I install four different desktops: Gnome, KDE, Cinnamon and Xfce.
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Ubuntu Maker Boosted Revenue in 2013 but Doubled Loss to $21 Million
Mark Shuttleworth in 2006.
Canonical’s UK-based operations earned $65.7 million in revenue during fiscal 2013, a significant boost over the previous year’s revenue of $56.8 million. However, the company is in investment mode as it attempts to expand beyond desktops and servers to the mobile market. While Canonical lost $11.1 million in fiscal 2012, its losses rose to $21.3 million in fiscal 2013.
The numbers come from an annual report (PDF) made public this month, as required by UK law. The report provides our best look at the finances of Canonical, which is a private company and doesn’t file the quarterly reports we see from public companies. This report has limitations, though, covering the 12 months through March 31, 2013, the date Canonical’s fiscal year ended. It also doesn’t cover Canonical’s entire worldwide operations.”As an international company, Canonical files public financial records in each jurisdiction where it operates,” a Canonical spokesperson told Ars a few months back after we inquired about the previous year’s report. The UK report “is not a representation of the situation of Canonical across our global operations,” the company said.
The annual report (provided to Ars by financial research firm DueDil) seems to cover most of Canonical’s business, though. The report says that $50.6 million of the reported $65.7 million in revenue came from sales outside the UK, including $48.2 million from outside Europe. The numbers include the operations of subsidiaries in the US, Canada, and China. China alone covers “the majority of global units shipped.”(Canonical reported its numbers in US dollars because it is the “functional currency of the company.”)
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Read more at Ars Technica
Linux Drives Automotive Innovation into the New Year
With the addition just last week of the Google-led Open Automotive Alliance, nearly every automaker in the world is choosing Linux for technology integration and innovation in the car. This reminds me a lot of the early days of Linux in the enterprise or Linux in mobile. It starts small and accelerates at an exponential rate. It’s one of the unique attributes of Linux.
From Toyota and Nissan to BMW and Jaguar to GM and Honda, among many others, hardly anyone is using anything but Linux to build the technology running inside our cars.This is great news and comes on the heels of two other important milestones for automotive Linux: IHS Automotive recently reported that sales of automotive Linux will overtake Microsoft and Blackberry QNX by 2020, and the Motor Trend car of the year for two years running is using Linux.
The work being done by automakers through collaborative efforts like Automotive Grade Linux (AGL), GENIVI and Open Automotive Alliance together will accelerate the adoption of new technologies in the automotive industry. Linux has proven to accelerate advancements in technology faster than any other platform. Cloud computing, supercomputing and the Linux-based Android platform are some of the best examples. I’d argue that none of these sectors would have seen the fast pace of innovation they’ve witnessed over the last decade if were not for Linux.
Companies rally around Linux because the operating system offers an existing, open platform that is supported by hundreds of thousands of developers and can be customized for a large variety of applications.
The Open Automotive Alliance states it well on its website:
“Automakers will be able to leverage a platform already being used by millions to deliver a familiar and consistent experience to their customers. Taking a platform centric approach enables high quality application development in a way that is purpose built for cars.”
Linux started connecting businesses decades ago with no shortage of skeptics. Today it’s connecting your home and your car, too. I can’t predict the future, but I can tell you that Linux has been on the right side of history all along and that’s a good place to be.
In the Open Cloud, Third-Party Testing and Support Are Much Needed
If you look at the ramp-up stage for almost any meaningful new technology, ranging from the rise of PCs to the early growth of the World Wide Web, its notable that independent testing organizations can often help a new technology succeed. As 2014 begins, many pundits are predicting that this will be the year that IT departments move beyond just testing the waters and make real commitments to the OpenStack cloud computing platform, as well as other open cloud platforms.
If that is to happen, third-party interoperability, security and performance testing could really help many decision makers. Likewise, support will be a huge differentiator among OpenStack platform providers.
Read more at Ostatic