TechIQ have collected a list of 50 events, trends and takeaways during the Ubuntu LIVE conference in Portland, Oregon.
50. Big Numbers: Ubuntu now has an installed base of roughly 6 million and 12 million users, according to Canonical CEO Mark Shuttleworth.
49. Small Business Server: Canonical is preparing an Ubuntu small business server. Target for delivery: Apparently within 12 months or sooner. Hmmm. Small Linux server providers like Collax and Xandros could find themselves competing with a rather muscular cousin real soon.
48. Managed Services: Canonical expects to launch a managed services platform that will help solutions providers remotely manage and support Ubuntu servers. Memo to Canonical: Be sure to reach out to Autotask, ConnectWise, Kaseya, Level Platforms, N-able and Silverback Technologies.
47. Sun Is Serious: The VAR Guy ran into two Sun officials (Terri Molini, corporate communications; Barton George, group manager for Free and Open Source Software) during the keynote sessions. For more on Sun’s commitment to open source and Ubuntu, check out George’s blog (http://www.blogs.sun.com/barton808).
46. So Is Novell: During lunch, The VAR Guy connected with Crispin Cowan, director of software engineering and security architect for SuSE Linux. Cowan is discussing Ubuntu security strategies as the event, indicating that Novell realizes there’s more to open source than SuSE Linux. That’s refreshing. Too bad Red Hat didn’t join this party as well.
45. Students Are Embracing Ubuntu: During several case studies, professors, teachers and IT managers described how Ubuntu is emerging as a solution in schools across California, Oregon, Maine and other states. The real challenge is getting teachers to embrace the new open source approach, many speakers noted.
44. Ubuntu Is Going Mobile: Shuttleworth noted that Ubuntu will land on Internet-enabled mobile devices over the next year or so — but not necessarily smart phones. Stay tuned. Canonical’s work with Intel should produce some mobile Ubuntu code for hardware makers this fall.
43. Ubuntu Means Digital Inclusion: A big theme at the event involved getting low-cost PCs — including Intel 386-based systems with a scant 128MB of RAM — to emerging markets. One prime example: Richard Weideman of Canonical described how Georgia (the country, not the state) has 1 computer per 200 students, and Internet penetration is only 6 or 7 percent. A nationwide push to standardize schools on Ubuntu will potential deliver 1 computer per 20 students by next year.
42. EMC Is Curious: The VAR Guy ran into an EMC employee during lunch. Sounds like EMC is exploring how to leverage Ubuntu. The purpose: Coordinating massive PDF files within storage management systems.
41. Success Doesn’t Mean Arrogance: Canonical founder and Ubuntu leader Mark Shuttleworth is mixing with attendees and chatting in the hallways. No handlers. No staff members running interference for him. Let’s hope Shuttleworth stays this approachable as Ubuntu grows.
40. Ubuntu Training and Certification: Canonical is ramping up a world wide training and certification initiative. Watch for major developments in the U.S. by the end of this year. Some training components are already in place. Here’s an overview.
39. Teachers Need to Open Their Minds: Multiple presenters at the conference mentioned that university students are eagerly adopting Ubuntu. But on the other hand, they said, professors sometimes resist Ubuntu because they can’t open their minds beyond Windows and Office.
38. HP Ubuntu PCs - Coming Soon?: Bdale Garbee, Linux CTO at Hewlett-Packard, is scheduled to give a keynote today (July 23) at 9:40 a.m. pacific. We’ll see if he discloses if — or when — Hewlett-Packard plans to offer Ubuntu pre-installed on selected PCs.
37. Apple Isn’t the Enemy: Bringing a Windows-only laptop to the conference would have been political suicide for The VAR Guy. But he fit right in with his MacBook Pro. It seems a large segment of the Ubuntu community are using MacBooks to run Mac OS X and Ubuntu either in a dual-boot mode or in some type of virtualized environment.
36. Operating Systems are Irrelevant: At first, that sounds like blasphemy. But presenter James Ward from Adobe Systems makes a compelling point: The key to making desktop Linux a success is making the operating system irrelevant. Ward believes three technologies — OpenOffice, FireFox and the Adobe Flash Player (surprise, surprise) — can fulfill his vision.
35. Ubuntu Is Coming to Your Living Room: You know about Apple TV and Tivo. But have you heard about OpenMedia Ltd.? The New Zealand-based company is designing Ubuntu-based music and movie appliances … though not for the U.S. market. Steve Ellis, technical director at OpenMedia, thinks he’d have too much trouble navigating U.S. patent laws. Several other stealth U.S. companies at the event, however, are evaluating Ubuntu-based appliance strategies.
34. Ubuntu Is for Database Servers: The VAR Guy spotted Marten Mickos, CEO of MySQL AB, at a conference reception on Sunday evening. Mickos is scheduled to deliver a keynote at 9:20 a.m. today (July 23). His company, as you likely know, develops the fastest-growing open source database platform. Some pundits expect MySQL to launch an initial public offering late this year or in early 2008.
33. Open Source Email Meets Ubuntu: Zimbra, the fast-growing provider of open source email, also earned some attention at the event. Mingzhe (”J.J.”) Zhuang, a software architect from Zimbra, outlined the company’s strategy to attendees.
32. In Eben We Trust: Eben Moglen, director of the Software Freedom Law Center, won strong applause from attendees for protecting and advancing free and open source software.
31. More Open Source Magic to Come: Software industry pioneer Mitch Kapor compared open source to the Harry Potter book series, stating that the open source movement is probably in book 3 or book 4 of a seven-part series.
30. HP Misses Opportunity: Bdale Garbee, Linux CTO at Hewlett-Packard, wasn’t around for his keynote this morning. Canonical insiders insisted Bdale simply had a scheduling conflict.
29. But HP Still Scores: Canonical mentioned that a major university is deploying Ubuntu on 5,000 Hewlett-Packard PCs.
28. Ubuntu Tunes In Internet TV: Joost, that hot Internet TV startup, is running roughly 200 Ubuntu servers, according to Ubuntu Live presentations.
27. A Million Strong: MySQL’s CEO estimates that there are 12 million open source developers worldwide. And he believes they spend about four hours a week on open source projects. Fast math means that’s 1.2 million full-time equivalent pros in the open source sector.
26. Slimming Down: nComputing, a company that specializes in multi-user solutions, is generating considerable buzz and attendee interest. The killer application: Schools that want all students to have access to computing — without needing to buy a PC for every student.
25. The VAR Guy Will Drink to That: Two Starbucks locations are within g a few hundred yards of the conference sessions. No wonder The VAR Guy seems so active today.
24. Next Year Ubuntu Goes Enterprise: Canonical CEO Mark Shuttleworth remains intensely focused on the desktop, but he also spent considerable time at the conference describing Canonical’s enterprise focus for 2008.
23. Anybody Need A Translator? More than 17,000 people help translate Ubuntu into localized languages around the world, Canonical estimates.
22. More than 13,000: There are now more than 13,000 local community members who evangelize and support Ubuntu in their regions, according to Canonical.
21. Feeling the Heat: Doug Fischer, VP and GM of Intel’s System Software Division, says the chip giant’s relationship with Intel is “on fire.”
20. Bigger Than Its Father: Ubuntu has to be bigger than its keeper, Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth.This observation, from Alfresco GM Matt Asay, highlights the need for community — rather than one person — to drive Ubuntu forward.
19. But Easy Enough for Your Mom: Ubuntu has the opportunity to truly be different — if it can establish itself as the operating environment that even our parents can use, Asay added.
18. Microsoft Is Not the Enemy: This was one of the more surprising statements from Asay. His point: The enemy is non-use. As long as Ubuntu has compelling reasons for deployment, it will succeed.
17. Ubuntu Wasn’t the Only Winner At Dell: Yes, Dell has preinstalled Ubuntu on selected consumer PCs. But the press failed to publicize the fact that those systems also included Firefox and OpenOffice, several speakers noted.
16. Sun Microsystems Wants to Network: In fact, Sun hosted a surprise, last-minute beer fest for Ubuntu Live attendees at a local restaurant.
15. Ubuntu’s Closest Hardware Partner Is…: Dell? Hewlett-Packard? Sun? No. No. And no. Sure, all three partners are critical to Ubuntu’s success. But Intel won kudos as closest hardware partner throughout the event.
14. The Ultimate User Interface: One speaker controlled his presentation using a Nintendo Wii controller. Cool.
13. Doubling In Size: Ubuntu’s staff has grown to 100 employees, up from about 50 in January, according to one company insider.
12. Back Again in 2008: Canonical has already developed plans for another Ubuntu Live event in 2008. Check back for details.
11. Canonical Has Big LAMP Plans: The VAR Guy stumbled upon this little nugget of info while the conference was wrapping up. But you’ll have to read the next portion of this list — as soon as The VAR Guy posts it — for details.
10. Winning On Alfresco: Roughly 22 percent of Alfresco developer downloads occur to the Ubuntu platform, a dramatic increase from last year, according to Alfresco GM Matt Asay.
9. Don’t Betray Your Audience: One speaker conceded that he was nearly booed off stage during another open source conference. The reason: He used PowerPoint rather than OpenOffice for his presentation.
8. Two Unsung Heroes: Two small PC suppliers, ZaReason and System76, won praise for their early commitment to the Ubuntu movement.
7. Play to Your Strengths: Instead of competing head-on against Microsoft, several speakers suggested that the Ubuntu community needs to continue exploiting niche applications and collaboration to attack market voids left by Microsoft.
6. Printer Drivers: It sounds so basic. But printer drivers are the number one problem university professors seem to complain about when they’re using Ubuntu, according to several speakers.
5. Repeat Performance: Canonical feels pretty confident about its prospects and is already planning next year’s event.
4. Global Focus: Rather than playing regional favorites, Canonical is striving to enhance its localization, training and certification initiatives across the globe. Traditional closed-source software companies simply can’t complete with the global network of developers who are committed to tweaking code for use in hundreds of countries.
3. Novell Is Worse Off Than Expected: Sure, Novell has gained some momentum with corporate customers who embraced the Microsoft-Novell relationship. But imagine if the American Red Cross lost all of its volunteers. That could be the situation facing Novell if it doesn’t take steps to win back open source developers who despise the Microsoft deal. Throughout the event, Novell’s “betrayal” of the open source movement was raised by multiple speakers.
2. Small Business Push: Watch for Canonical to work with at least one major hardware developer to promote an integrated small business server package. The suite will likely be based on the LAMP software stack, The VAR Guy hears. One suggestion: Partner with Zimbra or another open source email provider on this project.
1. The Numbers Don’t Lie: Some nuggets of info worth repeating: Ubuntu now has 6 million to 12 million users and Canonical’s staff has doubled to 100 employees since January.
Original site: TechIQ
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