Ontiveros @ Textdriven

Let me start out with a disclaimer. I use Ubuntu on a Gateway Pentium III & an Apple G3 Power PC. Ubuntu has made my Linux desktop use a no brainer. I don’t even have to visit the forums anymore as everything that I use just works.

Back to the point: There has been a lot said about the pending Ubuntu Linux Dapper Drake release. Founder Mark Shuttleworth has been quoted as saying the following regarding the delay:

“In some senses Dapper is a first for us, in that it is the first ‘enterprise-quality’ release of Ubuntu, for which we plan to offer support for a very long time,” Shuttleworth said. “I, and others, would very much like Dapper to stand proud amongst the traditional enterprise Linux releases from Red Hat, Debian and SUSE as an equal match on quality, support and presentation.”

Say what you will, this is a carefully crafted press statement. In the back of my mind, I can’t help but wonder if Ubuntu has taken on too much too fast. As far as I know, there is Ubuntu, Kubuntu, and Edubuntu for x86, AMD, PPC, desktop, and now server editions,

Technology firms, for profit or otherwise, usually try to take on too much. Why? These firms tend to have no shortage of ideas which naturally beget more and more projects. Debian, the Linux system which Ubuntu is based on, has recently dropped support for lesser known architectures in order to streamline their release cycle [1]. Ubuntu appears to be going the other direction however [2].

The aggressive 6 month release cycle was part of what made this distribution exciting. Those were the days of a more streamlined offering. Ubuntu can only rely on Mark’s money for so long, so they will have to monetize their offering at some point. The server release, which has been certified with IBM’s DB2 database offering, will need to be rock solid if it will compete with the likes of Red Hat and Solaris. Perhaps Ubuntu is over reaching, or perhaps it will become more Debian like. Either way, this is a great distribution to watch.