Community Angered over Canonical's Ubuntu One
With the release of its new online synchronization service Ubuntu One, Canonical seems to have made some enemies in the community.
The name Ubuntu has meant free software and many in the community find some deception in the name Ubuntu One in that behind it lurks a commercial and not open source project.
Developer Tony Yarusso has filed a bug report on Bugzilla requesting a renaming of the service. He wants to remove the word Ubuntu from it entirely. Yarusso also fears that Canonical intends to integrate the service into the client side of the upcoming Ubuntu versions, which he also considers a questionable practice. The bug started out by accusing Canonical of violating its trademark policy with the name, but the discussion migrated to the consensus that the Ubuntu One name "creates confusion."
Community manager Jono Bacon mixed into the discussion by countering that Canonical had every right to use the Ubuntu One name. He advised Yarusso to reassign the bug to the Ubuntu Technical Board, but admitted to the name confusion and that the issue is on the agenda of Ubuntu's next Community Council meeting. Mark Shuttleworth has not as yet made any comments.
Suggestions for a name change are abundant, including Canonical One, UbuOne and Ubunet.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Gnome’s Dash to Panel Extension Gets a Massive Update
If you're a fan of the Gnome Dash to Panel extension, you'll be thrilled to hear that a new version has been released with a dock mode.
-
Blender App Makes it to the Big Screen
The animated film "Flow" won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature at the 97th Academy Awards held on March 2, 2025 and Blender was a part of it.
-
Linux Mint Retools the Cinnamon App Launcher
The developers of Linux Mint are working on an improved Cinnamon App Launcher with a better, more accessible UI.
-
New Linux Tool for Security Issues
Seal Security is launching a new solution to automate fixing Linux vulnerabilities.
-
Ubuntu 25.04 Coming Soon
Ubuntu 25.04 (Plucky Puffin) has been given an April release date with many notable updates.
-
Gnome Developers Consider Dropping RPM Support
In a move that might shock a lot of users, the Gnome development team has proposed the idea of going straight up Flatpak.
-
openSUSE Tumbleweed Ditches AppArmor for SELinux
If you're an openSUSE Tumbleweed user, you can expect a major change to the distribution.
-
Plasma 6.3 Now Available
Plasma desktop v6.3 has a couple of pretty nifty tricks up its sleeve.
-
LibreOffice 25.2 Has Arrived
If you've been hoping for a release that offers more UI customizations, you're in for a treat.
-
TuxCare Has a Big AlmaLinux 9 Announcement in Store
TuxCare announced it has successfully completed a Security Technical Implementation Guide for AlmaLinux OS 9.