Gobuntu

:"Not to be confused with Goobuntu, a Linux distribution used by Google." infobox_OS
name = Gobuntu


caption = Gobuntu 8.04, the latest beta release

developer = Canonical Ltd. and community contributors
family = Linux
source_model = Free software
latest_release_version = 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon) cite web|url = http://www.ubuntu.com/products/whatisubuntu/gobuntu|title = Gobuntu|accessdate = 2008-04-25|last = Canonical Ltd |authorlink = |year = 2008|month = April]
latest_release_date = release date|2007|10|18
latest_test_version = 8.04 (Hardy Heron) beta
latest_test_date = daily build [http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/gobuntu/daily/current/]
kernel_type = Monolithic kernel
ui = GNOME
license = GNU General Public License and other free licenses
working_state = Current
website = [http://www.ubuntu.com/products/whatisubuntu/gobuntu Gobuntu official website]
supported_platforms = i386, AMD64
updatemodel = APT
package_manager = dpkg

Gobuntu is an official derivative of the Ubuntu operating system, aiming to provide a distribution consisting entirely of free software.

The project will officially end when Gobuntu version 8.04 is released. cite web|url = https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/gobuntu-devel/2008-June/000795.html|title = Changes to Gobuntu|accessdate = 2008-07-13|last = Bacon|first = Jono|authorlink = |year = 2008|month = June] The release of version 8.04 has been delayed due to inactivity within the Gobuntu community as a result of the announcement of the pending end of the project. Gobuntu 7.10 was still the current release as of October 2008. cite web|url = https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Gobuntu|title = Gobuntu 8.04 and future of Gobuntu|accessdate = 2008-09-22|last = Canonical Ltd.|authorlink = |year = 2008|month = August]

History and development process

Mark Shuttleworth first mentioned the idea of creating an Ubuntu derivative named "Gnubuntu" consisting entirely of free software, on November 24 2005. [cite web|url=http://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel/2005-November/013261.html |title=Mark Shuttleworth registers gnubuntu.org (Ubuntu mailing list) | accessdate=2007-07-11] Due to Richard Stallman's disapproval of the name, the project was later renamed to "Ubuntu-libre". [cite web|url=http://wiki.ubuntu.com/Ubuntu-libre |title=Ubuntu-libre | accessdate=2007-07-11] Stallman has previously endorsed a distribution based on Ubuntu called gNewSense, and has criticized Ubuntu for using proprietary and non-free software in successive distributions, most notably, Ubuntu 7.04. [cite web|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20070620150238/hardwarelogic.com/news/143/ARTICLE/1410/2007-05-28.html |title=Richard Stallman interviewed, endorses gNewSense | accessdate=2007-07-13]

While introducing Ubuntu 7.10, Mark Shuttleworth said that it will cquote|feature a new flavour - as yet unnamed - which takes an ultra-orthodox view of licensing: no firmware, drivers, imagery, sounds, applications, or other content which do not include full source materials and come with full rights of modification, remixing and redistribution. There should be no more conservative home, for those who demand a super-strict interpretation of the "free" in free software. [cite web|url=https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel-announce/2007-April/000276.html |title=Introducing the Gutsy Gibbon | accessdate=2007-07-11] Gobuntu was officially announced by Mark Shuttleworth on July 10 2007, [cite web|url=http://www.markshuttleworth.com/archives/130 |title=Mark Shuttleworth >> Blog Archive >> Gobuntu is… go | accessdate=2007-07-11] , and daily builds of Gobuntu 7.10 began to be publicly released. The initial version, Gobuntu 7.10, was released on October 18 2007, but only in text-only installer. The first full release is expected to be the Long-Term Release codenamed "Hardy Heron", but, despite an announcement of plans to the contrary [cite web|url=https://wiki.ubuntu.com/GobuntuHardy |title=GobuntuHardy - Ubuntu Wiki |accessdate=2008-04-26] , the official mirrors do not carry a 8.04 release as of April 26 2008. This may be related to Shuttleworth's post [cite web|url=https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/gobuntu-devel/2008-April/000650.html |title=Rethinking Gobuntu |accessdate=2008-04-26] , where he suggests Gobuntu developers might want to concentrate their efforts on the Free Software Foundation-approved gNewSense instead of Gobuntu, which he considers a failed effort.

On 13 June 2008 Ubuntu Community Manager Jono Bacon announced that the Gobuntu project will end with the release of Gobuntu 8.04 in the near future. He stated:

Limitations

Because some drivers, firmware, and "binary blobs" were removed from Gobuntu, it will run on fewer computers than Ubuntu. Canonical states:

Early Criticism

Release 7.10 initially met with criticism from some free software advocates, since it included Mozilla Firefox and Mozilla Thunderbird, which is not considered to be 100% free software, by the strict definition of the Free Software Foundation's Free Software Definition, because they include "non-free" artwork.cite web|url=http://diveintomark.org/archives/2007/10/18/gobuntu-has-already-failed|title="Gobuntu has already failed"|author=Mark Pilgrim|accessdate=2007-11-26]

After some debate on the developer list, [cite web|url=https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/gobuntu-devel/2007-October/000395.html|title="Firefox and Thunderbird" thread, gobuntu-devel mailing list|accessdate=2007-11-26] this problem was quickly addressed by Canonical, and the applications with non-free logos will be replaced in the upcoming release, Hardy Heron. Firefox will be replaced by Epiphany.

See also

*Ubuntu
*gNewSense

Notes

External links

* [http://www.ubuntu.com/products/whatisubuntu/gobuntu Gobuntu Main Site]
* [https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Gobuntu Gobuntu page in Ubuntu Wiki]