Canonical releases Ubuntu 12.04 LTS Precise Pangolin

No one can accuse Canonical of sitting around during the first quarter of 2012. With no less than six different release announcements since January, it seems that everything that Mark Shuttleworth’s company has been working on for the past few years is crystallizing all at once. With the release of Ubuntu 12.04 LTS today, Canonical is looking to end the quarter on a high note by providing a stable release that is aimed directly at enterprise deployments.

Announced last November, Precise Pangolin doesn’t offer any new functionality that fans of the Ubuntu platform haven’t already seen. Those of you who download the latest builds won’t be interested in this release, as it’s geared towards sysadmins who are responsible for large desktop deployments and are seeking long term stability. Ordinary business users of course will be surprised by the GUI overhaul and controversial Unity interface.

Instead of a flashy new release geared towards getting a lot of media attention, Canonical is looking at Precise Pangolin as the hub in which it brings all of its enterprise offerings together into one package. Apparently there’s been a method to the company’s recent flurry of releases, as utilities likeMAAS, AWSOME (an API link between OpenStack and Amazon), and JuJu play a large part in the deployment options built into the release. Add in the recent announcement of HP agreeing to certify the platform on its servers and other computing devices and you have a neat package that’s very accessible to sysadmins looking for power and flexibility on a smaller budget.

So what’s next for Canonical? Where is the company shifting its attention to now that it has successfully rolled out a tight package for enterprise? Like most companies, Canonical doesn’t comment on future development because of the inevitable change that happens during the course of software projects. However in a phone interview about the 12.04 release, Steve George the Vice President for Communications and Products for Canonical indicated that his company would be looking to continue to speak to OEM manufacturers about Ubuntu for Android. While he wouldn’t comment about any specifics when it comes to Canonical’s foray into the mobile arena, he did say that they would most likely have much more to talk about later this year. George acknowledged that Canonical is very eager to have the community involved in Android development, which could represent a significant about turn after CEO Jane Silber originally said that Ubuntu for Android would remain private.

It’s certainly going to be interesting to watch Canonical over the next year, no matter what the company has in the works. If the company can keep making smart decisions when it comes to its products, the rest of 2012 should continue to be a banner year for Shuttleworth and his crew.

Download Ubuntu 12.04 Precise Pangolin

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HP to certify Ubuntu 12.04 LTS for its Proliant servers

Mark Shuttleworth has announced at the OpenStack conference that Canonical has received a ringing endorsement from HP in the form of certification for Ubuntu 12.04 LTS on the ProLiant server systems. Responding to customer demand, HP has decided to officially support the popular flavor of Linux giving sysadmins another flexible software option to leverage their current and future hardware.

With Canonical claiming that Ubuntu is the “server of choice” for cloud computing infrastructure, getting the support of a large, well known company in its server arena certainly helps to cement that statement. But with the recent turmoil happening inside Hewlett-Packard, who’s really getting the endorsement here? While it looks on the surface that HP is helping out an idealistic open-source software offering, perhaps the reality is that HP needs Canonical just as much to improve its damaged reputation with confused buyers.

On the technical side, the endorsement announced today basically means that when the Ubuntu 12.04 LTS build is released on April 26th, customers using the software on a ProLiant server will be able to receive hardware warranty support directly from HP. This doesn’t mean that a customer with an installation issue or similar problem can pick up the phone and call HP support, it simply means that by installing Ubuntu 12.04 LTS on their current (or future) ProLiant hardware that they won’t nullify any kind of hardware warranty.

In a phone interview with ExtremeTech Chris Kenyon,VP of sales and Business Development at Canonical, stated that the support of the actual software will remain with his company, and that there are no plans for ProLiant servers to ship with Ubuntu pre-configured. He added, however, that this model was ideal as the cloud computing architects that are building infrastructure want to have flexibility and the ability to purchase their chosen hardware to form the backbone of their operations.

While this certainly may be the case, this announcement can be boiled down to a simple tip of the hat from HP to Canonical to build consumer confidence in the brand. What HP doesn’t want recognize however is the idea that the confidence boost is flowing both ways and is certainly aiding the beleaguered manufacturer.

Canonical has been building momentum lately. The whole Unity debate aside, the releases that have been announced in the past few months have been compelling. While Ubuntu TV may not have been the exciting release we had hoped for, Ubuntu for Android not only makes sense but has me wanting a device that has it installed. Having both a mobile and desktop experience in one device shows a real understanding of where mobile computing is going, and was an excellent step for Canonical. Add in the other recent releases of MAAS, AWSOME, and JuJu and you have three excellent tools for cloud computing architecture that address specific needs that consumers have expressed while working with Ubuntu Server. To use another line from VP Chris Kenyon, “Everything that we have been working on for the past couple of years is crystallizing all at once, things are a bit wild right now.” That statement encapsulates the ride that Canonical is on at the present.

That all being noted, who benefits the most from this deal? While Canonical certainly benefits from a legitimacy point of view, HP stands to gain far more when it comes to improving its image with the IT buyers that they really need to reconnect with — namely the sysadmins and network architects looking to cut costs and avoid the bloat that is Windows Server.

There are certainly no losers when it comes to this announcement, and more open-source software being certified — legitimized even — is always a good thing.

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Canonical announcing Ubuntu “concept” device at CES

With CES 2012 just around the corner, the buzz on the new devices we are going to see is heating up. This morning, there is word that Canonical is looking to get into the mobile market via a partnership with LG to create an Ubuntu based tablet and smartphone. This doesn’t come as much of a surprise following the announcement made by Mark Shuttleworth at the 2011 Ubuntu Developer Summit that Canonical would be pushing their open source flavor of Linux onto mobile devices.

During the keynote of the summit, Shuttleworth made it clear that despite the criticism of the new Unity interface, it was here to stay because of how integral it is to the Ubuntu mobile experience. At that point, he mentioned that Canonical’s target would be to have Ubuntu ready for use on a phone or tablet within two years.

It looks like Canonical is living up to the goals set by its leader, as indicated by a post on its official blog stating that “an exclusive Ubuntu concept design” is going to be announced at the show. Although we couldn’t get a solid confirmation on what the device exactly is, we have a good idea from unnamed sources that it will be a tablet-like GSM phone device. The info we found says the device has a 4.5-inch screen and a Texas Instruments OMAP processor, and will not be sold through carriers when it officially launches. The device is said to run “armbuntu” (not its final name), as well as having the ability to run Android apps a la the BlackBerry PlayBook.

Additional rumors we have seen have pegged LG as the manufacturer of the device, although when we reached out to Gerry Carr, Canonical’s Director of Communications, he denied the rumors. “We have no plans to announce anything with LG next week.” Muddying the waters somewhat, however, he went on to add “Every CES we see a bunch of new developments and devices built on Ubuntu, many of which we, Canonical, are involved in and many we are not. That’s the nature of open source after all [...] but I can definitively say that Canonical will not be announcing this device at CES.” We’ll know soon enough whether this is merely marketing speak or not.

In countries like Chile and Singapore that have outlawed SIM locking, this device could certainly be an option if the price is right. As far as market penetration in the US, it’s going to be difficult for a non-carrier-supported device to make much of an impact. With the smartphone market already saturated with products from Google, Apple and Microsoft, the device is going to have some killer feature to attract consumers. Being able to run Android apps in some sort of emulation mode isn’t going to do the trick.

Any kind of Ubuntu-based device is going to be a niche product for Linux geeks and the more technical user at best. There are just too many smartphone options already on the market that are already entrenched in the hearts and minds of the consumer.

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