Ubuntu the response of Mark Shuttleworth, founder of Canonical and Ubuntu, when quizzed over whether it’s scarier to go into space or try to launch a unified OS platform. As the first citizen of an independent African country to travel to space and the public face of ensuring the Ubuntu OS makes it onto smartphones and tablets, he should know.It’s not the first time we’ve met but in the year-long interim, I forgot how good he is at talking the talk. He needs to be too.
Telling the Ubuntu convergence story for several years already to get to this point – of almost releasing the first smartphones to run the open source OS has taken education of partners and ultimate perseverance. journey that has taken hundreds and thousands of hours of planning and execution, of iteration and modification, and one that in some sense still hasn’t yet begun. The first phones aren’t on the shelves yet.Key to gaining operator and manufacturer support are Ubuntu’s Scopes – channels of information that allow operators or OEMs to quickly and easily modify and differentiate from other devices running the OS, without the need for heavy modifications to the code or the need to build their own apps.
Canonical isn’t the only company working to bring its platforms closer together. Microsoft has slowly been pulling its mobile and desktop OSes into alignment, but the key difference is that this is only being done at the UI and services level, rather than at a code level. In some way, it might even help Ubuntu’s cause that others are also aiming for converged platforms.But it’s not just software that has evolved since Ubuntu started this mission – wearables like glasses, watches, fitness bands (and whatever else) simply weren’t in the mainstream conciousness as they are today – and it’s here than Shuttleworth sees some huge potential to gain market share.
The idea of Ubuntu connecting smartphones, tablets, TVs and the desktop, but also being the unifying glue behind all manor of wearables is just that right now, but there are few other companies in a position to even attempt it as things stand today. Even so, it’ll be a long slog, as it has been to get even this far, but that glint in Shuttleworth’s eye tells me the company isn’t about to give up.
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