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What do French gendarmes, Andalucian school children, Wikipedia and
San Francisco International airport have in common?

It is not the set up for a tortuous pun. Instead all of them are big
users of the free Ubuntu operating system.

The French national police force runs its operations on the open
source OS; computer systems supporting Spanish schools have their own
version; the online encyclopaedia runs its hundreds of servers on
Ubuntu and SFIA's internal computer system is based around it.

Ubuntu is based on Linux - the open source operating system that is
maintained, expanded and extended by legions of fans and professional
programmers around the world. Thanks to their efforts Ubuntu has
become the most popular of all the Linux distributions.

On 29 October, version 9.10 of Ubuntu is released. All versions of the
operating system have an alternative alliterative appellation. Ubuntu
9.10 is known as Karmic Koala.

The launch comes in the wake of Microsoft's fanfare around Windows 7 -
the latest incarnation of its flagship operating system.

Factory mode

While Ubuntu's developer Canonical can not quite match the hoopla
surrounding Windows 7 for its launch, the software competes where it
matters, said Chris Kenyon, one of Canonical's OS evangelists.

"For the first time in 20 years you can buy Ubuntu pre-installed from
more than one manufacturer," he said. "That's an extraordinary story."
“ Faced with such consumer inertia it's hard to see Linux making much
progress in boosting its miniscule market share ”
Rory Cellan-Jones Technology correspondent

Computer makes HP, Dell, Toshiba and Acer now all offer the OS as a
choice on machines people buy via their websites. The number of models
varies by territory with the software proving more popular in some
places than others.

Dell China, said Mr Kenyon, has more than 40 models with Ubuntu
available.

Before now, he said, many people installed the software themselves on
laptops and desktops that formerly ran Windows. Their experiences
varied because the development effort that helps to keep Ubuntu
updated sometimes lags behind what people are using.

But, he said, with the software increasingly likely to be installed at
the factory those days of frustration may be on the wane.

"Hardware problems are only really solved through installation," he
said. "That's going to become increasingly the case over the next 12
months."

Competition time

The steady march of technology was also removing many of those
stumbling blocks that stopped people plumping for Ubuntu and kept them
with Windows or Apple's OS X, said Mr Kenyon.

Some have been reluctant to move to Ubuntu and open source software
because it would mean learning their way around programs that were the
equivalent of what they used on older machines.

But, said Mr Kenyon, the growing use of web applications - such as
Google Docs - was eroding those differences quickly.

"The web is making the compatibility part far easier," he said.

To help with that ease of use Ubuntu 9.10 has Firefox 3.5 onboard that
works with the many web-based programs, such as the BBC iPlayer, that
are becoming increasingly popular.

With the web levelling the playing field between the different OS
makers, Mr Kenyon said the fact that Ubuntu runs faster and is more
secure than rivals on the same hardware will convince many to try it.

He admitted that some of the security of Ubuntu was down to the fact
that cyber criminals do not target it in the same way as they do
Windows.

"Some of the security is through obscurity but it's also better by
design," he said. "Fundamentally it requires you to run a safer
system. It's there from the ground up."

Canonical is also making it easier to road test Ubuntu with a "live
mode" that lets potential users run it off a USB drive to check its
compatibility with the hardware on their desktop or laptop.

Evidence that it is being taken seriously can be found, he said, in
the annual "10-K form" that Microsoft files with the SEC. Every public
firm must file one of these to outline the market conditions and
competitors it believes pose the greatest threat to its business.

In 2009, for the first time, Canonical got a mention.

Given that Microsoft recognises its success, Mr Kenyon is convinced
that it's only a matter of time before Ubuntu's 12 million strong pool
of users is joined by many more.

"We're nearing a tipping point," said Mr Kenyon.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/technology/8326264.stm

Published: 2009/10/27 00:06:48 GMT

© BBC MMIX