Ceci est une ancienne révision du document !
It has been over ten years now since I installed and used Linux for the first time. I wanted to tinker with computers, but, at the same time, I did not want to spend money on software, and I did not want to break any EULA. And I also wanted to make use of discarded hardware. It was Red Hat 5 that gave me the ability to do this, and I have been hooked ever since.
I have tried many distros over the years - from Red Hat, Fedora, Puppy, SCO (yes, even them), Mandriva, but at one point I decided that I should quit distro hopping and stick with one, for better or worse. I chose Fedora. That went well - except for one thing - to me, Fedora was very unstable from one release to the other, and, often, things that I spent time fixing got broken again six to twelve months later. I came very close to going back to the dark side - yes, that meant Windows.
Then, I heard about Ubuntu Warty Warthog, and I decided to give Linux one last try. Ubuntu did solve one more problem - as I was also tired of downloading 4 CD's for each install. The one-CD download was a godsend.
By this time I had become quite the software freedom evangelist; I was just disappointed that the software “free as in freedom” movement was too connected to the technocrat elite, and not really connected to everyday end users.
So, I tried Ubuntu, and I could see that Ubuntu was trying to do what the other distros have not done, and that is be easy to install for people who were far and away less computer geeky than I. Needless to say, I have been won over by Ubuntu.
However, as a person who believes in software freedom on religious, political, economic, and environmental grounds, I am disappointed on one front. I am not alone in my efforts to promote software freedom; many Linux users do the same. But, over the years, I would have liked to see some support from the likes of IBM and Red Hat. Don't get me wrong, I know that they have put money and resources back into Linux for which I am thankful. What I would like to see is Linux advocacy in some kind of major advertising budget. We need a “desktop” advertisement with “punch” in it.
It would be great if all of the corporations that benefit from Linux contributed to an advertising fund. I would love to see Linux decals on Formula 1 cars of the teams using Linux. I know that a Formula 1 car is probably the most expensive piece of advertising real-estate on the planet, but all we want is a few square inches that nobody else wants.
What I am saying is this: any large corporation that gets benefits from free software should be helping out in the promotion of Linux.
This brings me to Mark Shuttleworth. I believe that Mr. Shuttleworth has been a major contributor in the effort to promote the use of Linux by the everyday user. I do not believe there is anyone in the past, present, or near future with his kind of commitment or resources.
When I first tried Unity, I had some misgivings about it. However, for me it was not rocket science to see what Unity wanted to achieve and why. A single user interface for desktops, phones, and everything in-between. For people who run less than ten applications, Unity is all they need, and the good news is that Unity is going to get better.
Unity is what the software freedom movement needs to take free software to the next level. It is time to quit all of the “year of the Linux desktop” navel gazing, and get behind something that has some real potential to yield some good results.
So, lets stop nitpicking, and support Mark Shuttleworth and Canonical. Because, for all that he and his company has done for us, it is the least we can do.