Interview with Mark Shuttleworth, Ubuntu Founder

Over at CPILive.net they have a great interview with Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth. It is definitely worth a read.

From the interview:

What are you most passionate about in your work?

Tidal waves. I’m fascinated by things that sweep through society and then change everything that they touch in different ways. The Internet itself was the first big tidal wave that I could actually witness. I guess I also saw desktop computing as a kid, but I didn’t really have much of a perspective on it. But watching the Internet sweep through society, changing the way my mother worked, changing the way businesses worked, changing the way people designed products and so on, has been amazing. I wanted a project there that was right on the cutting edge of it.

Econonmist: Ubuntu driving force behind Linux in 2008

Over at CNET.com they have an interesting piece on an article in the Economist that largely credits the anticipated increased rise in Linux adoption in 2008 to the work done by Canonical on Ubuntu and its acceptance on the desktop.

From the CNet post:

That’s largely the doing of Gutsy Gibbon, the code-name for the Ubuntu 7.10 from Canonical….Ubuntu (and its siblings Kubuntu, Edubuntu and Xubuntu) has smoothed most of Linux’s geeky edges while polishing it for the desktop.

SpiceBird = Thunderbird + Outlook tools?

I just watched a very interesting web demo of a new open source email client that adds many of the collaboration and calendaring functions that office workers need.

Spicebird, from Synovel looks like a potential contender to replace Outlook for Windows users or Evolution for Linux users. It could be perfect for a device like the Zonbu.

You can catch the demo here: http://www.spicebird.com/demos/spicebird.html

-Mr. Zonbu

PC Mag: The gOS PC isn’t fully baked, doesn’t like Via platform

PC Magazine has posted a review of the gOS PC, and the author is less than pleased with his overall experience.

I’m not entirely surprised, and I’ve been talking about the need for these entry level devices to have a more practical computing power level for a while.

Here is a brief quote:

“The gPC was slapped together to sell to Web-savvy people who have very little pocket money. My advice to these people? Save up for just a little longer and buy something for at least $450 that runs Windows Vista, or get the ASUS Eee PC 4G laptop. This advice also goes for tech-savvy readers looking for a simple Internet PC for Grandma or Uncle Phil, or for a really cheap PC to tinker with and rebuild.