Canonical Blog

At Lotusphere today we announced the availability of the IBM Client for Smart Work complete with support from Canonical. It is a significant milestone both for potential end users and for the Canonical and IBM channel.

One of the gating factors to widespread adoption of Linux in the corporate desktop has been the perceived availability of the the required software stack on top of the operating system. While there have been various solutions available, either they have been too much work to assemble or self-support, or the feature set is not complete enough.

ICSW on Ubuntu offers the full set of replacement technologies for a typical Microsoft shop. Calendaring, scheduling, email and office productivity are all delivered via the Lotus product suite. There is access to Lotus Live which brings cloud-based services for those who prefer that route with minimal hardware overheads.

Lotus Live also delivers (deep breath) file sharing, document/content management, instant messaging, presence awareness, web conferencing, VoIP, IP telephony integration, application integration, mashups, blogs, wikis, community, social bookmarks, activities, profiles, portal,  and dashboards/scorecards depending on the level of subscription required. Which is an impressive feature set.

Ubuntu as the operating system also bring freedom from the licensing and upgrading cycle and allow the savings to be spent in more innovative ways. Canonical will support these infrastructures for as little as $5.50 per month for a typical 1000 seat installation. Compare that to the licensing and support for a Microsoft installation.

You can get an unsupported version of ICSW from the Ubuntu site today. IBM partners who would like to adding this product to their portfolio and reselling Ubuntu support should contact us here. Canonical partners can contact their account manager.

Steve George, Canonical

Congratulations to Google on the open sourcing of Google Chrome OS

When Chrome OS was announced in June we saw this as a positive development, bringing choice to the consumer. We considered how open source development is as much about co-operation as it is about competition. Google have made it clear that they are keen to develop Chrome OS openly and we have had the pleasure of hosting a number of the Google team at the Ubuntu Developer Summit in Dallas over the last few days where we have been able to see that openness in action.

In the interest of transparency, we should declare that Canonical is contributing engineering to Google under contract.  In our discussions, Sundar Pichai and Linus Upson made it clear that they want , wherever feasible,  to build on existing components and tools from the open source community without unnecessary re-invention.   This clear focus should benefit a wide variety of existing projects and we welcome it.

On the consumer side, people will ask about the positioning of Chrome OS and Ubuntu. While the two operating systems share some core components, Google Chrome OS will provide a very different experience to Ubuntu.  Ubuntu will continue to be a general purpose OS running both web and native applications such as OpenOffice and will not require specialised hardware.

So 2010 looks set to be a very exciting year. In addition to delivering Ubuntu experiences with both existing and new OEM partners, we will be working with Google on Chrome OS based devices.

Chris Kenyon  VP of OEM Services, Canonical

Next week (31 August through 3 September) VMorld 2009 kicks off in San Francisco at the Moscone Center. For the second year, Canonical has a booth to demonstrate Ubuntu’s virtualization and cloud computing capabilities.

Last year VMWorld 2008 was in sunny Las Vegas. We talked to thousands of people throughout the show, and only found a handful who hadn’t used Ubuntu – don’t worry we sent every one away with a free CD so they could put that right! It was a great show with lots of interest in Ubuntu following on from the 8.04 LTS release, and our virtualization solution.

We expect the 2009 show to be just as much fun. Ubuntu has been on the top of the VMWare charts as a base OS for many virtual machine images, so we hope that the new virtualization features coming in 9.10 will be well received. In 9.04 we previewed Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud (UEC) our private or on-premises cloud. This gives anyone who has their own servers the ability to set-up a cloud similar to Amazon’s EC2.

We’ll be presenting a talk for enterprises on how cloud computing can help them at the Solution Exchange Theatre on Wednesday 2nd September at 11:50 am. Entitled “The Clear Path to a Cloudy Enterprise”, it will be given by John Pugh, one of Canonical’s Partner Managers. If you would like to hear about the future of cloud computing, how open source offers a real alternative, and how Ubuntu can be used in this scenario then this talk should be informative and fun.

If you are going to be at VMWorld then please come along to the Canonical booth (#2403) and say hello to us. We would love to talk to you about Ubuntu, how you’re using it, and how you can get more from it – see you
in San Francisco!

The last few years have seen a dramatic increase in the size and reach of the Ubuntu community while netbooks have brought many new consumer users to Ubuntu.  Other advances in user interface design, device compatibility and availability have meant that more small businesses and individuals have been able to start using Ubuntu.

To meet this changing profile,  we’ve launched some new Desktop Services today geared towards this range of users, whether at home or in small businesses. If you’re a new non-technical Ubuntu enthusiast, or an experienced office professional these services are intended to give you the assistance you need to use Ubuntu with confidence.

The way we see it, desktop support shouldn’t be a one-size-fits-all, so there are three options to choose from:

The Starter Desktop Service is intended to address the needs of the new Ubuntu user who mainly uses their computer to surf the Web, watch movies, listen to music and write e-mails.

The Advanced Desktop Service is for more experienced users, who use their computer for a broad range of activities. This service helps users migrate their desktop from their previous environment, such as Windows. It also provides help with advanced applications, for example desktop publishing or setting up advanced file systems.

Finally, the Professional Desktop Service is for people who use Ubuntu in their work environment. This service includes assistance with desktop virtualization, advanced productivity applications and integration into the corporate network.

We hope that these new services will enable even more people to use, explore and enjoy Ubuntu.

Steve George – Corporate Services

For the first time we are making codecs for media playback and a DVD player, from our partners at Fluendo and Cyberlink, available through the Ubuntu store. We have had relationships with these companies for a while and to date we have offered their products to our hardware partners as pre-install options.

Now though, we are making them available to all users. It is important to us that no matter how you choose to access Ubuntu, pre-installed or as a free download, that you can have a similarly rich experience. The vast majority of our current users will have installed Ubuntu themselves. These users should also be allowed legal DVD and media playback and so we have built a way of letting them do this.

We cannot ship codecs through the distro, as they are not free to redistribute. So we have built a restricted download area that is accessible through the store. Once purchased you can find your software here which will then install in the familiar hassle-free way that Ubuntu users appreciate. A pretty cool feature is that, should you wipe out your machine you can go back to the restricted download area and access your codecs again. Enjoy

Gerry Carr – Marketing Manager, Canonical

Here at Canonical we are pretty excited about the global announcements today from Dell about its new Inspiron Mini 9, which will soon ship in many countries with Ubuntu 8.04 pre-installed.

Not only does the Ubuntu version come with a custom launcher that makes the Inspiron Mini 9 fast, safe and easy to use, it has the benefit of numerous open source applications, such as a popular web browser and important office applications, as well as a smaller footprint on the internal solid-state disk and a lower entry price point than alternative operating systems.

We think machines like the Mini 9 will bring Ubuntu to a whole new group of users, from commuters wanting a lightweight device to schoolchildren wanting their first notebook. Welcome to Ubuntu!

We’re also pleased that the Inspiron Mini 9 release represents the growing strength of our relationships with some of the most prominent names in the industry, in this case Dell.

Dell started working with Canonical over a year ago, prompted by an incredible response from the Dell community to its Dell IdeaStorm, culminating very quickly with the launch of numerous Ubuntu-based products in the last year. Over that time we’ve seen the relationship between Dell and Canonical’s engineering teams in China, Taiwan and US go from strength to strength, with the result that Dell has broadened both its Ubuntu product range and increased availability across the globe. Just recently we’ve seen Dell release its new Vostro range into high-volume, emerging markets.

With the introduction of the Inspiron Mini 9, Dell has also focused on the specific consumer requirements of this category of device – working closely with Canonical to deliver some unique UI elements such as the launcher and full support for third party services such as box.net. Dell’s entry into the netbook market will add excitement to an already interesting and fast evolving category.

The success of Ubuntu worldwide is also the success of the open source model, and particularly the huge contribution made by developers, testers and many others across the whole OSS community.

So, Ubuntu pre-installed on a cool, affordable consumer device in the mainstream – awesome

Mark Murphy – Manager, Global Alliances

This week I have the pleasure of attending the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) in San Francisco at the Moscone Center. You can find me and the rest of the Canonical gang showing off Ubuntu MID Edition and Netbook Remix in the Moblin Community Area.

Speaking of mobile, since launching the new version earlier in the year we’ve had a steady flood of interest from users and partners alike. This week is sure to kick it up a notch!

Sylvania is making its g netbook available in U.S. retail stores nationwide — shipping with Ubuntu Netbook Remix. Netbooks are relatively new in the U.S. and huge growth is expected. We’re excited to be part of this announcement.

Here’s how we’re involved.

In the OEM Services team at Canonical, primarily based in Lexington, MA and Taipei, Taiwan, we engage with manufacturers to produce images of Ubuntu specific to their hardware – ensuring high reliability. We also add software at the manufacturer’s request such as licensed media codecs and/or applications that we do not ship in standard Ubuntu. So for a company like Sylvania it is a customized version of Ubuntu delivered via a commercial engagement.

It is a great honor for the team here to see with this announcement that there are Intel Atom(R)-based machines going into market running Ubuntu. This marks a major milestone for the OEM Services team and is the culmination of a huge amount of investment and effort.

By the end of the year, Ubuntu will be available pre-installed on machines on thousands of shelves and digital marketplaces around the world. Consumers will have a real choice and we will continue working to ensure that choice is Ubuntu.

If you are in the San Francisco area, stop by and see us at IDF and check out the new Sylvania g and other cool mobile computers running Ubuntu.

- Jon Melamut, OEM Services