Sam Varghese
Friday, 15 August 2008 06:31
Opinion and Analysis
Page 2 of 3
Last year, there were deals done that ensured that Ubuntu would be loaded onto some Dell hardware and some Acer models as well. It all happened very quietly and then suddenly it was all over the place.
At the recent LinuxWorld expo, IBM announced a deal whereby it would push Ubuntu, among other distributions, into the business workspace. Shuttleworth knows when and where to make the announcements.
Along the way, there have been mistakes but Shuttleworth has shown a willingness to listen to Ubuntu users and take the low road if necessary. Arrogance is one thing of which he can never be accused. (Some within the Canonical ranks would do well to learn from their boss in this regard).
Shuttleworth is very careful about making categorical statements regarding anything at all. He picks his words with care, more so when he has to go back on some decision that has already been taken.
Recently, his Shuttleworth Foundation
cancelled the development of an educational software project called Kusasa after phase I. The official press release said "practical considerations in implementing the objectives of the project led the Foundation to conclude that Kusasa faced problems with the execution of its vision and to halt all work on the initiative."
As to what that means, your guess is as good as mine.
One can well argue that it's easy for someone who is technically competent (Shuttleworth was once a Debian developer) and has plenty of cash (the sale of his company Thawte to VeriSign brought him nearly $US600 million) to start and run a project like Ubuntu. Such arguments do not hold water, though.
