Your 2009 code word was Ubuntu
Ubuntu is not the most profitable Linux, and it's not the distro with the biggest penetration of any major market.
But partly due to its commercial arm Canonical, based officially on the Isle of Man but actually located in London, Canonical's charismatic CEO, Mark Shuttleworth, and to its desktop ambitions, it is the Linux distro you most liked reading about.
I was only dimly aware of this at the start of the year. But I learned.
Ubuntu 9.04 to be available for download Thursday -- Here is one place I learned. Paula's story on the approaching release of Ubuntu 9.04 was the 12th most popular story of the year.
Paula's story quoted heavily from the Ubuntu Web site. She has a talent for hitting important stories just when they hit the Web. It's probably one of the reasons y'all like her. I'm a fan, too, as previously noted.
Will Ubuntu remain a minor player -- I wrote this soon after returning from Taiwan, where Windows was ubiquitous and Ubuntu barely seen. I was frustrated by the software's lack of presence in the channel. In a way I felt I'd been had.
You responded to my frustration with 386 talkbacks, a rating of +19, and by turning this into the 5th most popular post of the year. Some were short, some were long. My favorite subject line was probably "Linux is the OS of the future and always will be."
Ubuntu Karmic Koala launches -- I snuck in ahead of Paula on the release of Ubuntu 10, and was rewarded with 174 talkbacks and 54 votes, making this the 3rd most popular post of the year.
One thing that jumped the numbers was that I jumped the gun. I hit publish based on an early version of the release, and when the time came but the software wasn't there immediately the desk took over.
They issued multiple corrections until the software was posted, mentioned the story in the newsletter, and basically cleaned up after me.
After 5 years at this desk the editors have learned a few lessons too.