Is Canonical Becoming The New Microsoft?

[Michael Haney]

http://www.theopensourcerer.com/2010/02/09/is-canonical-becoming-the-new-microsoft/

Saw this posted on Linux Today, today.  There are some points I agree
with and some I don't.

- Mono is one I agree with.  Micro$oft has neither done nothing nor
shown any indication that it can be trusted.  They're expressed an
supposed willingness to work with the Linux community, but at the same
time turn around and call Open-Source a cancer and say other
unflattering things behind our backs.  This in my mind is a serious
mistake that shouldn't be overlooked or swept under the rug.  This has
been argued over and over and over again for a while.  My opinion is
M$ can't be trusted, so Its best on err on the side of caution and not
incorporate Mono into Ubuntu by default.

- As for Proprietary Software, I believe Linux needs more commercial
software support.  I'm not one of those die hard "everything must be
open source" fanatics who seem to think they own the Linux Community.
So what Ubuntu One is proprietary and so what there might be a Linux
version.  One of bigger reasons why Linux in general gets little
respect from mainstream uses is the lack of software from the big-name
commercial developers, and Games are indeed high on that list.  Games
drive the Home PC market, whether you want to admit it or not is
irrelevant, and the lack of commercial game titles on Linux is one of
the many forces holding it back from widespread acceptance.  I
couldn't CARE LESS if my device drivers and applications are open or
closed source as long as they WORK.  Wouldn't you like to have DVD
playback software that actually works right the first time, or Linux
ports of software which previously could only be run using Wine?

- I don't see the benefit of dropping the GIMP and OOo from Ubuntu's
default installation.  Its possible Canonical wants to make it so
users get more of a choice in what graphics software and office suite
they want to use, but when it comes to open-source graphics editing
and productivity you can't do much than these two.  I'd like to know
Canonical's real reasoning behind this move.  Of course, this doesn't
mean you can't just go into the Software Center and download these
which you can but not having them available immediately after
installation can be troublesome.  A read an article that said Ubuntu
dropping GIMP from the default installation in 10.04 was a sign of
maturity.  I'd can bring myself to see it that way.

- Moving from Google to Yahoo as the default search engine.  This is
probably the biggest of Canonical's boneheaded moves.  Google offers
far richer services than Yahoo.  Going the Yahoo route means getting
in bed with Micro$oft and that alone is going to raise the ire of many
a Linux Zealots.  Yahoo's search uses Bing, which they say is growing
in usershare, but its not a significant amount compared to Google's
usershare.  Now, Google has rolled out another new service called
Google Buzz, a Facebook-like feature that works in Gmail!  What the
hell is Canonical thinking?

That's my opinion anyway.

/me puts on flame resistant suit.