Is Ubuntu Shelf PC Ready? – It Needs to be Ready
We’ve seen Ubuntu grow into something very interesting. Being backed by the excellence of Debian, hard working teams pushing new stability and user-friendliness, and steered by the captains at Canonical; Is it Shelf PC ready?
What I mean by that, can Ubuntu be sold in stores such as Wal-Mart? It’s being pushed in several places, among companies such as System76, but could it survive mass exposure?
Batman Light
I said that 10.04 appears to be shelf PC ready. It’s easy, friendly, and I’ve not had a problem installing or using anything on it. Providing that it comes from the repository (Software Center). If it comes from somewhere else, if supported it should go smoothly. Yes I know that LibreOffice or OpenOffice isn’t the friendliest looking thing out there, but it is extensible given the chance. Yes I know it’s lacking the game options, but if games like Xonotic keep popping up.. it would hopefully continue to attract more.
Monopoly
There’s just one tiny issue: Microsoft has wrapped up a monopoly regarding the operating system that is massively shipped via retailers. I’m not dissing their way of how they got it that way, but I do put down and discourage what they do to stay there. Twisting company’s arms for license agreements, harsh lash-outs against various Open Source, many other things I care not to mention.
The Continued Development
Now whether or whether not Ubuntu is still being actively vamped on-top of the Debian structure is up to question. I have not dug into the core of Ubuntu in some time, and quite frankly, it’s too much of a mess for me to bother with.
Though, I was reading some articles that spoke of Debian’s “[2]relevance,” to the Linux community – I thought this was rather a silly question, but I guess it was needed to be asked.. simply because that person was wondering if it was. Among others too, probably.
Relevance
It doesn’t exactly matter how relevant or irrelevant Debian is to the community. I’m sure there is projects unknown out there that are driven by the base of Debian in one shape or another. The fact that the Debian team takes their time in developing, and releases points out a clear fact: They really care about their project – Or just don’t like new stuff.
Irrelevance
In the case that other [1]competition does get there first, would it actually be too late for Ubuntu to show up? We’ve already seen Android being tossed around like hot potato, so it shouldn’t be too hard to imagine Ubuntu at the same stage.
What is stopping it though? I’m truly lost.
Not Ready?
Is there something stopping Ubuntu from being shipped to the masses? Is there something that the general public is unaware of that is stopping it?
The “Vision”
Since Ubuntu’s announcement to ship newer versions with the Unity desktop, there has been some rage, and compliments. Some don’t like the idea that Ubuntu is starting to head off in their own path – It’s completely understandable in both directions. Though you can’t just expect something to appeal to everyone when it looks like everything else. It’s the reason Apple has that sleek feel to their products, minus the [3]defects of actually using them (the application store, screws on hardware, etc). That still doesn’t stop Apple from being different.
It pushes them out there – That’s what Ubuntu is aiming for – At least that’s what I believe.
On the other hand, the Wait
I understand how Ubuntu could be holding out to see what happens with “Ubuntu” in general. Whether this Unity will be a good idea, or bad idea that flops the community to crap – I hope not. So later on, maybe I will see my wish come true, to see Linux PCs in Wal-Mart.
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