Ubuntu supported & Canonical supported (was: .ubu vs. .deb)

[Paul Sladen]

On Fri, 26 Nov 2010, Cybe R. Wizard wrote:
> On Fri, 26 Nov 2010 15:21:02 +0000 (GMT) Paul Sladen wrote:
> > On Thu, 25 Nov 2010, Cybe R. Wizard wrote:
> > > Only a small portion of that is Ubuntu-supported.
                                      ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> > supported by the Ubuntu community,
                     ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> updates may be provided by the Ubuntu community. (x4)
                                 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
What is supported by the Ubuntu community (the whole archive) is a
superset of what is supported by Canonical (main + restricted).
The four core components that make up Ubuntu are detailed at:

  http://www.ubuntu.com/project/about-ubuntu/components

All four are supported by the Ubuntu community, and two are /also/
supported at a more concentrated level by Canonical.  Had the query
been about "Canonical-supported" software, then my answers would have
been different (but equally correct and accurate);

Ubuntu community support is on a best-effort basis; the quality and
latency of the support may be variable, depending on people's social
lives (remember that Ubuntu is a hobby for many people), their
timezone (sleeping habits) and the relative experience of those
who are available to answer your query at any time.

As a service, Canonical cover the cost of maintaining /some/ of
the software in Ubuntu for /some/ period of time after its release
(18 months to 5 years) over and above the community.  In order to
underwite this commitment for elevated support, Canonical provide
a number of services that help support Canonical's on-going and
significant contributions to Ubuntu:

  http://www.ubuntu.com/project/canonical-and-ubuntu

Other companies and projects also contribute to Ubuntu and the
software that forms part of Ubuntu.  If you need a definite response,
within a definite time-period then the best option is likely to be
a paid support provider.  Canonical is one of a number of providers
who can offer that even higher level of reassurance:

  http://www.canonical.com/consumer-services/support

Failing that, if you still have a problem, if no one else can help,
and if you can find them, maybe you can hire...

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_A-Team

	-Paul