Ubuntu Voltron vs Google Chrome OS

by Ronnie Whisler

Some of you may remember the cartoon series Voltron. They featured a team of five young pilots commanding five robot lions, which could be combined to form Voltron. A super machine to protect the common good.

With the announcement of Google's Chrome OS this week many have been wondering what this means for Ubuntu. It goes without saying that Canonical does not have the resources available to it that Google has. Or does it?

Could we be seeing the true genius of Mark Shuttleworth about to unfold in front of us? Lets remember Mark has captured the Linux desktop first, period. If it wasn't for Mark, Google may not have thought Linux on the desktop wasn't feasible. Now they see its viable thanks to Mark and they want a piece of the pie. Sounds like a big company we all know well doesn't it? You do it first and we'll take it from there.

Then comes the worry of the seemingly endless pockets of Google and type of influence they can have on the world coaxing everyone throughout its advertising network to use Chrome OS. Daunting and scary thought isn't it?

But not so fast. Lets not forget about Mark Shuttleworth. I am willing to bet his planning up to this point has been very strategic on just such a possibility unfolding. Everyone keeps talking about how much money Google has. So what! If there is anything that companies have learned by the social networking explosion that we are accustomed to today, is that people with their opinions, enabled by computers and the internet are more powerful than any amount of money that a company may have.

Now lets look at the juggernaut that is Ubuntu. I believe Mark's true genius lies in what I am referring to as “Ubuntu Voltron”. Listed below is what I believe the five Ubuntu lions are.

Ubuntu Users - the last sociable accepted count was somewhere between 8 and 10 million users.

Ubuntu Sites - almost limitless supply of Ubuntu focused sites or recognizing Windows, Mac, Ubuntu

Ubuntu Services - I can't even begin to count how many businesses big & small focus on Ubuntu.

Ubuntu Spinoffs - Distrowatch claims there are 60 Ubuntu spinoffs! Will Google even allow any?

Canonical - Dedication and continuous improvement, delivering on packages and promises of updates.

Mark has done an incredible job getting all the lions in place. Now its up to the Ubuntu community as a whole to combine, embrace and support each other pushing forward with the Ubuntu philosophy: “We are working to ensure that every single piece of software you need is available under a license that gives you those freedoms ”. – part of the Ubuntu philosophy

I'm not sure this is a statement Google is willing to make. They are claiming that all their “software” will be able to run in any web browser on any platform. Its what they don't say that scares me which is will all features of every Google program be available on every browser and every platform.

We may be looking at feature lock in. Instead of vendor lock in. Fine line but worth the worry. I will be watching reMARKable Shuttleworth unite the Ubuntu lions in the next coming months. I will also find out if negative articles about Google Chrome OS hurt your search engine rankings. :)

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