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Rethinking Gobuntu

Mark Shuttleworth mark at ubuntu.com
Tue Apr 15 13:49:22 BST 2008 

The "current and future" thread on this list has got me thinking. 
Perhaps we really are on the wrong track, that the only way to meet the 
needs of the gNewSense folks is to have completely different source 
packages to Ubuntu. If that is the case, then I think it would be better 
to channel the energy from Gobuntu into gNewSense.

I had hoped to see more participation and collaboration around Gobuntu 
because of the benefits of keeping up with the standard Ubuntu (regular 
releases, security updates etc). However, it seems that the audience for 
a platform like this is willing to accept infrequent releases and less 
maintenance in return for a platform which can be modified more 
radically. That's OK, it's just a bit unexpected - I thought we could 
get the best of both worlds, with six-monthly releases of something that 
excluded *binary package* that were controversial in the eyes of the 
FSF, but retained access to everything else in Ubuntu.

I don't mind having been wrong in that expectation, I can see the 
arguments in favour of less collaboration in the case where it is more 
important to be different than to have infrastructure in common, and 
from what I've seen on this list, the desire to be different (have 
different source packages as well as binary packages) is stronger than 
the desire to collaborate (share infrastructure, release cycles etc).

I'm not sure that the current level of activity in Gobuntu warrants the 
division of attention it creates, either for folks who are dedicated to 
Ubuntu primarily, or to folks who are interested in gNewSense. I would 
like us to have a good relationship with the gNewSense folks, because I 
do think that their values and views are important and I would like 
Ubuntu to be a useful starting point for them. But perhaps Gobuntu isn't 
the best way to achieve that.

So, I would like to hear from the gNewSense guys how they would like to 
be involved in Ubuntu, to help ensure that Ubuntu is a useful starting 
point for their important work. If Gobuntu is not the best way to 
achieve that, then I think we should stop working on it and encourage 
folks who want that to focus their efforts on gNewSense, while at the 
same time figuring out how Ubuntu can be more useful for gNewSense.

Mark
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