Ubuntu Netbook Edition folded into Ubuntu for next release
Canonical
on 9 March 2011
One of the benefits of the direction that’s been taken with the next release of Ubuntu is that there is no longer a need for a separate netbook edition. The introduction of the new shell for Ubuntu means that we have a user interface that works equally well whatever the form factor of the PC. And the underlying technology works on a range of architectures including those common in netbook, notebooks, desktops or whatever you choose to run it on. Hence the need for a separate version for netbooks is removed.
To be clear, this is the opposite of us withdrawing from the netbook market. In fact looking at the download figures on sne.bianheman.eu.org interest in netbooks is not only thriving but booming. It’s us recognising that the market has moved on and celebrating that separate images are no longer a requirement as the much anticipated convergence of devices moves closer.
A return to the Ubuntu name
Which actually got us thinking about our naming conventions in totality. ‘Ubuntu Desktop Edition’ arose in 2005 as a response to the launch of Ubuntu Server Edition and our desire to distinguish between the two. But desktops are no longer the pre-eminent client platform. And actually naming the the ‘edition’ after any target technology is going to have us chasing the trend. Also we were tying ourselves to some ungainly product titles – Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Server Edition for instance. User feedback also told us that people thought the edition was not for them as they had a laptop and spent time looking for a ‘Laptop Edition’.
So we are going back to our roots. From 11.04 the core product that you run on your PC will be simply, Ubuntu. Therefore the next release will be Ubuntu 11.04 and you can run that, my friend, on anything you like from a netbook to a notebook to a desktop. Ubuntu Server will be maintained as a separate product of course and named simply, Ubuntu Server 11.04.
We think this will make things simpler. When we mean Ubuntu for notebooks we will say just that rather than the more confusing, ‘Ubuntu Desktop Edition for notebooks’. We are retaining the concept of ‘remixes’ for community projects and the naming convention therein. And we would love to hear what you think.
Talk to us today
Interested in running Ubuntu in your organisation?
Newsletter signup
Related posts
Life at Canonical: Amy Song shares her experience as a new joiner in Customer Success
As Canonical continues to grow, we have developed a unique onboarding process that enables our new hires to quickly settle and establish themselves in our...
Canonical and OpenAirInterface to collaborate on open source telecom network infrastructure
Canonical is excited to announce that we are collaborating with OpenAirInterface (OAI) to drive the development and promotion of open source software for open...
What is the 5G Edge and Multi-Access Edge Computing?
Introduction The 5G Edge is revolutionising the telecommunications industry by significantly enhancing network performance, bringing computing power closer to...