As OSCON (Open Source Convention) gets set to start July 19 in Portland, Oregon, I’m reminded of an Ubuntu-centric conference that once showed great promise. The event, called Ubuntu Live, was co-located at OSCON in 2007. But it no longer exists. Here’s why it’s time for Canonical to revive Ubuntu Live for partners and customers.

No doubt, Canonical and the Ubuntu community host a range of very successful community gatherings — including Ubuntu Global Jams, so-called Ubuntu Hours and Ubuntu Developer Summits (UDS). Canonical also attends numerous events and the company continues to host educational webcasts.

At OSCON, Ubuntu Server Product Manager Nick Barcet and VP of Corporate Services Neil Levine will be on hand to share portions of Canonical’s vision and strategy.

Building a Business Community

Those all are valuable efforts. Still, Canonical can do more on the conference front. The world’s most successful software companies typically host formal customer and partner conferences. A prime example: I just returned home from the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference 2010 (WPC10) in Washington, D.C. I know Microsoft has its share of critics, but WPC10 was a fantastic event during which Microsoft shared key product, technology and business strategies with Partners.

In the open source world, partner and customer conferences like Red Hat Summit, JBoss World and Novell BrainShare come to mind. Even smaller open source companies are hosting key summits — such as MySQL Conference, SugarCRM SugarCon and Pentaho Partner Summit come to mind.

What’s the Point?

Vendor-hosted conferences server multiple purposes. Customers and partners can gather to focus on a single, central topic or theme. The host vendor can share its complete vision. And potential customers can hear from those who have successfully adopted and/or deployed key technologies.

Canonical has launched numerous efforts since the Ubuntu Live conference in mid-2007. Ubuntu One, Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud and Landscape didn’t exist when Ubuntu Live was last held three years ago. Moreover, Canonical continues to build OEM relationships with a range of hardware companies.

No doubt, Canonical representatives will do a solid job describing new initiatives during OSCON. But it’s time for Canonical to build its own stage. It’s time for the company to host an Ubuntu-centric conference, where customers and partners come together to hear Canonical’s complete vision, share best practices and discuss next steps to success.

It’s time for Canonical to revive Ubuntu Live.

It’s official: Ubuntu 10.04 Long Term Support arrives April 29, and this particular blogger was privy to the press conference about it. Canonical Chairman Mark Shuttleworth and CEO Jane Silber discussed the plans and progress of new operating system, and then fielded some Q and A. The key news:  More than 80 ISVs are supporting Ubuntu. But here’s what it means for the desktop users and Canonical as a whole…

Ubuntu 10.04 is now certified on over 50 servers and laptops, and OEM support is taking off worldwide. Dell has embraced Ubuntu Enterprise Clouds, and Lenovo has just launched Ubuntu machines into China.

Of course, Ubuntu 10.04 comes with some tweaks, most notably the ’social’ desktop. Chris Tozzi has the nitty gritty details, but the basic rundown is an integration of your social media into your desktop for easy blogging, tweeting, and general communication.

During the press conference, Mark Shuttleworth spoke about the new design featured in 10.04:

“10.04 is a substantial step forward [and a] shift in the look and feel. For six years [we designed] around [the motto] “linux for human beings” and drove our work [into the] community….now we’ve shown Linux is not just for computer specialists; [it] can be a warm, positive and friendly-constructive desktop environment.”

Shuttleworth also commented on how he wanted Ubuntu to be ‘light-ware’ or lightweight software that didn’t feel weighed down or bloated.

“[We want Ubuntu to] feel lightweight, agile. Visually [we worked] on the theme of light, too.”

And indeed, screen shots of 10.04 show a somewhat similar background to Mac OS X’s Aurora light show. But enough about the good looks, let’s get back to the software and those ISVs. Since Ubuntu is gaining traction in the market, I asked Shuttleworth:

“With increased support form ISVs, do you see this as Ubuntu taking a step towards gaining a foothold as a more widely and commonly developed platform like Mac or Windows?”

Silber, then Shuttleworth responded:

“[It's] strong signal about general acceptance [with] growth in consumer space and enterprise space. ISVs won’t support [a platform] unless there’s a commercial or strategic reason to do it…ISVs and OEMs [make] a strong endorsement [and help]growth and traction”

Shuttleworth took it a bit farther, and brought up the comparison to Apple and the app store…

“[There's] a number of things we’re doing to increase attractiveness. [Right now] we’re a cycle early to highlight [these things]. In our next release we intend to make it possible to have a consumer experience around the software built into the Ubuntu Software Center…aimed at making it straightforward [for] developers [to] publish their software free or commercial. Ff we are able to deliver Ubuntu across a comprehensive set of OEMs we’re very well positioned for opportunistic developers in a large development market.”

There was also some talk about delivering a special channel in the Software Center for devs that want to introduce software that hasn’t gone through Canonical’s 6 month testing cycle in effort to connect publishers more directly to end users. Shuttleworth hinted that wouldn’t be around ’till Ubuntu 10.10.

Silber noted that this is the highest amount of ISVs ever signed on to support Ubuntu, and they’re committed to an ongoing relationship where Ubuntu can continue to be a distribution channel for software.

And as for challengers like Microsoft and Apple? Silber noted:

“I think…many people have more than one computer, so decisions [to pick Ubuntu] are additive instead of a replacement decision. But they (Apple and Microsoft) are competitors we look at and our users [will] decide… [But] we look at their products and features and use that to help inform some of our strategic decisions…”

Lastly, is Canonical making any money on this thing, yet?

Short answer? No. Shuttleworth sounded confident as ever though, as he noted they’re continually driving towards profitability and are keenly aware about the “depth of the channel and scale of investment required in markets” to make such a business profitable. But with all the OEM support, Shuttleworth seemed at ease.

Lastly, it was noted that Canonical is doing well enough that they’re slated for the next LTS release in April 2012 and they’re happy about the “rich ecosystem” Ubuntu and the Debian base have provided

More than 600 people registered to attend Atlanta Linux Fest, which was held Sept. 19. Many of the standing-room-only sessions focused on Canonical and Ubuntu. Here are nine Ubuntu-oriented highlights from the event.

9. New ISVs in 2010?: Software Partner Manager John Pugh focuses on Ubuntu Server Edition. He’s certainly upbeat about the October 2009 release of Ubuntu 9.10. But Pugh is already looking forward to Ubuntu Server Edition 10.04 — which is a Long Term Support (LTS) release. Pugh says Canonical is speaking with major closed source ISVs (independent software vendors, Oracle among them) and Canonical hopes to generate some more ISV support as part of the Ubuntu 10.04 launch.

Still, Pugh also cautioned readers not to focus too much on any one particular ISV, since Canonical’s efforts involve discussions with multiple companies.

8. Moving Between Public and Private Clouds: Pugh’s late-day presentation on cloud technologies attracted a standing-room-only crowd. He described how customers will be able to move Ubuntu applications between public and private clouds using such technologies as Ubuntu on Amazon’s Elastic Compute Cloud (public) and Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud powered by Eucalyptus.

7. Rugged Ubuntu Devices: EmperorLinux Inc. President and CEO Lincoln Durey showed me a small, rugged Panasonic Toughbook device running Ubuntu. Durey mentioned the device is ideal for such vertical markets as real estate, health care, and insurance. Watch for a FastChat video featuring Durey to debut on WorksWithU later this week.

6. More Cellular Devices Coming: Pete Graner, Canonical’s kernel team manager, told me to expect cellular and mobile broadband-type companies to offer more Ubuntu-oriented devices.

5. Small Business Server Remix? Nope: Pugh said Canonical wasn’t currently working on any type of Small Business Server version of Ubuntu. But he said Ubuntu in the cloud and Ubuntu Server Edition could certainly meet small business needs. Plus, Pugh noted groups like Amahi are working on Ubuntu for home servers.

4. Ubuntu Server GUI? Nope: Pugh told me Canonical has no plans to introduce a GUI (graphical user interface) on Ubuntu Server Edition. For novices who are looking for a server GUI, Pugh recommends running Ubuntu Desktop Edition as a server.

3. Staffing Up: Several Canonical employees mentioned to me that the five-year-old company now has 300 employees. Sounds like Canonical has pushed beyond the small business stage of its existence.

2. Ubuntu 10.04 Gets A Name: Canonical CEO Mark Shuttleworth via video announced Ubuntu 10.04’s code name is Lucid Lynx.

1. The Ubuntu 9.10 Compatibility Test: Will Ubuntu 9.10 work on your current notebook, netbook or PC? Canonical has developed diagnostics software (installed on a USB flash drive) that allows you to quickly discover whether your systems’ WiFi, sound, graphics and other variables will continue to work under Ubuntu 9.10.

It’s a slick little test that requires about 20 minutes of your time. I suspect Canonical will share more news about the testing software around the time of Ubuntu 9.10’s launch.

I’ll post more highlights from Atlanta Linux Fest in the days ahead.

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Back in 2007, Canonical launched Ubuntu Live — a one-time conference hosted in Portland, Ore. Since that time I’ve been looking for another Ubuntu-centric conference where I can meet key sources from across the Ubuntu ecosystem. Fast forward to September 2009, and I think there might finally be a conference that fulfills my Ubuntu educational needs.

It’s called Atlanta Linux Fest. The event (scheduled for Sept. 19 in Atlanta, Ga.) includes speakers representing multiple Linux distributions and open source projects. Take a closer look at the agenda and you’ll find UbuCon Atlanta mentioned and plenty of Ubuntu-focused experts scheduled to speak.

Nick Ali, a key member of the Georgia Ubuntu LoCo, mentioned the following confirmed speakers in an email to me:

• Pete Graner, the Ubuntu Kernel manager
• Steve Conklin, also on Kernel team
• Dan Chen, who works with audio in Ubuntu, is attending
• John Pugh, the Canonical ISV manager, is attending
• And several other key Canonical sources may also attend (stay tuned)

As I look ahead to Ubuntu 9.10’s anticipated launch in October 2009, I think face-to-face conferences are particularly important for Canonical and the Ubuntu ecosystem.

On the upside, the mainstream media will likely write about Ubuntu 9.10’s release and market position relative to Microsoft’s Windows 7 (arriving October 22). But on the downside, those same mainstream media folks may overlook Canonical’s bigger-picture strategy.

Through face-to-face conferences, Canonical and Ubuntu followers can get a clearer understanding of those bigger-picture efforts. I look forward to the conversations at Atlanta Linux Fest and UbuCon Atlanta.

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Abuse. Intimidation. And support. You can find all that and more on the Ubuntu Users mailing list. An official support channel, the mailing list is where new users are directed by Canonical for technical support and discussions about new features and ideas. But there are some key problems with the mailing list.

In the past few months, I believe there have been unacceptable comments posted — directed at peoples’ race, gender, sexual orientation and nationality. There’s no moderation and no consequences to stop people from repeating their offenses.

Mailing List Etiquette

Users are asked to comply with the mailing list etiquette of:

• Observe the Ubuntu code of conduct
• Before writing an email, consider whether it will further a discussion which is relevant for the particular mailing list

One thing is for sure: A lot of emails sent to the list that do not further a relevant discussion.

There are also guidelines for formatting messages such as trimming quotations, not writing a reply at the top your message (so called ‘top posting’) and sending messages to the list in plain text.

It’s very easy to forget these guidelines when posting to the list; I’ve top posted and sent html email to the list unintentionally on occasion. Hopefully I didn’t offend anyone too much. I like to think that the technical content of my contributions negate any ill feeling over the occasional slip up with etiquette.

Code of Conduct

Still, some recent comments posted to the list have been well out of bounds of the Ubuntu code of conduct. According to the Ubuntu website the code of conduct governs all interaction with the Ubuntu community. Fundamental aspects include:

• Be considerate
• Be respectful
• Be collaborative
• When you disagree, consult others
• When you are unsure, ask for help
• Step down considerately
• Avoid flamewars, trolling, personal attacks, and repetitive arguments

Users are only asked to read through the code of conduct, and bear it in mind when posting. But nobody enforces the code of conduct.

An Ubuntu MOTU (Master of the Universe) recently stepped in to remind list members of the code of conduct and list etiquette. But the MOTU conceded that the persons currently running the list do not have ample resources to actively monitor every single post.

After considerable discussion with administrators, a governance team consisting of participating list members needed to be put in place. This lead to a discussion thread that lasted three weeks — but the effort seems to have all but fizzled out with no decisions being made and no requirements for the governance team agreed upon.

Still No Solution

Clearly this proves the point that list members are not capable of agreeing upon a workable solution and are not capable of self governance without the oversight of someone with authority for the list (a list owner or admin). A governance team with authority to warn and ultimately even ban persistent offenders is necessary.

It’s time for the Ubuntu community and Canonical to come up with a solution to the list abuse. Many websites archive the mailing list for future reference. The result: Past comments may haunt Ubuntu users for years to come.

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And now for something slightly different: If you’re a solutions provider or managed service provider, check out our sister site’s MSPmentor Live webcast, scheduled for Wednesday, May 13 at 2:00 p.m. eastern. During the event, we’ll discuss how MSPs can partner with one another to drive profits, coordinate trouble tickets and speed customer projects.

The event, sponsored by Autotask, will feature ample time for you to pose questions to:

• Melanie Fricke, VP of product strategy, CMIT Solutions Inc.
• Eric Baryol, president and GM, CMIT Solutions of Reno
• Bob Godgart, CEO, Autotask
• Patrick Burns, product manager, Autotask

Register now or visit the event page for more information about the agenda.

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WorksWithU’s sister site, The VAR Guy, is taking a close look at Google Apps, and open source applications running in Amazon’s Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2). What works? What doesn’t? What are the financial benefits? What are the hidden risks? To learn more join The VAR Guy Live webcast on April 15 at 2:00pm eastern. Check out these three guest speakers and then register now.

I will be attending OSCON (Open Source Conference) in Portland, Oregon, this week. I plan to blog live from the event on July 22 and 23, and I will be attending Canonical CEO Mark Shuttleworth’s keynote on Tuesday. I’ll be joined by The VAR Guy, a blogger from our sister site. This could/should be a big week for Canonical and the Ubuntu Linux movement.

As you may recall, Canonical was originally scheduled to host Ubuntu Live — a mini-conference — at OSCON. But Canonical canceled Ubuntu Live in favor of smaller regional events (I’m still waiting for details about those rumored regional conferences).

Even without Ubuntu Live, Shuttleworth will be in the spotlight this week. And there are high hopes that Shuttleworth will provide updates on his strategy for driving Ubuntu forward on desktops, servers, sub-notebooks (so-called Netbooks) and Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs).

I’m disappointed to report that Ubuntu Live 2008, which had been scheduled for July 21 and 22 in Portland, Oregon, has been canceled. I’ve got a note into Canonical PR to see what drove the decision to cancel the conference. (O’Reilly Media, the show’s producer, is referring all inquiries to Canonical.) Last year’s event seemed to have good energy, healthy attendance and some big-name sponsors (Sun Microsystems was among them). So what went wrong this time around? This is pure speculation on my part — and I do await some thoughts from Canonical — but here are the primary reasons events usually shut down. Again, pure speculation on my part…

1. Lack of Sponsorship: Remember, Sun is hurting this year. The company recently announced a large quarterly loss and they’re having layoffs. Although Sun has disclosed continued plans to certify Ubuntu on its servers, I don’t recall Sun being listed among the Ubuntu Live 2008 sponsors. An event like this, while rewarding for attendees, likely doesn’t deliver much ROI to Sun since Ubuntu remains in its infancy on the server. Also, companies like Dell continue to offer Ubuntu on the desktop, but Dell has gone on the record stating it has no near-term plans to offer Ubuntu on the server. So, the anticipated “growth” in sponsorship for Ubuntu Live — from hardware, software and application providers — may not have materialized.

2. Competitive Events: LinuxWorld, scheduled for August 4-7 in San Francisco, will include an Ubuntu-centric event called Ubucon on August 7. It’s positioned as: “Fun, irreverent, but also with content of interest to users, developers and those curious about the Ubuntu phenomenon, an UbuCon is part open space event and part user conference.”

Frankly, Ubucon sounds a bit like Ubuntu Live (although I’m not sure if Canonical is involved in Ubuncon). Plus, LinuxWorld has become an increasingly corporate event — a place where ISVs can talk about business-oriented applications.

Of course, 2008 was supposed to be the year that Canonical and Ubuntu began to gain traction on corporate and small business servers — so LinuxWorld may be a good, solid setting for more information about Ubuntu.

Regardless, I’m sorry to hear Ubuntu Live 2008 has been canceled. Last year’s event was a winner.

The Ubuntu Live conference doesn’t kick off until July 21, but The VAR Guy is already booking his flight to the Portland, Oregon-based event. Here are five key trends our guest blogger expects to track at the event.

1. Sun and MySQL: Last year, Sun and MySQL each had a major presence at Ubuntu Live. This year, Sun owns MySQL. And it’s a good bet Sun will use the Ubuntu Live conference to describe its server and open source applications strategy more fully. At least year’s Ubuntu Live, MySQL head Marten Mickos proclaimed that he didn’t fear Microsoft’s wallet.

2. Speaking of Servers: Sun is the first major server vendor to certify its systems for Ubuntu. Dell supports Ubuntu on the desktop, but Dell doesn’t have any Ubuntu server plans — at the moment. If another major server vendor was to back Ubuntu, The VAR Guy would expect the announcement to occur at Ubuntu Live. And he’d also expect updates from established Ubuntu server specialists, like System76. (Here’s a recent interview with System76 President Carl Ritchell.)

3. Back to the Desktop: Oh, and let’s not forget that Ubuntu is the fastest-growing Linux distribution. Ubuntu came preinstalled on The VAR Guy’s Dell PC. And the Ubuntu Live conference will provide an ideal stage for Canonical Founder Mark Shuttleworth to describe Ubuntu 8.04’s desktop progress since the operating system’s April 2008 release.

4. Going Mobile With Intel: The VAR Guy loves his iPhone. And he looks forward to next-generation devices built around Google Android. But the dark horse in the mobile Internet device market is Ubuntu. Indeed, Canonical and Intel are working on Ubuntu Mobile devices. We should expect extensive updates at this event.

5. PC Peers: During the 2007 Ubuntu Live event, The VAR Guy speculated that Hewlett-Packard would begin Ubuntu preloads. Alas, the outspoken blogger was wrong. But HP has custom-loaded Ubuntu on selected systems for major customer wins. And if more PC makers are going to climb aboard the Ubuntu bandwagon, Ubuntu Live is the place to announce it.

Full Disclosure: The VAR Guy is a media partner of Ubuntu Live, which basically means he’ll be attending the event without paying admission. But no, he’s not on the Canonical or Ubuntu Live payroll.

The VAR Guy is an anonymous blogger who contributes regularly to Works With U. He had a hand in launching this site, and he also blogs daily on his own site, www.thevarguy.com — covering what’s next in the IT channel.