I'm sure there are companies using Ubuntu on the server. It is probably
working out quite well too. What I'm not so sure of is is there success of
Canonical in duplicating Redhat's business model. My personal distribution
preferences are one thing. Convincing higher ups to switch from Redhat or
diversify to multiple distributions is another. Redhat's done a good job and
if Ubuntu is to succeed on the server it'll probably need to attract a
different generation of administrators and startups. That could take a while
and given Mark's own words on funding contradict his companies stated
commitment should he fail to produce quickly enough I'd be careful in
committing to Ubuntu. I think Redhat as a company is a better bet than
Canonical on the server even if I'd choose Debian (or a derived distribution
like Ubuntu) for reasons of preference.
What I'm doubtful of is Canonical's profitability right now and the
commitment long term to the desktop, the server, or the phone/device segment.
Between the lack of commitment long term (in his willingness to keep the
funding go) to the flip flopping of the companies focus. He needs to focus on
something and do it right. They have gone from a focus on the desktop to
supporting it on the server and now to the phone. In the process they have
abandoned the traditional desktop. The company can't make up its mind on what
to focus on. They have laid no clear business model on the table and if I was
a large company interested in partnering with them I'd be weary.
As ThinkPenguin is a small business with a diverse set of supported
distributions I'm not too concerned about any one going bye-bye including
Canonical. However if I were Dell or another major player in the market with
slim margins I'd be questioning what Canonical has to bring to the table. A
popular distribution? Maybe. But given the history of GNU/Linux there is a
new popular distribution every other week.
If I were Dell and wanted to move away from Microsoft (which there is zero
chance of) then I'd be very careful. As the CEO of a hardware company I'm
more concerned about being able to support an operating system such as
GNU/Linux on a massive scale. I don't think that is possible with Ubuntu
today even though it's got the integration and essential down pat as well as
the user/developer base to move forward. Long term I think we are going to
need to look at more free software friendly hardware in order to gain mass
adoption and see a distribution back porting critical packages to support
newer hardware/and web components.
