Ok, eventually I am 2 months early, but I was appointed an Ubuntu Member on 2005-06-15… but I was starting earlier with Ubuntu Packaging…
Anyhow, I already wrote my praise on Google+.
So just to make this public:
Thanks for 15.04 and all the other releases before (especially the LTS ones).
I think during the last 10 Years, Ubuntu made a difference towards the Linux Community,
When I joined this journey, Ubuntu was just another distribution, with a SABDFL who was pumping a lot of money into his free project. I guess it was his private money, and the whole Linux community should be so thankful to this Geek.
Without Marks engagement, I don’t think that Linux on the Desktop is so known to the wider public.
Don’t get me wrong, we had SuSE, we had Red Hat, we had Debian (and other smaller Distros), but most of the global players today were famous for the involvement on the servers (Well, not SuSE because they were focused on Desktop before they lost track and made the wrong turn [and no I am not saying openSuSE this is a different story)
10 Years ago, actually 10 years and a couple of months, a small group of people were working on an integrated desktop environment, based on GNOME. And they were right to do so. Those people, many of them still are doing their Job at Canonical, were right to invest their time into that.
And look, where are we today! On the Desktop, on the server, in the middle of the cloud and on a freaking Phone!
Who thought about this 10 and half years ago?
Yeah, I know, there were some decisions which were not so Ok for the community, but honestly, even those wrong decisions were needed. Without wrong decisions we don’t learn. Errors are there to learn from them, even in a social environment.
To make my point, I think it’s important to have one public figure, to bring a project like Ubuntu forward. One person who directs all fame and hate towards him, and especially Mark is one of those figures.
Just see other huge OpenSource Projects, like OpenStack or Hadoop. Great projects, I give them that, but there is no person who drives it. No Person who is making decisions, where the project has to go. That’s why OpenStack as stock OpenSource project is not a product. Hadoop, with all its fame, is not a product out of the box.
Too many companies do have a say. That’s why, i.e. it’s far from practical to install OpenStack from Source and have a running Cloud System. This is wrong, and those Communities, they need someone who has the hat on to say where these Communities are moving forward.
Democracy is good, I know, but in some environments Democracy blocks innovation. Too many people, too many voices, too many wrong directions. Just see the quality of Ubuntu Desktop, pre-installed on Dell Workstations or Laptops? That’s how you do it. You concentrate on Quality, and you get your Vendors who will ship your PRODUCT!
Let’s see:
- We have nowadays Ubuntu as Desktop OS (with Unity as Desktop)
- We have Ubuntu as a Server OS, running on many uncounted bare metal machines.
- We have Ubuntu as a Cloud OS, running on many, many Amazon instances, Docker instances and eventually Rackspace Instances.
But Ubuntu is more. The foundation of Ubuntu is driving many other Projects, like:
- Kubuntu (aka the KDE Distro of Choice)
- Ubuntu GNOME Remix
- Ubuntu with XFCE, etc.
- Mint Linux
- Goobuntu
- etc.
All those derivatives are based on the Ubuntu Foundation, made and integrated and plumbed by so many smart and awesome people.
Thanks to all of You!
So what now?
Mobile is growing. Mobile first. Mobile is the way to go!
Ubuntu on the Phone is not an idea anymore, it’s reality. Well done people. You made it!
But Ubuntu can even do more. Let’s think about the next hype.
Hype like CoreOS.
A Linux OS which is image based, no package management, just driven my some small utilities like systemd, fleetd and/or etcd.
CoreOS is one of the projects, I am really looking forward to use. But, I really want to see Ubuntu there.
And yes, there is Ubuntu Snappy….so why not trying to use Snappy as CoreOS replacement?
There is Docker. Docker is being used as the Dev Util for spinning up Instances, with specialised software on it.
Hell, Stephane Graber and his Friends over at the Linux Container Community, they have LXD! LXD driven by Stephane and his friends. Stephane is working for Canonical. So, I say: LXD is a Canonical Project!
And what is Canonical? Canonical is a major contributor to Ubuntu. I want to see LXD as the Docker Replacement, with more security, with more energy, with better integration into Cloud Systems like OpenStack and/or CloudStack!
To make a long story short, Ubuntu is one of those Projects, which are not going away.
Even with Mark (hopefully not) retiring, Canonical will be the driving force. There will be another Mark, and that’s why Ubuntu is one of the driving forces in our OpenSource Development. Forget about Contributor Licenses, forget about all decisions which were wrongly made.
We are here! We don’t go away! We are Ubuntu, Linux for Human Beings! And we are here to stay, whatever you say! We are better, we are stronger, we are The Borg! ^W ^W ^W ^W forget this, this is a different movie ;)
And if you ask: “Dude, you are saying all this, and you were a member of this Project, where is your CONTRIBUTION!?!?”
My Answer is:
"I bring Ubuntu to the Business! I installed Ubuntu as Server OS in many Companies during the last couple of years.
I integrated Ubuntu as SupportOS in companies where you don't expect it would run and support Operations or Service Reliability Departments.
I am the Ubuntu Integrator and Evangelist you won't see, hear or read (normally). I am the one of the Ubuntu Apostles, who are not bragging,
but bringing the Light to the Darkness";–)
PS: Companies Like Netviewer AG, Podio (Both Belong now to Citrix Inc.) and Sony/Gaikai for their PlayStation Now product