Should MS Buy Canonical, No Year of Linux Desktop
Ubuntu is the big headline winner again today. Janakiram MSV today suggested that Microsoft should buy Canonical for several reasons, one being instant "access to a huge install base and a vibrant open source community." OMG!Ubuntu! is soliciting your pronunciation of Ubuntu and Matt Hartley said Snap packages could "change the way we look at desktop packages for Linux." Justin Pot today said the year of desktop Linux will never come and is evidenced by the loss of developers and crumbling applications. The Free Software Foundation released their evaluation of code hosts' commitment to user privacy and freedom and Fedora 24 community supplemental wallpapers were announced.
With Microsoft and Canonical's new chummy relationship still on the minds of many, Janakiram MSV, former Microsoft executive, today said "Microsoft's Open Source strategy is incompletely" without them. He said with Microsoft trying to change their image away from being Windows-only, it only makes sense to buy Canonical. Ubuntu has millions of users and "an army of developers and system administrators." Besides people, Canonical comes with LXD, Snappy Ubuntu Core, and Juju - all things that could make Microsoft more competitive in the cloud and IoT. To Janakiram, there are no downsides for Microsoft.
In other Ubuntu news, The Register posted a review of the newest release today saying, "From the more privacy-friendly defaults to the under-the-hood support for ZFS and Snap packages, Ubuntu 16.04 is not just great today, but lays the foundations for what looks like a bright future." Matt Hartley today examined the good, the bad, and ugly aspects of Ubuntu Snap packages. Apparently, there is still some controversy as to how to pronounce Ubuntu and OMG!Ubuntu! has the solution: have everyone make a video of themselves pronouncing it as they do everyday. They've also provided an infographic of the correct pronunciation of other Ubuntu derivatives. Speaking of infographics, PC Tech Mag today provided one today to try and help users decide if they want to use Debian, CentOS, or Ubuntu.
The Free Software Foundation today released their evaluations of code-hosting services and, only Savannah.gnu.org received an "A" rating. GitLab passed with a "C," GitHub and SourceForge failed miserably mainly because their sites require non-free JavaScript and excludes some countries. FSF provided their criteria matrix and reasons for deductions as well. They said these evaluations are important because "repositories are used not only by software developers but also by software users, and they have a large impact on the free software community."
Justin Pot today wrote that the year of Linux never came and "it never will." He said, "Companies that once released Linux versions are now concluding it’s not worth maintaining them. The year of the Linux desktop never came. Developers bailed. And some apps are starting to break for lack of maintenance." As examples he listed breaking and feature limited Spotify, Skype, and Flash. He continued by saying that Steam is still supported, but the AAA games aren't coming to Linux. As a result, Linux will continue to grow in the enterprise, underneath the Internet, and behind Android and connected devices, but desktop Linux will never catch on.
In other news:
* Take a look at Fedora 24 supplemental wallpapers
* Security support for Wheezy handed over to the LTS team as of April 25