Is Ubuntu for sale?

[Johnsie]

If someone bought Ubuntu how much do you think it would be worth and who would buy it? Mark Shuttleworth is a good businessman. If he could make money off Ubuntu would he sell up? Do you think there are any big companies carefully watching Ubuntu mature until a point where they can snap it up and a have a good OS?

[Ebuntor]

If someone bought Ubuntu how much do you think it would be worth and who would buy it? Mark Shuttleworth is a good businessman. If he could make money off Ubuntu would he sell up? Do you think there are any big companies carefully watching Ubuntu mature until a point where they can snap it up and a have a good OS?

I'm not really sure Ubuntu, as an open source operating system, can be sold in the traditional sense since it's something made by the community (not sure about that though, please correct me if I'm wrong). They prolly could offer a "Professional" edition but I'm sure the original Ubuntu would be forked and everything would be back to normal a few weeks later.
Canonical, the company making Ubuntu, since it is a company, of course can be sold. Would Ubuntu be part of that if it were sold? I doubt it.

Would Mr. Shuttleworth ever sell Ubuntu and/or Canonical? Seems very unlikely. As he has said many times; starting Ubuntu was one of his dreams and it certainly wasn't for the money. He's a real idealist so I'm 100% sure he'd never sell either.

[aktiwers]

I remember reading "Ubuntu will always be free of charge" somewhere.. :)

[Johnsie]

yeah but I mean the Cannonical company being sold to another big company. There have been a lot of big takeovers in the computing world recently... And Shuttleworth could make a tidy packet it he sold cannonical to the right people.

[Vadi]

Yeah, and? Ubuntu isn't their IP, they just fund/back it (and I'm sure we're all very grateful for that, as it's certainly accelerating the development), but I don't think they can sell the OS itself and the full rights to it.

At any rate, I'd pay for Ubuntu if that was the case. It's so worth it.

[multifaceted]

Just as Ebuntor said, it's unlikely that he would sell something that he holds so dear as... his dream.

Unless that is, all of us -including the market- have a huge misconception about him.

However, I still find even that highly unlikely.

[Ebuntor]

yeah but I mean the Cannonical company being sold to another big company. There have been a lot of big takeovers in the computing world recently... And Shuttleworth could make a tidy packet it he sold cannonical to the right people.

As I already said Mark Shuttleworth didn't found Canonical for the profit, purely to fund the development of Ubuntu.

If he sold Canonical it sure wouldn't be in the best of interest for Ubuntu and since he started Canonical more or less to fund Ubuntu...etc .
Besides Mr. Shuttleworth already has millions, that's how he started Canonical in the first place, and he sure doesn't give me the impression he's greedy and would sell his company for just a few more millions. :)

[southernman]

If someone bought Ubuntu how much do you think it would be worth and who would buy it? Mark Shuttleworth is a good businessman. If he could make money off Ubuntu would he sell up? Do you think there are any big companies carefully watching Ubuntu mature until a point where they can snap it up and a have a good OS?How much did you want to offer? ;)

on-topic: No, to my knowlege Canonical/Ubuntu isn't for sale, nor will it be in the near future. One thing for sure though, "Never say Never!"

If your worried that Microsoft may try to buy Mark out, Don't think you should be worried. If he was to sell to anyone, the Redmond gang (and/or Novell most likely) would be very last on the list of prospects IMO.

[thx11381974]

If your worried that Microsoft may try to buy Mark out


Vistbuntu 8.10 Thats Bill's plan don't kid your self.

[Caffeine_Junky]

Vistbuntu 8.10 Thats Bill's plan don't kid your self.

Heh, ...I first started using Ubuntu when 5.04 was released, ...then I had a break for a while and returned to Ubuntu in July /07 and installed Feisty. I was/am truly amazed at how Ubuntu has progressed over the last couple of years, ...fantastic!

As well as being totally amazed with the progress of Ubuntu, ..I also was a bit concerned at the same time. The reasons for my concern(s) where/are based on a "gut feeling" (not facts).

My "gut feeling" is:
Will the market leader(s) see Ubuntu as a potential threat on the horizon? .. and as Ubuntu matures and gains popularity, will the market leader(s) look towards eliminating such a "potential" threat? .. by means of buying Ubuntu out and either charging hundreds of dollars for the OS or maybe even just simply wipe it from existance with legal "red tape" ? (i.e: the: I own it and no one can use it approach)

It will be interesting to see what the future holds for Ubuntu, ..and if greed will rare it's ugly head some time in the future.

"Is Ubuntu for sale?" ...Only time will tell. (IMO)

[RAV TUX]

Just as Ebuntor said, it's unlikely that he would sell something that he holds so dear as... his dream.

Unless that is, all of us -including the market- have a huge misconception about him.

However, I still find even that highly unlikely.


As I already said Mark Shuttleworth didn't found Canonical for the profit, purely to fund the development of Ubuntu.

If he sold Canonical it sure wouldn't be in the best of interest for Ubuntu and since he started Canonical more or less to fund Ubuntu...etc .
Besides Mr. Shuttleworth already has millions, that's how he started Canonical in the first place, and he sure doesn't give me the impression he's greedy and would sell his company for just a few more millions. :)
Why not ask Mark directly?

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuOpenWeek

[multifaceted]

Why not?.... indeed.

[Morton's Red Stapler]

I remember reading "Ubuntu will always be free of charge" somewhere.. :)
to answer your question, i took this directly from the openweek web site
"Taking place from Mon 22nd Oct - Sat 27th Oct on IRC in #ubuntu-classroom.

If you are in a session, please read the Rules Guidelines

Welcome to the Ubuntu Open Week!

[WWW] Ubuntu is a freely available, simple to use Linux desktop and server. The Ubuntu project has developed a strong reputation for technical excellence and a commitment to the free software community, and we are always keen to grow and extend our community where possible. Ubuntu does not distinguish between different Enterprise and Open versions - we have one single version of Ubuntu, and this version is and will always be entirely free. Ubuntu is used by over 8 million people and has a worldwide community of volunteers who contribute in many different areas such as packaging, documentation, art, translations, testing, marketing and more. "

[LanDan]

ubuntu is 6 months work

not more then that, 6 months to copy debian unstable, add on some themes and iron out the bugs.

just run Debian Sid and then you tell me what is debian and what is ubuntu

then what is the added value of canonical ubuntu? tools like launchpad and landscape, thats what could be sold, no more no less