If there is any one that rocks in Africa, its Shuttleworth. Unfortunately, he restricts most of his philanthropic FOSS stuff to S.A with the exception of Ubuntu of course.
Wire > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: Benj. Mako Hill <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: Jul 8, 2005 1:14 PM > Subject: Announcing Launch of ($10m) Ubuntu Foundation > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > Below is the press release sent off to the wires announcing the > creation of a new foundation by Mark Shuttleworth and Canonical to > help support Ubuntu and employ core Ubuntu developers over the long > term and to help distinguish the commercial support and certification > programs of Canonical from the truly community-based nature of much of > Ubuntu's work. > > There are some other big announcements buried in there as well like > the introduction of longer-term supported releases. :) > > I hope you join me in thinking this is fantastic news for the Ubuntu > community on a number of different levels. > > Regards, > Mako > > > LAUNCH OF $10m UBUNTU FOUNDATION > > 08 July 2005 > > Mark Shuttleworth and Canonical Ltd, founders of the popular Ubuntu > Linux-based operating system, have today announced the creation of The > Ubuntu Foundation with an initial funding commitment of US$10m. > > The Ubuntu Foundation will employ core Ubuntu community members to > ensure that Ubuntu (www.ubuntu.com) will remain fully supported for an > extended period of time, and continue to produce new releases of the > distribution. As a first step, the Foundation announces that Ubuntu > version 6.04, due for release in April 2006, will be supported for > three years on the desktop and five years on the server. > > The Foundation was established on July 1st 2005 with an initial > funding commitment of US$10 million, to ensure the continuity of the > Ubuntu project and create a legal vehicle that represents the > community structures of the project. > > "It's important for us to distinguish the philanthropic and > non-commercial work that is at the heart of the Ubuntu project, from > the commercial support and certification programs that are the focus > of Canonical Ltd." said Mark Shuttleworth, who is founder of the > project and is making the initial $10m commitment to the > Foundation. "The core team members employed by the Ubuntu Foundation > will ensure that we can meet public commitments to keep Ubuntu > entirely free of charge, as well as meeting commitments of support for > extended periods. I'm very excited at the progress that has been made > in bringing free software to the global marketplace, and pleased to > continue my support for the project in this way." > > Ubuntu has quickly become a leading distribution in the free software > world, taking the #1 place in DistroWatch popularity rankings over all > timescales which are published. The distribution focuses on usability, > security and stability on desktops and servers, and on making free > software widely available for individuals and organisations who are > ready to switch from proprietary platforms, such as Microsoft Windows. > > Ubuntu has also become the basis of many other derivative > distributions, particularly those backed by govenments for widespread > deployment. The government of Andalucia, Spain recently announced that > its own version of Linux would be based on Ubuntu, and deployed in all > educational operations. > > LONGER SERVER SUPPORT CYCLE > > One driving factor behind the creation of the Foundation was the need > to ensure that an Ubuntu release can be deployed on servers, which > demand much slower release and upgrade cycles. "In order to support > the use of free software on database and other servers, we will be > offering security support for the Ubuntu base and major server > components for a full five years", said Matt Zimmerman, CTO of the > Ubuntu project. > > As Ubuntu and free software in general become more mainstream, it has > become costly for companies and large organisations to keep track of > the rapid pace of development. In the desktop environment the problem > is more manageable, and steady improvements in the usability of > desktop office and productivity applications have been welcomed. In > the datacenter, however, where Linux and free software are considered > mature, deployments have a preference for fewer releases with long > lifecycles. Ubuntu version 6.04, to be released in April 2006, will be > aimed at meeting those requirements with a full five year commitment > to provide security and other critical updates for servers. This also > meets the needs of OEM distribution providers and ISVs, who have > expressed strong interest in supporting free software environments but > who prefer to be able to plan for releases and support them for longer > periods of time. > > The extended service support for Ubuntu version 6.04 will remain free > of charge, under the same terms as the support currently provided to > every release of Ubuntu. The extended service support program will > only apply to designated releases of Ubuntu. Other releases, which > will still be made on the current six-month cycle, will continue to > receive the current commitment of 18 months free security and critical > updates support. > > KEEPING FREE SOFTWARE FREE > > A primary goal of the Ubuntu Foundation is to ensure that a high > quality distribution of free and open source software is available > free of charge, throughout the world. "Free software is produced by > expert volunteers who make their time and work freely available - our > goal is to ensure that anybody in the world can make the best use of > that work, at no charge." said Benjamin Mako Hill, Ubuntu Community > Relations. Both Canonical and the Ubuntu Foundation have made public > commitments that Ubuntu will always be freely available, without the > need for royalties or licence payments of any kind. "We include only > free and unencumbered applications, ensuring that users have the > ability to share and modify their software." > > CONTINUED SUPPORT FROM CANONICAL LTD. > > The establishment of the Ubuntu Foundation enhances the commercial > commitment already made to the Ubuntu project by Canonical, Ltd. > "Demand for the commercial services offered by Canonical to users of > Ubuntu continues to grow. We welcome the very large number of > companies that have announced support for Ubuntu both regionally and > globally, and expect to continue to create additional partnership, > certification and support programs in coming months," stated Jane > Silber, head of marketing at Canonical. > > The extended life support program for Ubuntu version 6.04 is in line > with Canonical's efforts to broaden the OEM base for Ubuntu. "The > distribution has been selected by several hardware manufacturers for > sale with PCs and laptops, and the availability of a long term > supported release of Ubuntu that's independent of the commercial > success of Canonical meets the needs of specific manufacturers in the > hardware marketplace", continued Silber. > > The Ubuntu Community Council will act as the advisory board of the > Foundation. Current members of that Council are Benjamin Mako Hill, > Colin Watson, James Troup and Mark Shuttleworth (Chairman). > > Contact: > > The Ubuntu Foundation > Benjamin Mako Hill > +1 206-409-7191 > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Canonical Ltd. > Jane Silber > +44 20 7052 9843 > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > -- > Benjamin Mako Hill > [EMAIL PROTECTED] | [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > -- > ubuntu-announce mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-announce > _______________________________________________ > LUG mailing list > [email protected] > http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/lug > %LUG is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/ > _______________________________________________ LUG mailing list [email protected] http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/lug %LUG is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/
