[ubuntu-za] Ubuntu and Mozilla, the inevitable alliance

[Helge Reikeras]

On Mon, 18 Jan 2010 13:22:34 +0200, David Robert Lewis (ethnopunk)  
<ethnopunk at telkomsa.net> wrote:

>
>
> Nic Roets wrote:
>> On Mon, Jan 18, 2010 at 10:19 AM, Helge Reikeras
>> <helge.reikeras at gmail.com <mailto:helge.reikeras at gmail.com>> wrote:
>>
>>     Yeah. Of course, Canonical doesn't own Ubuntu and as such it's not
>>     theirs
>>     to sell. If Canonical decides to make any decision the community
>>     doesn't
>>     agree with, the community is free to continue development on it's  
>> own
>>     (potentially with another sponsor). However, the role played by
>>     Canonical
>>     might be difficult to replace. I wouldn't be surprised if Google
>>     decide to
>>     acquire Canonical. As with any acquisition we can only speculate
>>     what the
>>     implication for the current values and culture at Canonical will be.
>>
>>
>> It's not going to happen: The Google people are hardnosed businessmen.
>> The only reason why they are in Open Source is to make it difficult
>> for companies closer to the end user to replace their default search
>> provider. Companies closer to the end user include telcos, hardware
>> manufacturers, even MS.
>>
>> Furthermore, if Google buys Canonical or take a lead role in Ubuntu,
>> they can seriously damage their brand if something goes wrong in Linux
>> land and they did not do their best to stop it.
>>
>
> Having Google as a sponsor might not be all that bad, come to think of
> it. We could always rename ourselves - Uboogle. :)
>

I'm positive. Open source (and Ubuntu) exists to enable businesses and  
communities, both large and small. If Google wants to use it to strengthen  
their own position I don't have a problem with that. Also, Google is  
possibly the only company with the financial strength to break M$  
proprietary monopoly on the desktop OS market.

- Helge

-- 
Helge Reikeras
http://www.google.com/profiles/helge.reikeras

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