Canonical Refocus

I wrote this on G+, but it seemed appropriate to share it here too:

So, today Canonical decided to refocus their business and move away from convergence and devices. This means that the Ubuntu desktop will move back to GNOME.

I have seen various responses to this news. Some sad that it is the end of an era, and a non-zero amount of “we told you so” smugness.

While Unity didn’t pan out, and there were many good steps and missteps along the way, I am proud that Canonical tried to innovate. Innovation is tough and fraught with risk. The Linux desktop has always been a tough nut to crack, and one filled with an army of voices, but I am proud Canonical gave it a shot even if it didn’t succeed it’s ultimate goals. That spirit of experimentation is at the epicenter of open source, and I hope everyone involved here takes a good look at how they contributed to and exacerbated this innovation. I know I have looked inwards at this.

Much as some critics may deny, everyone I know who worked on Unity and Mir, across engineering, product, community, design, translations, QA, and beyond did so with big hearts and open minds. I just hope we see that talent and passion continue to thrive and we continue to see Ubuntu as a powerful driver for the Linux desktop. I am excited to see how this work manifests in GNOME, which has been doing some awesome work in recent years.

And, Mark, Jane, I know this will have been a tough decision to come to, and this will be a tough day for the different teams affected. Hang in there: Ubuntu has had such a profound impact on open source and while the future path may be a little different, I am certain it will be fruitful.

5 Comments

leonel on April 5, 2017 at 4:09 pm

That’s what happens when no new deverlopers jump in, and that’s because many of the developers use macosx instead of a linux destop

Less users less developers, easy math.

teh 1 on April 6, 2017 at 5:27 am

… I’m extremely, extremely disappointed. I loved Unity since the Ubuntu Netbook days, and completely behind the convergence thing. Even more, I believe, the convergence is not simply an UI thing, more behind-the-scenes could be done to make a more seamless integration between various devices that has become an everyday possession among the masses.

I can only hope, even if they shift their focus elsewhere, the Unity and convergence project can still be left alive, even if limping on, and open to more community development. I’ve installed Debian to try it out on an old machine and, while GNOME Shell is bug-free and smooth, it’s UX is far, far too lacking.

The only bright piece is, probably the usage of Wayland is confirmed rather than Mir. A single industry-standard for developers to work with is cause of rejoice. I mean, since Unity 8 is a QML app, it’d have probably worked out of the box with Wayland anyway.

Stu Keroff on April 6, 2017 at 7:12 pm

I saw this news with a bit of disbelieving sadness. I was (and am) a fan of the Unity desktop, I was looking forward to Unity 8, and really wanted one of those phones. I even have the BQ M10 tablet. But, one year from now, my students and I will be leading our school in integrating the new Ubuntu into our classrooms at school. It will look a little different (I think), but it will still line up with my school’s (and Canonical’s) commitment to open source. We move forward.

MartinSt on April 6, 2017 at 8:29 pm

+1 Unity had and will have an impact on future desktop environment design, Ubuntu desktop is not ending, and will remain the OS of choice for developers. As a company and an open source community, having the stamina to innovate, to be creative, to try things that others will not risk speaks volumes.

I look forward to what Ubuntu will bring to Gnome, working together, and how the innovation will continue.

http://www.theodore-roosevelt.com/trsorbonnespeech.html

Oliver on April 7, 2017 at 10:41 am

I’m really disappointed about unity and hence Ubuntu phone being cancelled. Probably one of the reasons being that development turned out to be a lot more challenging than expected, as Mir and Unity8 releases were pushed back many times. It was pretty hard to get to work with unity outside of the desktop distribution, which probably didn’t help to get more attention to this cool project. Hope Canonical won’t be afraid to continue to innovate and provide alternatives in the future despite of how this turned out.

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leonel on April 5, 2017 at 4:09 pm

That’s what happens when no new deverlopers jump in, and that’s because many of the developers use macosx instead of a linux destop

Less users less developers, easy math.
teh 1 on April 6, 2017 at 5:27 am

… I’m extremely, extremely disappointed. I loved Unity since the Ubuntu Netbook days, and completely behind the convergence thing. Even more, I believe, the convergence is not simply an UI thing, more behind-the-scenes could be done to make a more seamless integration between various devices that has become an everyday possession among the masses.

I can only hope, even if they shift their focus elsewhere, the Unity and convergence project can still be left alive, even if limping on, and open to more community development. I’ve installed Debian to try it out on an old machine and, while GNOME Shell is bug-free and smooth, it’s UX is far, far too lacking.

The only bright piece is, probably the usage of Wayland is confirmed rather than Mir. A single industry-standard for developers to work with is cause of rejoice. I mean, since Unity 8 is a QML app, it’d have probably worked out of the box with Wayland anyway.
Stu Keroff on April 6, 2017 at 7:12 pm

I saw this news with a bit of disbelieving sadness. I was (and am) a fan of the Unity desktop, I was looking forward to Unity 8, and really wanted one of those phones. I even have the BQ M10 tablet. But, one year from now, my students and I will be leading our school in integrating the new Ubuntu into our classrooms at school. It will look a little different (I think), but it will still line up with my school’s (and Canonical’s) commitment to open source. We move forward.
MartinSt on April 6, 2017 at 8:29 pm

+1 Unity had and will have an impact on future desktop environment design, Ubuntu desktop is not ending, and will remain the OS of choice for developers. As a company and an open source community, having the stamina to innovate, to be creative, to try things that others will not risk speaks volumes.

I look forward to what Ubuntu will bring to Gnome, working together, and how the innovation will continue.

http://www.theodore-roosevelt.com/trsorbonnespeech.html
Oliver on April 7, 2017 at 10:41 am

I’m really disappointed about unity and hence Ubuntu phone being cancelled. Probably one of the reasons being that development turned out to be a lot more challenging than expected, as Mir and Unity8 releases were pushed back many times. It was pretty hard to get to work with unity outside of the desktop distribution, which probably didn’t help to get more attention to this cool project. Hope Canonical won’t be afraid to continue to innovate and provide alternatives in the future despite of how this turned out.