50 Things You Need to Know About Ubuntu (20-11)

Here’s part four of The VAR Guy’s five-part countdown, highlighting 50 trends and takeaways from the Ubuntu Live conference in Portland, Oregon. Items 20-11, with the final chapter of our list to follow soon…

50-41: Part One of the List

40–31: Part Two of the List

30-21: Part Three of the List

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.

Check back later for the final portion of our countdown.