Improving web services for Ubuntu

[Martin Albisetti]

For a long time now, we’ve been seeing issues come up in user testing
with the fact that we have different services providing different
functionalities which are all connected.

Three examples are Ubuntu Single Sign On (used to log into most
services related to Ubuntu), Ubuntu One (the cloud syncing service)
and Ubuntu Pay (a service that takes payments).

We continually see people expecting that they will get a coherent and
integrated experience among all those services.

We will start taking steps in that direction by launching a new design
that comes with a re-branding of the Ubuntu Single Sign On service,
renaming it to Ubuntu One, under which we will be unifying our online
services. Ubuntu One will therefore become your single account to
access apps, content and services in Ubuntu.

This first step just changes the user interface and comes with a
significant improvement of the general design.

Over time you will start seeing that the information these separate
services gather and provide will start to be accessible all from the
same place, removing a lot of the confusion we see today.

Nothing you are using today should change, you will just see a new
face on the page you log into.





FAQ

What is this change?
Ubuntu is a convergent Operating System that runs across multiple
devices and the cloud. One key part of this system are the many
services that fit into it. This includes our software center,
community services, and Ubuntu One file syncing, music, and photo
services.

We are going to be performing a re-branding to the account that you
use to access these different services and bring it under the Ubuntu
One umbrella. This will simplify the terminology to ‘Ubuntu’ as the
platform and ‘Ubuntu One’ as the account that provides access to this
wide variety of services in Ubuntu. This doesn’t mean that the names
of the services will change (e.g. Ask Ubuntu will continue to be Ask
Ubuntu), but the account you use to log into these services will be
your ‘Ubuntu One’ account. This will be simply a branding change;
there are no functional changes and an Ubuntu One account will
continue to be both free and optional.

Are there any functional changes?
None. This is just a re-branding.

Why are you changing it to Ubuntu One?
There is some confusion around terminology. ‘Ubuntu’ is the convergent
platform being used across phones, tablets, desktops, and TVs. ‘Ubuntu
One’ is a collection of services (e.g. file sync, music, photos etc)
that plug into Ubuntu. We are simply unifying these different services
with the same account name.

How does this affect our flavors?
This will have no impact on flavors.

Why was this decision made by Canonical and not the Community Council?
Canonical already operates the infrastructure in use today in the
Ubuntu community. Canonical did notify the Community Council in
advance about this change however.

Does this mean I will need to pay to use these services?
No, the service will continue to be free to use.



--
Martin