Top Tech of 2007: Ubuntu Linux
Those beefeating geeks at the BBC have come up with their top-tech choices for 2007 (iPhone, Facebook, and some strange light bulb). As usual with the mass media, they completely overlooked the most significant tech happening in years, let alone for 2007. We now turn our attention to what the BBC missed.
Ubuntu Linux 7.10: The Gutsy Gibbon
Here’s your tech event of the year, kids. It’s a story with several chapters, each still unfolding at this moment. It began in April with the release of Ubuntu v. 7.04, the Feisty Fawn, and continued with Dell’s decision to start selling Ubuntu Linux-based machines. The momentum from this continued throughout the summer, with Dell extending its Ubuntu program to Europe.
Then, in October, the real tipping point arrived with the release of v. 7.10, the Gutsy Gibbon. This release brought Linux and Ubuntu into the big leagues of operating systems. With 7.10, all doubts about the mainstream potential of Ubuntu were erased: the installation had been made fully graphical and intuitive; the desktop was now a total GUI package with an interface that equaled or exceeded anything Microsoft could offer in either XP or Vista; and the critical software bundled with Ubuntu had made another advance in reliability, functionality, and overall usability. The final piece of the puzzle was for Dell to bundle 7.10 into its Ubuntu machines, and that happened about two weeks ago. 2008 is now set to become the Year of the Penguin in the world of technology, thanks to the advances and achievements of 2007.
The influence of Ubuntu can be easily appreciated from its partnership with Dell, its contribution toward the doubling of desktop market volumes for Linux overall, and from the notice Ubuntu received from the worldwide geek press throughout 2007. Another factor is Ubuntu’s influence on all the other Linux distros that have used it as a core or platform. These include:
MEPIS, which released its own major upgrade, version 7, just last week.
Linux Mint, which also saw a new release this autumn.
Linspire / Freespire, also upgraded this year.
In summary, Ubuntu in 2007 brought Linux specifically and open source software generally into the tech mainstream, where it will consolidate its place throughout 2008 and beyond. It also set a trend firmly into motion that others, most notably Microsoft, will have to observe — the move toward slimmer and more versatile operating platforms for both the desktop and server markets. While Vista’s release was a celebration of the dead cult of software bloat, Ubuntu established something in quite another direction — the OS as a small, fast, and flexible base that can adapt itself to a broad range of hardware specifications, options, and combinations. Linux can run comfortably on the 433MHz processor in the XO Laptop that is making its way around the world now; it can also shine on powerful dual-core machines with potent graphics processors and massive hard drives (Ubuntu Studio and Sabayon Linux are good examples of Linux adapting to high-end hardware). MS is now struggling to build a scaled-down version of XP that has a chance of running on an XO-laptop style hardware platform, and its nascent Windows 7 project is reportedly aiming for the same agility and versatility that Ubuntu and other Linux distros have already established.
Therefore, Ubuntu gets our 2007 top-tech nod for its transformation of the PC operating system into a platform that is about community, freedom of use, safety, reliability, and the speed and smoothness of its upgrade path. Expect 2008 to bring more of the same from Ubuntu: in April, version 8.04, the Hardy Heron, is due for release; and other prominent PC makers — possibly HP and Acer/Gateway — will be likely to follow Dell into the Linux/Ubuntu marketplace.
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