ZaReason Prepares Ubuntu 9.10 Server, Expands Customer Base
As Canonical delivers the first Ubuntu 9.10 release candidate to users, niche PC makers like System76 and ZaReason are preparing to offer Ubuntu 9.10 on their systems. We’ve already heard from System76. Now, let’s take a look at ZaReason’s system plans for the new Ubuntu — including thoughts about a new ZaReason server and an expanding customer base.
I traded email with ZaReason CEO Cathy Malmrose and CTO Earl Malmrose. Here are their perspectives on the new Ubuntu, and ZaReason’s next moves.
Catching Up with Earl Malmrose
First up: My October 20 email exchange with Earl. According to Earl, ZaReason already offers Ubuntu 9.10 on a pre-order basis and will begin shipping systems with Ubuntu 9.10 the day the operating system is release (Oct. 29). Earl says the upgrade is all about speed and performance — including a new version of Firefox that’s much faster. “For netbooks, that’s a big deal,” says Earl — who hints that ZaReason will be announcing new Ubuntu servers soon, too.
Catching Up with Cathy Malmrose
On October 22, Cathy replied to my email inquires with even more details about ZaReason’s plans. Our quick Q&A:
WorksWithU: What is the first improvement you have noticed with Ubuntu 9.10?
Cathy Malmrose: For laptop users in particular, we want better, faster, stronger and 9.10 delivers on all three. The first improvement you notice is the speedy start-up time thanks to Upstart. The Terra now clocks in at only 27 seconds to boot up from a full shut down compared to 37 seconds in 9.04. Shutdown is also speedy, as quick as only 5 seconds, compared to 12 seconds before. These are tangible improvements that are readily noticed even by a casual user.
WorksWithU: Are most of the improvements aimed at new users or long-time heavy users?
Cathy Malmrose: There are improvements on both fronts. For a more advanced user who works on more than one computer during the day, Ubuntu One provides a delightfully easy way to sync your laptop with your netbook with your desktop with… your second desktop? Being able to sync up all your systems allows you to be more mobile.
When you look closely at 9.10, you can see how well 9.10 is shifting to being more new-person friendly. For example, the shift from “Add/Remove” to “Ubuntu Software Center” shows that Ubuntu designers are thinking more about new users. The start-up experience is getting better with every release, 9.10 in particular, with less screen flashing during start-up.
WorksWithU: Are you finding more customers are new to Linux? Is ZaReason’s base expanding?
Cathy Malmrose: Yes, we are getting more and more customers who have never used Linux before. They write in asking, “I’m thinking of trying Linux because my friend said it’s a better system. Can you tell me which laptop would be easiest for me to use since I’m new to this?” Then a few weeks later they write again, “Wow, it sure was easy to get used to this new system. Thanks!”
WorksWithU: Then, Cathy threw in some new details about ZaReason’s expanding customer base and server plans…
Cathy Malmrose: Our base is also expanding at the high-end, due to many customer requests. We are targeting a new server to coincide with the 9.10 launch. A dual Xeon (16 threads) with up to 96 GB DDR3 RAM. This new system will really shine with all the virtual machine improvements included in 9.10. Imagine a single machine hosting dozens of virtual machines.
Remember Where You Came From
No doubt, Canonical hopes to partner with more and more PC and server makers. But I hope the company remembers how ZaReason and System76 supported Ubuntu — especially on servers — long before most major hardware makers had the confidence to make similar moves.
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Are Zareason customers buying Canonical support services? Is Zareason doing enough to help Canonical get support services in front of people at the time of system purchase as a value add?
Does Zareason contract with Canonical for OEM engineering support? Does any part of the purchase prices of a Zareason system go back to pay for the necessary infrastructure and resources that make it possible for Ubuntu releases to happen that Canonical is essentially footing the bill for?
-jef
@Jef,
ZaReason is in discussions with Canonical to resell their support services. It’ll probably happen shortly after the 9.10 release.
Canonical is just one piece of the community. ZaReason contributes financially to several projects.
–Earl@ZaReason
Does anyone know if ZaReason is planning on offering an ion netbook? I have e-mailed them directly, but am getting no response.
I have to say I agree with Earl.Having said that, Canonical is a crucial piece as they have been, especially initially, mostly a philanthropic effort by Mark, TBDFL. They also have in their payroll most if not all the people who are full time dedicated to Ubuntu.
But there are many ways to be a good citizen in this society. And probably the smartest way is to produce: contribute code, development, etc. This is a win-win because it adds in-house expertise, it gives the house visibility and reputation, and it gives back to the community. RedHat is the perfect example IMHO. Any linux guru would recommend RedHat to an IT department because the Guru will know RedHat knows the OS inside out, since it is involved in many core projects in most if not all relevant areas.
This is nice in that you get back something from giving back yourself, it is a self-perpetuating beautiful cycle. This is probably one of the reasons for the tremendous success of Open Source development, even when the lack of license fees seems like “too much to give up” in principle.
Just to complete the previous thought, and my second post here, Ubuntu is in an analogous position, but in the Desktop market. Which is why I think the corporate desktop is a must.
@Earl:
I take that your non-answer to the question means ZaReason is not contracting with Canonical directly for some tier of OEM level support or engineering services? That’s has very interesting implications for Canonical’s profitability long term.
Canonical is more than just another piece of the community, they are the center. Without Canonical the Ubuntu ecosystem falls apart along with your Ubuntu based OEM business. There’s really no getting around it. Canonical has to be self-sustaining for your own Ubuntu based business to flourish. And Canonical is not self-sustaining at present.
And as an OEM business partner , the best way you can help Ubuntu is to help Canonical by putting all of Canonical’s service offerings into your online product purchasing system. Not just support contracts… but also the training( like the online desktop training which is way way underexposed and is exactly the sort of thing new users could benefit from knowing about at time of purchase).
-jef
Jef – While it’s good that your recommending collaboration with Canonical, the tone your setting is entirely negative and not appropriate.
ZaReason and System76 will do what’s right for their business, that may or may not include taking your thoughts on the subject. But ultimately, it’s their business, not yours.
Canonical may be the center of packaging and branding, but you give a little too much weight to their activities compared to the community as a whole. As far as I know, their OEM services are pretty profitable.
Martin:
You don’t like my tone… ignore me.
“As far as you know”…. that’s an interesting turn of phrase which doesn’t actually provide any factual information that provides a basis for the statement. Back that statement up with a publicly archived statement from a Canonical exec. I’ve yet to see any Canonical step-up and comment on any of their revenue streams.
-jef”As far as I know…. the moon is made of cheese”spaleta
Jeff- the moon’s not made of cheese. Sounds like you don’t know very far.
I’m sure everyone enjoys hearing the bitter voices of those attacking businesses trying to expand the Linux user base, but for myself, I doubt that attacks do much to effect any kind of change.
What does work is when customers and businesses see a positive reason for change, not a negative one. So go ahead and keep trying guilt, shame, or anger to make your voice heard. I’m going to opt for getting people excited that there are companies dedicated to the Linux market (whether or not Ubuntu continues to exist or not).
aaron:
How are my questions… an attack? I didn’t do something silly like make a demand or suggest that users boycott Zareason. I didn’t call Zareason’s employees names. I did not disparage their existing product offerings in any way. I asked a set of questions about how Zareaon and Canonical’s business interact. If Zareason’s employees do not want to answer the questions…so be it. I will draw my own conclusions from their non-answers.
If you don’t care about how the money spent on a Zareason Ubuntu system goes.. then just ignore me. But I care about sustainability, and I will continue to ask questions which relate to the sustainability of Ubuntu. If you need to interpret those questions as an attack…you are free to do so. But the questions remain….unanswered.
Who is buying Canonical’s services and are OEM’s doing enough to help connect Canonical with customers? Workswithu writers have waxed eloquent in the past about the forward momentum of their partner strategy. It’s a completely valid subject for this blog. I question the assumption that Canonical has a viable partner strategy for either OEMs or the cloud.
See…a sustainable “partner” ecosystem works in business when your partners’ help drive sales of your products and services. Clearly Canonical is helping Zareason sell product by making Ubuntu available at no cost. Great for Zareason! But is Zareason holding up their end of the partnership and driving revenue back to Canonical in any way? Either as a customer of Canonical’s OEM technical services to help them build Ubuntu based product.. or helping end-user know about Canonical’s service offerings?
let’s look over the OEM landscape….
Dell is starting to bundle 30 days of Canonical end-user support in with netbook purchased with ubuntu 9.04. That is a very good thing. A service bundle means Canonical is getting some cash from each Dell system sold. And Martin here has already confirmed on his personal blog several months ago that Dell contracts directly with Canonical for some level of OEM technical services..but not at a high enough level for some unnamed Canonical employees’ liking.
Reference:
http://doctormo.wordpress.com/2009/04/16/ubuntu-and-dell-support-breakdown/
Also, System76 is offering Canonical support in their online sales system for server options (but not end-user desktop or laptop support yet).
HP has just announced they have punted their only Ubuntu offering.
And ZaReason….isn’t doing anything with Canonical support yet. And I think its important to point that out. If that doesn’t matter to you… I can’t make it matter to you. I’m not even going to try. But it matters.
And none of the OEMs are putting the online desktop training that Canonical has put together in front of customers at time of purchase as far as I know. How many people who buy OEM Ubuntu systems really know about that online desktop training course that Canonical has for sale in their online store? Its exactly the OEM customers who are going to benefit most from the purchase of the online training service. People doing self-installs of Ubuntu are less likely to need an initial training course to feel comfortable.
-jef”as far as I know.. the world is flat and the sun revolves around the earth”spaleta
TY a lot!
LOL @ first comment
heres a link to hte server edition download
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=ZRDIYDV4