[Sealbhach]

Cannonical have taken much more from the Linux developer community than given back to it (in terms of code), which is an on-going issue that has caused so much resentment outside of the Ubuntu community.


I think the reason this is so is because Ubuntu is focused on the desktop and spend most of their energy on making a usable desktop for all users. As such, they're not really kernel hackers.

Much is made about Greg Kroah-Hartmann complaining about Canonical but he made the same complaint about Google and some other organisations.

I don't see this resentment against all the other multitude of distros out there that use the Linux kernel and don't contribute much, if anything. It's like Canonical is being singled out because the guy who started it happens to be wealthy. Maybe they're jealous because he's been in space.

If you look at interviews with sabdfl, he says he sees it as giving back something to Debian and Open Source, because he used these tools when he was setting up Thawte. So he's spent a whole lot of time on energy on a project which has so far produced no profit but has introduced millions of new users to an alternative OS experience.

I doubt this resentment you speak of is all that widespread, but there are no doubt people who like to dwell on negativity and jealousy and as far as I'm concerned they can stew in it. Canonical is providing something that desktop Linux sorely needs, which is business nous.

.

[hoppipolla]

I'm fairly cool with this, I mean I'm sure the leadership and direction of the project is more than just one man! I'm sure they know what's best :)

[Sealbhach]

'tis a sad, sad day for ubuntu...but oh well, there are no such things as BDFL's!

He's not leaving, it's just a reorganisation.

.

[mivo]

They don't contribute much code upstream. It has been especially upsetting to Debian developers. Google a bit for the controversy and arguments that have been caused by this. Red Hat, Novel, Sun, etc. just do a whole lot more. (Even if you take size differences into account.)

But anyway, this isn't meant to be anti-Cannonical. I acknowledge their good marketing efforts and that they have created a casual-friendly distro that aims at a broader market.

[HappinessNow]

Nope, they aren't. Go watch the video of GregKH talking about Canonical's contributions. Mandriva, who has less employees and money makes more contributions. Even gentoo, made up entirely of volunteers makes more contributions.

Edit: here's a synopsis of it. The video is on google video (and goes more in depth).
http://www.kroah.com/log/linux/lpc_2008_keynote.html
Interesting link,it is interesting to see that even rPath is more active at contributing Kernel patches to Linux then Canonical is.

[RiceMonster]

Much is made about Greg Kroah-Hartmann complaining about Canonical but he made the same complaint about Google and some other organisations.

Well then google and other organizations should give back as well.


I don't see this resentment against all the other multitude of distros out there that use the Linux kernel and don't contribute much, if anything. It's like Canonical is being singled out because the guy who started it happens to be wealthy. Maybe they're jealous because he's been in space.

I only expect distros backed by businesses to be contributing. I don't really expect much work from entirely volunteer based distros. However, there are strictly volunteer based distros that give more back


I doubt this resentment you speak of is all that widespread, but there are no doubt people who like to dwell on negativity and jealousy and as far as I'm concerned they can stew in it.

I don't think there's anything wrong with criticizing. If you'd rather ignore faults and think something is perfect, fine. It's got nothing to do with jealousy, either.


Canonical is providing something that desktop Linux sorely needs, which is business nous.

.

You mean like Red Hat and Novell do? They've got that under control, and are profitable. Very profitable.


Edit: Just to clarify, I don't hate Canonical. They've done well at making Ubuntu user friendly without doubt, but I really think they could give back more.

[Queue29]

You mean like Red Hat and Novell do? They've got that under control, and are profitable. Very profitable.

That is absolutely not true. Their server - support contracts are profitable. Supporting desktop linux is NOT profitable. It only provides a sandbox for them to play around in and test new ideas with.

[benj1]

Nope, they aren't. Go watch the video of GregKH talking about Canonical's contributions. Mandriva, who has less employees and money makes more contributions. Even gentoo, made up entirely of volunteers makes more contributions.

Edit: here's a synopsis of it. The video is on google video (and goes more in depth).
http://www.kroah.com/log/linux/lpc_2008_keynote.html

well as i said, different aims, ubuntu aims at look and feel more than other distros, i also acknowledged that ubuntu could do more.

I don't really want to get into volunteer contributions. If i submit a kernel patch, does it make a difference if i make it as an ubuntu volunteer or not? im not getting paid, i could well have used the time to contribute the patch anyway, in short, do distro led volunteer contributions actually increase contributions or would they have happened anyway.
Further you could argue that as ubuntu is the current poster child introducing a disproportionate amount of new users to linux why can't ubuntu 'claim' some of their contribution, after all it could be argued that if they werent using linux, then they wouldnt have contributed at all.

at the end of the day, we have a vast amount of distros aiming to achieve different things, each take more than they give, if that weren't the case we would each have to write the equivalent of an OS (on average), should each have to contribute X amount to the kernel, X amount to gnome? if you take that view then surely there should be an expectation for users to contribute more (1 bug fix / 10hrs of use?)

[RiceMonster]

That is absolutely not true. Their server - support contracts are profitable. Supporting desktop linux is NOT profitable. It only provides a sandbox for them to play around in and test new ideas with.

Oh, I didn't read that it was about desktop Linux, so you're right. My fault for misreading.

[Sporkman]

It's open source - nobody's under any obligation to contribute anything. I can take & profit off of open source code out the wazoo without giving back a dime or minute of effort, as long as I adhere to the licensing terms.

[thenailedone]

So he is going to stop managing and focus more on leading... good idea...

[HappinessNow]

So he is going to stop managing and focus more on leading... good idea...Maybe he'll even start posting here at ubuntuforums more often. :P

[RiceMonster]

It's open source - nobody's under any obligation to contribute anything. I can take & profit off of open source code out the wazoo without giving back a dime or minute of effort, as long as I adhere to the licensing terms.

Indeed, however there are big advantages to developing upstream because you're not at the whim of the upstream developers. The features you want will be included, and you'll get free development and testing on them from a lot more developers. Essentially, it'll make things easier for you.

[tgalati4]

I can't wait to see Mark's next big idea. The Ubuntu top will keep spinning on its own. None of this would have existed without Mark's insight. I wish him well.

[Regenweald]

I think the reason this is so is because Ubuntu is focused on the desktop and spend most of their energy on making a usable desktop for all users. As such, they're not really kernel hackers.

Much is made about Greg Kroah-Hartmann complaining about Canonical but he made the same complaint about Google and some other organisations.

I don't see this resentment against all the other multitude of distros out there that use the Linux kernel and don't contribute much, if anything. It's like Canonical is being singled out because the guy who started it happens to be wealthy. Maybe they're jealous because he's been in space.

If you look at interviews with sabdfl, he says he sees it as giving back something to Debian and Open Source, because he used these tools when he was setting up Thawte. So he's spent a whole lot of time on energy on a project which has so far produced no profit but has introduced millions of new users to an alternative OS experience.

I doubt this resentment you speak of is all that widespread, but there are no doubt people who like to dwell on negativity and jealousy and as far as I'm concerned they can stew in it. Canonical is providing something that desktop Linux sorely needs, which is business nous.

.

This, This, a thousand time this.

People are always quick to shout that the volunteer based distros make more kernel contributions. They also are at a user level where most computer users cannot access those wonderful kernel contributions made by that same distro.

The linux kernel has thousands of developers worldwide hacking and improving this server kernel, how about we have one distribution actually packaging a proper desktop around it so that a user wont have to figure out how to install Arch+kdemod or compile Gnome through portage or jump through a bunch of FSF hoops to get functional 3D acceleration ?

Ubuntu has an estimated 8 million users worldwide. these forums have maybe a million accounts, not all will be active ones. That is potentially 7 million users silently happy with a functional Linux desktop. But no, lets listen to the forum minority of other distro fans, concentrate more on the kernel, forget the desktop, allow the desktop experience to slip into something a bit more user unfriendly so that Ubuntu will have an uber-kernel with a shakey default desktop so that it will be just out of reach of average users, people who just need a functional machine.

The problem is that Ubuntu just isn't geeky enough anymore, you don't need to be a terminal ninja to administrate your machine, don't need to write shell scripts and have them run at boot for simple **** to work. Printing works out of the box....Where's the fun in that ? what do you get to laud over the masses ?

Functional and friendly is not the Linux way. I get that. Please stop making a better desktop and concentrate on more server features for the Linux kernel Canonical. Turn this monkey back into a niche hobbyist OS for computer enthusiasts. The only people who deserve to use Linux are those who can at least do an Ubuntu minimal install or install from a tar.gz

Anything else just won't do.

[RiceMonster]

*snip*

You missed the point entirely. So because they want to make an easy to use desktop, they can't contribute code to upstream projects (distro specific stuff like software store doesn't count)? The kernel is just one example. If you want to show me that they're contributing heavily to GNOME or something similar (which I haven't seen statistics on), then that would certainly be good to see.

Also, you may find it interesting that improving the kernel will also improve the desktop experience, because that involves improving how well it interacts with the hardware.

[JDShu]

You missed the point entirely. So because they want to make an easy to use desktop, they can't contribute code to upstream projects (distro specific stuff like software store doesn't count)? The kernel is just one example. If you want to show me that they're contributing heavily to GNOME or something similar (which I haven't seen statistics on), then that would certainly be good to see.

Also, you may find it interesting that improving the kernel will also improve the desktop experience, because that involves improving how well it interacts with the hardware.

Constraint Maximization.

[Mr. Picklesworth]

Well then google and other organizations should give back as well.

But what you're missing is that Google really does give back. The thing is they don't do a lot of development directly upstream themselves, but Summer of Code (http://code.google.com/soc/) and Highly Open (http://code.google.com/opensource/ghop/2007-8/) each make a tremendous impact to different open source projects to the point that I believe the landscape would be very different without them. These projects inspire new contributors and often give us great new code. I think that goes above and beyond what Google contributing code directly would accomplish. (Not that it isn't a nice thing when they do it).

And this shows where "X company doesn't contribute enough" is an incredibly flawed metric. Not every project or company is the same, so of course they're all going to do it differently.

[Regenweald]

You missed the point entirely. So because they want to make an easy to use desktop, they can't contribute code to upstream projects (distro specific stuff like software store doesn't count)? The kernel is just one example. If you want to show me that they're contributing heavily to GNOME or something similar (which I haven't seen statistics on), then that would certainly be good to see.

Also, you may find it interesting that improving the kernel will also improve the desktop experience, because that involves improving how well it interacts with the hardware.

Respectfully, I still disagree. Improving the kernel has no impact on the desktop if the desktop cannot properly utilize the kernel. Remember the data loss thanks to an improperly used ext4 feature ?

Also, not enough credit is given to the job of pure packaging. If you have a separate companies creating each individual component for a car and a separate entity of engineers with the task of finding the best combination of components to provide a great car, packaging becomes of the utmost importance and poor packaging can result in disaster. Canonical performs the not-so-easy task of pulling things together and making them mesh. The largest desktop userbase for any Linux based distro is validation of that effort.

[Sealbhach]

You mean like Red Hat and Novell do? They've got that under control, and are profitable. Very profitable.


I mean "desktop linux" for the home consumer, not the enterprise. Doing things like Canonical's links with Dell, being able to buy a Linux distro from a major hardware vendor.

.

[RiceMonster]

Respectfully, I still disagree. Improving the kernel has no impact on the desktop if the desktop cannot properly utilize the kernel. Remember the data loss thanks to an improperly used ext4 feature ?

But the desktop cannot improve if it has a poor performing, buggy kernel with no hardware support. They both rely heavily upon each other. I'm not going to say either is not important.


Also, not enough credit is given to the job of pure packaging. If you have a separate companies creating each individual component for a car and a separate entity of engineers with the task of finding the best combination of components to provide a great car, packaging becomes of the utmost importance and poor packaging can result in disaster. Canonical performs the not-so-easy task of pulling things together and making them mesh. The largest desktop userbase for any Linux based distro is validation of that effort.

Every distro does packaging in some way. Yes it's a good thing, and it's needed, but it's not like anything out of the ordinary there. It's also easier to argue that Debian does more of the work pulling everything together than Canonical.


But what you're missing is that Google really does give back. The thing is they don't do a lot of development directly upstream themselves, but Summer of Code (http://code.google.com/soc/) and Highly Open (http://code.google.com/opensource/ghop/2007-8/) each make a tremendous impact to different open source projects to the point that I believe the landscape would be very different without them. These projects inspire new contributors and often give us great new code. I think that goes above and beyond what Google contributing code directly would accomplish. (Not that it isn't a nice thing when they do it).

Yes, and this is very good, so I agree. My point was more or less saying that I'm not saying it's just Canonical who could improve.


I mean "desktop linux" for the home consumer, not the enterprise. Doing things like Canonical's links with Dell, being able to buy a Linux distro from a major hardware vendor.

.

Read my next post down, I misread and didn't realize you were talking specifically about the desktop.

[Sealbhach]

Read my next post down, I misread and didn't realize you were talking specifically about the desktop.

Yeah, saw that too late.:P

.

[Robin Nixon]

(Duplicate removed)

[JayKay3000]

I will be spending more time on the areas that interest me the most and where I feel I can do the most good.

That's cool when you have the ability to be that flexible within your own company.

[seeker5528]

'tis a sad, sad day for ubuntu...but oh well, there are no such things as BDFL's!

Marks' role at Canonical is changing, his status as BDFL of Ubuntu isn't changing.

Later, Seeker

[Finalfantasykid]

At least he will still be heavily involved with Ubuntu. It sounds like he might be even more closely involved than before, so I guess this isn't really a bad thing, and probably won't change much.

[jrusso2]

I can't think of anyone worse to be a designer or work on the interface of Ubuntu or its usability going by his past efforts

[Sporkman]

I can't think of anyone worse to be a designer or work on the interface of Ubuntu or its usability going by his past efforts

I would be worse, I'd wager.

[Kyugetsuki]

Let's not count medals please... this ain't high school graduation.

At the very least consider this-Linux (I mean IT as a whole) is definitely evolving for the better... doesn't matter what distro... as long as the reliability is there...

it may be a little sugary, but everyone in this forum knows I'm telling the truth

If Mr Shuttleworth decides to make a move, then it's his call

let's observe anti-distoroism ok?(though Iam still wondering what de redhat is using during 2003, it was diff to cope w/... :))

[areteichi]

I read the following comment made on Mark's blog post and was wondering what this person meant.
http://www.markshuttleworth.com/archives/295

Mark, let’s be honest here. You can do whatever you want, because no one really give a damn, as long as you keep pumping money into Linux.

Also, I saw that thread on Geekfeminism. They pwned your sorry ***! You’re kind of gutless, really.

Mark Shuttleworth says: And I bet that’s your real email address you’re using there. What a charming example of backbone you are.
I looked up Geekfeminism and found out that Mark had been accused of a sexist remark by a feminist critic at the following website.
http://geekfeminism.org/2009/09/23/open-letter-to-mark-shuttleworth/

Hi Mark,

I’m writing to you as a woman who has been involved in Linux and open source for more than 15 years, and who has been very involved in discussions around women in open source of late; I recently keynoted OSCON and Atlanta Linux Fest on the subject, and I also run the Geek Feminism wiki (http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/) and blog (http://geekfeminism.org/).

I’m sorry I wasn’t able to make it to LinuxCon this year; I hear it’s a pretty good event. I’ve been listening with some interest to people’s reports of what’s going on there, and this afternoon I heard from multiple sources about your keynote, in which you referred to our work in Linux as being “hard to explain to girls”.

I wanted to bring this up because I think what you said in that talk was pretty dismissive of the skill and dedication that many women have already brought to Linux, not only as designers and documenters (which I gather you mentioned in your talk) but as coders, release managers, sysadmins, and more — and of those who might be interested in the future.

2009 is shaping up to be a watershed year for women in open source. We have seen numerous high profile incidents where men have made remarks in conference presentations which have dismissed, marginalised, or upset women; we’ve seen an increase in discussion on blogs, mailing lists, and twitter/identica; many conferences have invited speakers (including myself) to keynote on the subject of inclusivity and diversity; and a number of efforts towards recruiting and supporting a more diverse open source community have been launched. In light of the attention the subject has been getting of late, your comment at LinuxCon seems oblivious at best, and only serves to further damage the Linux community’s reputation.

I’d like to invite you to think about the message you’re sending to women in the Linux community, and, if you didn’t mean to convey the message that we’re technical illiterates and hard to educate, consider apologising publicly.

Yours,

Kirrily Robert
To which accusation Mark did not apologize (as far as I know from the following link).
http://geekfeminism.org/2009/09/28/a-followup-on-the-shuttleworth-incident/

I wanted to let you know that I received a private response from Mark Shuttleworth, in which he says that he has no intention of apologising for his comment. I know that a number of other people have approached him in person and by email, both before and after I posted my open letter, to ask him to consider the effects of what he said, and I’m still hoping that he will come around. (Despite numerous assertions to the contrary, I do prefer to see the glass as half full when it comes to these issues.)
Basically, my point is that this might have to do with Mark's resignation as the CEO of Canonical, and the fact that the new CEO Jane Silber is female.

[AllRadioisDead]

I read the following comment made on Mark's blog post and was wondering what this person meant.
http://www.markshuttleworth.com/archives/295

I looked up Geekfeminism and found out that Mark had been accused of a sexist remark by a feminist critic at the following website.
http://geekfeminism.org/2009/09/23/open-letter-to-mark-shuttleworth/

To which accusation Mark did not apologize (as far as I know from the following link).
http://geekfeminism.org/2009/09/28/a-followup-on-the-shuttleworth-incident/

Basically, my point is that this might have to do with Mark's resignation as the CEO of Canonical, and the fact that the new CEO Jane Silber is female.
The accusation of Mark being sexist was the stupidest pile of garbage I've ever see. It was the biggest excuse for a bunch of people to make a big deal out of nothing. There was obviously no sexism intended and he doesn't have anything to appologize for.

[koenn]

The accusation of Mark being sexist was the stupidest pile of garbage I've ever see. It was the biggest excuse for a bunch of people to make a big deal out of nothing. There was obviously no sexism intended and he doesn't have anything to appologize for.
this.

The news of Jane Silber being promoted from COO to CEO reminded me of that "Shuttleworth is sexist" episode - in a 'you have women in higher management, and they still complain about sexism in open source projects ?" kinda way.

[Ms_Angel_D]

this.

The news of Jane Silber being promoted from COO to CEO reminded me of that "Shuttleworth is sexist" episode - in a 'you have women in higher management, and they still complain about sexism in open source projects ?" kinda way.

Just because a woman is in charge doesn't mean that sexism doesn't exist on some level. But I really don't believe that Mark said anything sexist, either. I do believe however that in tech there is still a certain amount of sexism.

[koenn]

Just because a woman is in charge doesn't mean that sexism doesn't exist on some level. But I really don't believe that Mark said anything sexist, either. I do believe however that in tech there is still a certain amount of sexism.

Oh, I don't doubt sexism can present itself in many ways, and that one can find some degree of sexism almost anywhere. I just never bought that far-fetched "Shuttleworth is sexist" thing, and this promotion seems to agree with me.

[proxess]

Just because a woman is in charge doesn't mean that sexism doesn't exist on some level. But I really don't believe that Mark said anything sexist, either. I do believe however that in tech there is still a certain amount of sexism.

+1

Perfectly well stated.

[Sporkman]

Instead of "girls", he should have said "normal people".

:)

[MooPi]

Matt Asay will be the new COO at Canonical. I know of Matt through his blog on CNET and he always seems to be spot on conveying the virtues of Linux. Seems like a good choice from his proven track record and Open Source pedigree.

[OrangeCrate]

Adding...

http://news.cnet.com/openroad/

[Skripka]

Oh, my. Anyone who has been a writer for CNet has a deep hole to climb out of.

[jdrodrig]

I welcome the move as long as it takes the issue of "making money" to the forefront of ubuntu's next years....it cannot live of Shuttle..'s money!

[newbie2]

It is worth understanding Asay’s background
http://boycottnovell.com/2010/02/06/asay-joins-canonical/

[Sashin]

What exactly is the role of a COO?

[Mustache Villain]

http://boycottnovell.com/2010/02/06/asay-joins-canonical/

Nice article, I just want to quote this:


Last night Asay told me that he would move to GNU/Linux on the desktop (he tried SUSE when he worked at Novell, but eventually ended up moving from Windows to Mac OS X, sometimes experimenting with Ubuntu afterwards).

I don't know exactly what a COO does, but lets hope none of his responsibilities include influencing the future of Ubuntu GNU/Linux.

[3rdalbum]

http://boycottnovell.com/2010/02/06/asay-joins-canonical/

Linking to Boycott Novell causes you to automatically lose this thread. If you believe BN, then I have a brand-new Rolex watch to sell you.

Let's not forget my favourite Boycott Novell quote:

"Vista is not secure. It's a Big Lie. It was proven by scientists."

I can't believe that site is still operating. I see that their stories still contain lots of "information" from random people on IRC.

[FuturePilot]

http://boycottnovell.com/2010/02/06/asay-joins-canonical/

...

[samantha_]

http://boycottnovell.com/2010/02/06/asay-joins-canonical/

is this even true?

[Bachstelze]

http://www.markshuttleworth.com/

The answer is probably in there somewhere...

[Twitch6000]

Yep he has stepped down has ceo.

[RiceMonster]

lol boycott novell lol

[mickie.kext]

http://boycottnovell.com/2010/02/06/asay-joins-canonical/

is this even true?

It is true but BN site skewed it. Truth is:

Mark Shuttleworth is steeping down to in order to have more time to lead Ubuntu project. Jane Silber is taking over as Canonical CEO, Mark stays Self-Pointed Benevolent Dictator for Life and continues to lead Ubuntu project.

[Stan_1936]

..Mark Shuttleworth is steeping down to in order to have more time to lead Ubuntu project. Jane Silber is taking over as Canonical CEO, Mark stays Self-Pointed Benevolent Dictator for Life and continues to lead Ubuntu project.

Who told you that?

[samantha_]

http://www.markshuttleworth.com/

The answer is probably in there somewhere...

ah, first post on his site.
thanks!

[Icehuck]

http://boycottnovell.com/2010/02/06/asay-joins-canonical/

is this even true?

Bit of advice, don't read BN. They make up more junk than Fox News and BBC put together.

[mickie.kext]

Who told you that?

That is what says on Shutleworth site. He resigns as CEO of Canonical, stays chef of Ubuntu.

[wojox]

Didn't we all here about this a month ago?

[seeker5528]

http://boycottnovell.com/2010/02/06/asay-joins-canonical/

is this even true?

I question the ability of the people at boycottnovell.com to tell truth from koolaid, but I can't really point to anything in that posting and say it is false.

As for the title of this thread 'Mark Shuttleworth is gone..', it's not true just taking on a different role:

http://www.markshuttleworth.com/archives/295

There was a thread about it at the time it was announced:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1357601&highlight=mark+stepping

Later, Seeker

[Uncle Spellbinder]

Didn't we all here about this a month ago?

Indeed. Pretty old news, actually.

[mickie.kext]

Didn't we all here about this a month ago?

Yes. But apparently samantha_ saw that now :KS.

[Roasted]

Stepping down is hardly different from being gone. It sounds like he has just that much interest in Ubuntu and the future of it that he wanted to be more involved and getting his own hands more on the project as opposed to just telling somebody to get their hands more on the project.

Can ya blame him? I would hate a CEO job. I'd rather be more involved to make the project happen. Besides, he's a smart guy, and he picked a worthy candidate - somebody who's been with the Ubuntu project since pretty much day one.

[forrestcupp]

samantha_ just signed up this month. Give her a break.

[LightB]

Bit of advice, don't read BN. They make up more junk than Fox News and BBC put together.

In this case, what did they make up? I don't see it. And to throw BBC in there is pathetic.

[Icehuck]

Work for the Auntie do ya?

[samantha_]

Didn't we all here about this a month ago?

I wasnt here during decemeber, I was on vacation :D
However, I did stay at ubuntuforums longer than one month. I had (and still have) a habit of making my browser remember usernames instead of my brain. One day, the HD died on me, and as a result... well you know....

In fact, I cant remember what email I signed up using either.
must be having amnesia....

[Paqman]

Work for the Auntie do ya?

I don't think it's him whose biases are showing.

[Useless Urchin]

I'm not using Ubuntu any longer, or for the time being, but I think it's very important for Linux in general where it will go, because if it burns and crashes after all that money and hype that went into it I don't see anyone else trying the same stunt, "Linux to desktops".

Now, Mr. Asay seems to be a level-headed guy. This is from an article a year ago (http://tiny.cc/f2CR2) in the NYT, where he talks about Mr. Shtlwrth:

"'Mark is very genuine and fundamentally believes in open source. But I think he’s going to have a crisis of faith at some point.'

Mr. Asay wonders if Canonical can sustain its 'give everything away' model and 'always open' ideology."

Well, there he is now, let's see what gets charged and what gets closed ;)

[arnab_das]

extremely interesting change. could have mixed implications for canonical.

[overdrank]

Threads merged

[Johnsie]

After watching the Shuttleworth video for the launch of the last version of Ubuntu I think this is a good idea. I don't mean this in an offencive way but Mark is a nerd and he is best hanging out with the nerds and doing nerdy things. That's where he can be more productive. I'm the programmer/nerd where I work and everyone here knows it would be totally ridiculous for me to be put into sales. I don't have the right character traits for that job. The PR and business management really needs to be handled by charismatic and professional business people who can sell Ubuntu to companies and the masses. When an Ubuntu product is lost there needs to be a wow factor. Cannonical need to invest more money in PR and the Ubuntu community need to do more to give good word of mouth PR.

[Useless Urchin]

After watching the Shuttleworth video for the launch of the last version of Ubuntu I think this is a good idea. I don't mean this in an offencive way but Mark is a nerd and he is best hanging out with the nerds and doing nerdy things. That's where he can be more productive. I'm the programmer/nerd where I work and everyone here knows it would be totally ridiculous for me to be put into sales. I don't have the right character traits for that job. The PR and business management really needs to be handled by charismatic and professional business people who can sell Ubuntu to companies and the masses. When an Ubuntu product is lost there needs to be a wow factor. Cannonical need to invest more money in PR and the Ubuntu community need to do more to give good word of mouth PR.

Well... If you really think that then I guess the PR is working just fine :)
Seriously, the man is a money making machine and ostensibly that's the only thing he can actually do. That's why I think Ubuntu is not making much progress, trying to make a dent in the desktop market such as it is, set for decades, it's about spending money and being a selfless visionary.

[newbie2]

Bit of advice, don't read BN. They make up more junk than Fox News and BBC put together.

yeah??... and what about this :
Canonical has already employed other ex-Novell employees and some might attribute Mono affinity to this. Several months ago, when a former Microsoft employee who now leads Ubuntu’s desktop endeavours called for the removal of the GIMP, we immediately responded and later pointed out a reader's opinion that Paint.NET might be added next. Now, watch this new Mono project called Pinta, which strives to mimic Paint.NET.
http://boycottnovell.com/2010/02/08/analysis-canonical-2010/



and now this : http://digitizor.com/2010/02/05/openoffice-dropped-from-ubuntu-netbook-edition-10-04/
:rolleyes:

[Mr. Picklesworth]

yeah??... and what about this :
http://boycottnovell.com/2010/02/08/analysis-canonical-2010/



and now this : http://digitizor.com/2010/02/05/openoffice-dropped-from-ubuntu-netbook-edition-10-04/
:rolleyes:

I find it really upsetting that this guy considers one's being employed (or considering employment) by Microsoft or Novell at any point in his life an incurable which taint must be worn for eternity; that he can defame them for their past work, regardless of what they are currently doing, and essentially (if he had his way) give them the boot from the free software community because of it.

There is only one explanation for this world view (popular Schestowitz-ism): He believes that people are all pawns with no minds, opinions or interests of their own, unless they happen to have contributed to Stallman-approved software from birth.


As for the other news, I'm opposed to the Google Docs link (I like the service, but it is proprietary, and splitting the default online experience between Yahoo and Google is bizarre), but I like the idea of dropping OO.o from the netbook version since that thing is an insane behemoth of an application. I don't see how people could actually see that as a harmful act. (Especially since the OpenOffice project is now in the hands of Oracle, which has already done some pretty ugly stuff).

On the desktop, GIMP isn't being removed to be replaced by anything; it's being removed to simplify and streamline the ootb experience. However, Canonical is now supporting PiTiVi - an awesome video editor (http://gnomejournal.org/article/79/pitivi) (built the right way for once) - which will be installed by default in Lucid. The games selection is being rearranged in favour of more interesting games, gbrainy being one of them. Frozen Bubble would have been nice, but the problem there is space; the thing is huge.
Many would say "just drop Mono!" Dropping the existing repertoire of Mono apps would need further shifting around, it would be a loud political statement (where Ubuntu has always been neutral on this), and it would only gain us a silly game. Besides that, gbrainy is awesome.

[LightB]

yeah??... and what about this :
http://boycottnovell.com/2010/02/08/analysis-canonical-2010/



and now this : http://digitizor.com/2010/02/05/openoffice-dropped-from-ubuntu-netbook-edition-10-04/
:rolleyes:

What about it? People can't publish opinions now? Facts are facts, opinions are opinions.

[Sporkman]

Facts are facts, opinions are opinions.

And LEON is getting LARGER!