Merry Christmas and here is our best story of 2009
Its title, of course, was 7 reasons why Windows 7 will not wreck Ubuntu.
The story was posted in January, when the excitement over Windows 7 release later in the year was already starting to build. The post drew over 34,000 page views, 255 talkbacks, and a rating of +32, a pretty massive endorsement from 92 votes.
My inspiration was a competitor's view that Windows 7 would doom Linux on the desktop. I rejected that out of hand. I had reviewed two netbooks in 2008, both of which booted up faster than any Windows box I had ever seen, and I remained hopeful.
I'm still hopeful today, although for different reasons. While Ubuntu may never achieve its hoped-for success, another distro, Chromium from Google, holds big promise as we enter the new year.
But let's go back to January again, shall we?
These may have been the wisest words in the whole piece -- "Ubuntu will retain enough interest to stay in the game, that’s all it needs to do." One secret of the company is that Shuttleworth has always traded on his celebrity, and played the press like a violin, in order to give Ubuntu greater mindshare than its market share ever merited.
This is a big entrepreneurial skill. The only other CEO I can think of who compares in this area is Steve Jobs. But that's another blog.
So I'll say as I close down this blog you find trite, Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.