ZaReason Readies Ubuntu 9.04 PCs, Servers
After a business trip to China (stay tuned for details…), the ZaReason team is back in the US preparing to offer Ubuntu 9.04 on PCs and laptops the day Canonical’s latest Linux distribution launches. But that’s not all: ZaReason is preparing to expand its Ubuntu server lineup. Here are the early details, based on an email interview with ZaReason CTO Earl Malmrose (pictured).
According to Malmrose, it’s standard practice for ZaReason to offer new Ubuntu releases on hardware the day Canonical launches the upgrade.
“We stay in sync with the development cycle attending various developer’s summits, making sure that we know what is being done and what is coming down the pipeline. The community is set up in a way that makes it easy to see which features people plan on implementing.”
On the server front, ZaReason launched its first rack-mount Ubuntu servers in March, and Malmrose says ZaReason will be growing that product line throughout 2009. Also, customers are using ZaReason’s UntangleBox as a server, notes Malmrose.
Ubuntu 9.04’s Promise
Switching the conversation back to Ubuntu 9.04, Malmrose described the key benefits the upgrade offers for various target users.
For desktop and laptops, he says Ubuntu 9.04 should offer users:
- Improved cd burner application.
- Improved handling of multiple monitors, formerly a sore spot for Linux.
- Performance increases across the board.
And on the server, he says Ubuntu Server Edition 9.04 offers:
- Better startup speed. This is crucial in reducing restart time when a server is down.
- Support for ext4. Since this is relatively new file system, it remains to be seen if it is up to production-level quality. But if it does, ext4 offers numerous benefits including support for larger files and better performance.
Malmrose expects the move from current Ubuntu releases to version 9.04 to go smoothly:
“We love how each new version of Ubuntu is a gentle upgrade from the previous version. The evolutionary nature of Ubuntu allows users to easily upgrade existing systems to the latest version, receiving all of the benefits of an up-to-date system with none of the worries of not being able to use the new system.”
We’ll see if that trend holds true when Ubuntu 9.04 arrives.
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Question:
Is Zareason offering Canonical backed support services as part of its server offering? That probably would have been a great question to ask the CEO. The available information on their pages don’t make that clear. When you pay for extended warrenty support are you contracting with Zareason’s in-house technical expertise or are you contracting for Canonical’s global support services.
It’s an important question, especially considering Canonical’s renewed push to position landscape as a service offering aimed at servers. Is Zareason helping Canonical (and Ubuntu) by making server customers aware of Canonical support services?
It’s appropriate to contrast Zareason with System76 in this regard. System76 makes it clear in their server purchasing page that Canonical backed support is optionally available. It’s quite obvious in fact, right near the top of the page, no scroll down necessary to find it. Canonical has to be pleased about that.
http://system76.com/product_info.php?cPath=29&products_id=64
Look at the pop-up about Canonical support services..its pretty detailed and includes a description of landscape. Canonical has to be very pleased about that as well. You probably couldn’t ask for better placement by an OEM partner.
But Zareason other the other hand….
http://www.zareason.com/shop/product.php?productid=16200&cat=0&page=1
Nothing here about optional Canonical support at all.
Canonical does get a mention in their support page:
http://www.zareason.com/shop/pages.php?pageid=7
Notice how irc based community support gets a higher billing than Canonical…that’s gotta burn a little. And the link is just to Canonical’s main site not a link to services specifically with any pricing information. This mention would seem to imply that you aren’t getting Canonical services as part of the ZaReason purchase, even behind the scenes.
Is ZaReason doing right by the Ubuntu community by adequately advertising Canonical’s support services? Ubuntu directly depends on the revenue Canonical is able to generate from optional support services. ZaReason’s own revenue doesn’t directly impact Ubuntu development, what matters is Canonical’s. If OEMs like ZaReason aren’t doing their part to advertise Canonical support services..that’s going to cost Ubuntu in the long run. Does the ZaReason team get that? Do they understand how critical Canonical’s financial success is to Ubuntu community’s continued success?
Next time you have an OEM exec in our sights..ask them their opinion about the value of optional Canonical support services and how they incorporate that value-add into their buying experience.
-jef
Hopefully, they (ZaReason) will offer more than just a new version of Ubuntu, but new hardware (web cam etc), as well. Just offering a new version is not enough.
I think ZaReason has a pretty good track record refreshing/enhancing their hardware.
[...] ZaReason Readies Ubuntu 9.04 PCs, Servers On the server front, ZaReason launched its first rack-mount Ubuntu servers in March, and Malmrose says ZaReason will be growing that product line throughout 2009. Also, customers are using ZaReason’s UntangleBox as a server, notes Malmrose. [...]
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