Commercial marketing for Ubuntu Linux begins
Stephen Shankland Former Principal Writer
Stephen Shankland worked at CNET from 1998 to 2024 and wrote about processors, digital photography, AI, quantum computing, computer science, materials science, supercomputers, drones, browsers, 3D printing, USB, and new computing technology in general. He has a soft spot in his heart for standards groups and I/O interfaces. His first big scoop was about radioactive cat poop.
Expertise Processors, semiconductors, web browsers, quantum computing, supercomputers, AI, 3D printing, drones, computer science, physics, programming, materials science, USB, UWB, Android, digital photography, science. Credentials
- Shankland covered the tech industry for more than 25 years and was a science writer for five years before that. He has deep expertise in microprocessors, digital photography, computer hardware and software, internet standards, web technology, and more.
The first sign of the commercialization of the Ubuntu version of Linux has appeared. Literally.
A billboard on Highway 101 north of Silicon Valley in California declares, "Ubuntu: Linux for servers and human beings," an expansion of the standard "Linux for human beings" tagline. The extra words reflect the growing ambitions for the software to be more than just a widely used desktop software product.
A South African company, Canonical, sponsors Ubuntu, and the most recent version 6.06, called Dapper Drake, now comes with long-term support that the company sells.