The “Break it Down” Blog

OSNews pointed me over to this announcement on the Ubuntu mailing list, and it looks like Ubuntu will be working to get a low-power/embedded version of Ubuntu on some new Intel platforms.

When you combine that announcement with the Dell announcement, the light at the end of the tunnel of Hardware on Linux issue is starting to finally show!

I think we’ve seen time and time again the only way for Open Source to get the level of support that can cause it to go mainstream is when you throw money behind it. The complete disjointedness and fragmentation of the Linux community over the years has always made it impossible for hardware vendors and other developers to target “A Linux Platform”. By Ubuntu becoming these most popular Linux desktop, there is no longer that issue and vendors can finally *target* a commercially-backed entity that isn’t going to disappear, lessening their fears and increasing their eagerness to participate in the “Linux world” via Ubuntu.

While the initial contributions and changes to Ubuntu to allow them to be compatible on all these platforms may be Ubuntu-specific, it’s easy to see that Ubuntu could become the gateway for general Linux improvements across the board to leak out of that channel and back into the kernel and other projects.

I’m very excited for 2007/08 and Linux.