Ubuntu will work with Dell to pre-install Ubuntu servers

"Pre-installed Ubuntu on the server is what we want to do, and we will not conceal it. -GerryCarr, the marketing manager of Canonical. "When Canonical is preparing to release the latest version of the UbuntuLinux operating system (the development code is" GutsyGibbon "), one manager of the company hinted that, if user voices continue to rise, the server system preinstalled with UbuntuLinux may soon be born. GerryCarr is Canon. "pre-installed Ubuntu on the server is what we want to do. We do not want to hide this. -Gerry Carr, marketing manager of Canonical company"

When Canonical is preparing to release the latest version of Ubuntu Linux (the development code is "Gutsy Gibbon"), one of the company's managers hinted that if user voices continue to rise, the server system preinstalled with Ubuntu Linux may soon be born.

Gerry Carr is the marketing manager of Canonical, which maintains Ubuntu. He said that although no agreement has been reached, Canonical has been negotiating with Dell and some other unspecified hardware vendors, in order to launch the x86 cheap server with Ubuntu preinstalled in the near future.

Currently, Canonical has a Ubuntu Desktop and portable computer project with Dell. According to the agreement signed in May this year, Dell preinstalled Ubuntu on the specified models of the series of desktops and portable computers, while Canonical provided commercial support for these machines.

"(Pre-installed Ubuntu on the server) is what we want to do, and we do not hide it," Carr said. "The customer is requesting to do this, if they want to see Ubuntu pre-installed on Dell's server products, they can go to the (Dell's) IdeaStorm website to continue to make requests."
　　
Carr said that while the deal will "hopefully reach a deal with Dell", Canonical is also considering server vendors other than Dell and will soon announce the results of these negotiations. "This does not mean that an agreement has been reached, but users who want to pre-install Ubuntu on the server may soon get what they want ."

Rising momentum of Ubuntu Support Services

But before news about Ubuntu servers excited supporters, Carr said Canonical needed to work hard to enhance existing support services for Ubuntu. Just like Red Hat Enterprise Linux, a commercial release of Linux, and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server of Novell, Ubuntu is free to use, and users pay for the support service.

"We need to promote the existing support service organization (Canonical. It has not yet gained enough trust, and has not yet been recognized and appreciated ." He said.

However, this situation is changing even if there is no promotion from Canonical. Carr said that although Ubuntu was deployed as a pilot role in less important scenarios, users are now increasingly seeking support from Canonical to use Ubuntu in more critical business deployments.

"As we see that the application field of Ubuntu continues to expand and surpasses the experimental role, I believe you will also see that more user needs for support services will naturally emerge ." Said Carr.

For many Ubuntu users, the efforts of Canonical are bearing fruit. Jean-Yves Quentel, a French venture capitalist, is now a blog author and Ubuntu user. He said that Canonical is now more like "real business behavior" for every version released.

"Ubuntu has terminated the issuance of free CD installation disks, obviously because it has consumed too much money," he said. "They have been expressing their views on the enterprise-level market for some time, more and more enterprise-level requirements are put into consideration in the product roadmap." Edit Note: Canonical has told searchw.iselinux.com that the free Ubuntu CD project "is still at the core of the company's work and will continue to distribute Ubuntu CD to all parts of the world ".

Quentel said that Canonical can be a huge enterprise. It only needs to partially follow the business model of Red Hat, that is, sell the support services of enterprise servers to large companies.

Ubuntu as a replacement for Red Hat

But does this strategy work? Quentel thinks Yes, and some analysts such as Raven Zachary of the 451 Group also think that, considering the popularity of the pre-installed Ubuntu project on the Dell PC, the pre-installed Ubuntu server will soon appear. The project has now been expanded to multiple European markets. At the LinuxWorld expo in March, Dell executives did not disclose specific sales figures, but claims that such market expansion represents a bright future for the project.

"Red Hat is a bit difficult to use, so release versions like Ubuntu can benefit from ease of use," Quentel said) after the transaction, Novell found that its credibility had been severely compromised compared with its competitors. Especially hardware vendors feel that it is time to build another alternative to RH (Red Hat. Ubuntu seems to be the most promising and stable release of all competitors.

Ubuntu will release the Upgrade Code Gutsy Gibbon in May, promising a lot of graphic and security enhancements on the desktop side, Carr said.

Based on information on the Canonical and Ubuntu websites, Gutsy Gibbon will pre-install AppArmor-a security software for Linux. Novell is currently responsible for maintaining AppArmor (SUSE Enterprise Linux has integrated this function ). The system administrator can use AppArmor to associate the security configuration information with each program, thus limiting the program's capabilities.

The enhancement to the "Bling"-according to Carr-is embodied in Compiz Fusion, which is a combination of Compiz and Beryl. There are also rumors that Firefox 3 will be included by default, despite the fact that Canonical is not sure.