The Profile Subject
Canonical Ltd./ Ubuntu
Rationale
Pharas did not have a preference. I am starting my own linux project (a first) so I was looking at different distros. Ubuntu seemed to be the one I liked the most, so why not find more about it?
Organizational Details
- Is the subject of your profile a corporate entity?
Canonical is a corporate entity (Canonical Ltd.) - What type?
It is a private company limited by shares - When was it founded?
It was founded on March 5th, 2004 - By whom?
It was founded by Mark Shuttleworth - Are they still active?
He is still active within the company - Publicly Traded?
It is not publicly traded - Has the company made any acquisitions?
It has not made any acquisitions - Has the company made any investments in other companies?
There was no data pointing to having acquired acquisitions - Number of Employees?
Roughly 500 employees across 30 countries - Where is HQ?
HQ - 27th Floor, Millbank Tower 21-24 Millbank London, SW1P 4QP GBR - Does it have any other offices or locations?
Yes it has offices in London, Boston, Taipei, Montreal, Shanghai, São Paulo and the Isle of Man - Does your organization file any annual reports?
Annual Report (2013) - http://www.scribd.com/doc/199373896/Canonical-Group-Limited-Annual-Accounts-2013
Communications
- Does your subject participate in social media?
125,973 page visits)
- What communication channels does your subject use to reach their public?
Canonical keeps mostly to the social media listed above for anything not work related - Does your subject organize or participate in any conferences?
Ubuntu Developer Summit
Community Architecture
- Distribution Channels
- The project's IRC Channel
- Source Code Repo
- Mail list archive
- Documentation
- Other communication channels
Primary communication appears to just be through the mailing lists and IRC channels. That and various wikis dedicated to specific projects.
- Project Website and/or Blog
- Describe the software project, its purpose and goals.
Ubuntu comes from the African word Ubuntu meaning 'humanity to others'. Ubuntu was founded in 2004 as a free and easy to use Linux Desktop that was designed to be part social and part economic: free software, available to everybody on the same terms, and funded through a portfolio of services provided by Canonical. (From the Wikipedia)
- Give brief history of the project. When was the Initial Commit? The latest commit?
The project started before the initial release on 20 October 2004 (Warty Warthog Release). Ubuntu's latest release was on April 23, 2014 (Utopic Unicorn Release).
- Who approves patches? How many people?
- Who has commit access, or has had patches accepted? How many total?
While the number is undoubtedly large, Ubuntu doesn’t have the information readily available to view. This is also tempered by which project you want to look at specifically.
- Has there been any turnover in the Core Team?
It doesn’t look like the team has changed all that much, at least according to https://launchpad.net/~techboard/+members
- Does the project have a BDFL, or Lead Developer?
Mark Shuttleworth seems like as good a candidate as any.
- Are the front and back end developers the same people? What is the proportion of each?
While possible, it is doubtful that they are considering the amount of people using Ubuntu. It is more likely that there is more developing for the back-end though. - What have been some of the major bugs/problems/issues that have arisen during development? Who is responsible for quality control and bug repair?
There is very little forward facing information from Ubuntu, so it is hard to find anything concrete without delving into the mailing lists surrounding different project aspects. - How is the project's participation trending and why?
Ubuntu is fairly popular, mostly because of how they do business and the thoroughness that they have with their product
- In your opinion, does the project pass "The Raptor Test?"Why or why not?
Yes, Ubuntu is backed by a huge, globe-spanning corporation and thousands, if not millions, of users.
- In your opinion, would the project survive if the core team, or most active 20% of contributors, were hit by a bus? Why or why not?
Yes, Ubuntu is backed by a huge, globe-spanning corporation and thousands, if not millions, of users.
- Does the project have an official "on-boarding" process in place?
- Does the project have Documentation available? Is it extensive? Does it include code examples?
There appears to be documentation for every project they have, with documentation even about adding to their documentation. There are code examples.
- If you were going to contribute to this project, but ran into trouble or hit blockers, who would you contact, and how?
Depends entirely on which part you would be contributing to, as there are so many different IRCs, mailing lists, and wikis that are all organized by different people.
- Based on these answers, how would you describe the decision making structure/process of this group? Is it hierarchical, consensus building, ruled by a small group, barely contained chaos, or ruled by a single or pair of individuals?
It is entirely dependant on which project you are talking about, as the core Ubuntu project seems to be headed by the previously mentioned group of 7, but smaller divisions are present and dedicated to different aspects of the experience.
- Is this the kind of structure you would enjoy working in? Why, or why not?
Brian: Its hard to tell, since it seems equally split between being the sort of job where you go into work and one where it is contribue as you feel. I’m sure actually working at Canonical would probably be a more standard office job though, so meh?
Technology/Product
- Who invented, created, or sponsored the technology?
Landscape (Product). Landscape was created by Canonical.
- What was the technology designed to do? How was it used?
Landscape is designed to assist in monitoring, managing, and updating an entire Ubuntu infrastructure from one single interface. - Who would benefit from using this technology?
Server owners/administrators, IT managers, and similar people who are in charge of the infrastructure or a part of it would benefit from using this product.
- What kinds of companies or organizations (stakeholders) might have been concerned about the development of this technology? Why?
Since landscape is supposed to work mainly with Ubuntu, it would not be a direct conflict with other operating systems. Therefore only companies who are developing a similar kind of technology for Ubuntu, or developers of other distros that are in competition with Ubuntu would be concerned with the development of this technology from a business standpoint.
- Did an aspect of copyright law play a role in controversies about the technology? How?
Since the product is mostly limited as to what it can be used for, I don’t think it had any aspects of law or copyright law coming into question or being violated.
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