The history of Ubuntu has been one filled with red ink, and its a story about a company trying hard to stop the flow of red ink.

Ubuntu launched Ubuntu Netbook (trying to get into the netbook craze after the ship had sailed). Then in an effort to design a better netbook, Canonical focused entirely on Ubuntu Netbook, rebranding it as Unity and turning it into the default desktop (despite all the users screaming they didn’t want a netbook interface!). Canonical began selling search results to Yahoo, selling MP3s through Amazon. They tried to get into the server business with Shuttleworth talking about how Ubuntu was gonna be “the desktop Linux” for the masses. They tried to come up with Ubuntu Phone and Ubuntu TV. Recently they integrated Amazon directly into the Dash menu! The entire history of the company is has been that of desperation trying to find SOME way, any way, to stem the flow of red ink and find a positive revenue stream.

Today however, marks a new low for Canonical and Ubuntu. ubuntu.com got a facelift.

Check it out. Go download their latest 12.10 ISO image. Immediately after the site tells you that “Ubuntu is completely free to download” you will be taken to their new donation page which tells you to “put your money where your mouth is”

So let’s look at this list… and see how relevant it is. Three points caught my eye.

Make the desktop more amazing

How many users sent in comments, suggestions, and emails to Canonical only to have Shuttleworth shoot them down on page one of his blog? Hundreds? Thousands, perhaps?

Perhaps you think that for $2 a version of GNOME-Fallback will be designed that is closer to the desktop you fell in love with years ago. Not a chance…

Maybe you imagine that for $2 intellihide will be redesigned and brought back after Shuttleworth announced that it was being discontinued. Dream on…

Now Canonical shows their true colors; they only plan to listen to users if you pay them. And do you imagine that your $2 donation will suddenly make Ubuntu better?

Phone and tablet versions of Ubuntu

Didn’t we already determine this ship had sailed a long time ago Ubuntu? If you aren’t in the phone and tablet market now, you won’t be any time soon with any measurable amount of success.

Community participation in Ubuntu development

This requires money now!? Canonical developers are paid by Canonical. Users should not have to pay for the privilege of participating in development. In fact, they don’t need to. Users can provide input at all levels of the development process, or even fork and develop packages of their own! http://www.ubuntu.com/community/get-involved explains how to get involved with Ubuntu, and it doesn’t carry a pricetag.

But we already determined above that Canonical’s plan for the future doesn’t include it’s users and they only listen to users if you pay them.

Better support for flavours like Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Lubuntu

This thinly veiled attempt at extorting money from users angers me the most! It is the stupidest bulletpoint ever to be included on the donation form. Shuttleworth and Canonical officially disavowed these other-desktop versions of Ubuntu some time ago. Canonical announced that these versions of Ubuntu would be supported with infrastructure but not with money. Don’t imagine your donated money is going to fund this anytime soon!

Besides, Kubuntu is not being supported by Canonical anymore; their new financial supporter is Blue Systems. So why is Canonical asking for money for a project that someone else is already supporting?

Tip to Canonical – they help make it happen

I imagine many people will be disillusioned with they see this donation page. They may finally realize how Canonical values their input when it doesn’t come with a cash donation.

Tip to users - Canonical doesn’t make it happen. Ubuntu’s software stack is getting to be getting worse and worse as time goes on. Shuttleworth’s only true concern is picking out / unique adjectives / for Ubuntu’s name. Community support is apparently meaningless unless you donate. And Canonical isn’t above lying to get money, even exaggerating their involvement in projects they dropped (such as the now defunct Xubuntu, Lubuntu, and Kubuntu)

Perhaps this will be the driving impetus that some people need to switch to a Linux version that truly listens and supports its users. Perhaps it’s time to realize that it’s time for a switch! Perhaps it’s time to boycott Ubuntu!

In the meantime, Canonical begins it’s quick slide to the bottom, begging the entire way down.

Jonathan Riddell, who has been working on the Kubuntu for the last 7 years as its sole paid developer, announced back in February that Canonical would no longer provide financial support for Kubuntu after the release of Kubuntu 12.04.

And article on OMGUbuntu! explains further that the decision boils down to business. Riddell in the Kubuntu article above did say, “it has not taken over the world commercially and shows no immediate signs of doing so…”

While this shake up does not spell the end of Kubuntu it does shift the way it is supported. Canonical will, from Kubuntu 12.10 onwards, provide backing for the KDE flavour in the same way as it does Xubuntu, Edbuntu, and Lubuntu – with infrastructure and resources rather than money.

Second Class?

Here’s what I think about Canonical’s retarded decision. Oops, I just said it. It’s retarded.

Here’s why I think this…

The OMGUbuntu article mentioned an interesting perspective which I feel is valid: “Many voices within the KDE/Kubuntu community have long charged that Kubuntu has been a ‘second class citizen’ to Ubuntu, an accusation that has always been at odds with Canonical’s financial support of the project.”

Kubuntu users cry, “We’re second-class citizens to Ubuntu!”

Canonical replies, “But we’re supporting the project financially!” And on the surface the financial support appears to be the end of the argument.

But is this cry of reduced citizenship really been at odds with the financial support? I think not. Kubuntu users gave it a fair assessment, and it has always been correct.

Canonical had one paid developer working on Kubuntu, the developer mentioned above, Jonathan Riddell. ONE DEVELOPER! And you expected him to take over the world by himself, how?

If you look on LinkedIn, you can see that the number of paid employees Canonical has is around 1000. According to this article 63% or more of those employees are developers for Ubuntu. That means that, at the lowest point, Ubuntu has at least 500 PAID DEVELOPERS! And for the other 37%? Marketing, mostly.

Is it any wonder why Kubuntu didn’t make any money? Canonical was treating it as second-class even when it was giving it’s one token developer a salary. From the numbers it is clear that Canonical only has eyes for Ubuntu.

So why wouldn’t Kubuntu feel mistreated? Why wouldn’t Kubuntu users feel that their interests were second-class? Canonical apparently thought of them as second-class, otherwise it would have hired more developers for that project.

Now, mind you, I’m not faulting Canonical’s business acumen here. Canonical is right to not throw money at something that doesn’t provide a return. That is basic business sense. What I am finding fault with is your logic. And in your logic you started treating Kubuntu as second-class and maintained that perspective all the way to the end…

What Support?

So, now that Kubuntu has been reduced both in thought and action to second-class, Canonical makes another retarded claim. Essentially they say, “We won’t leave you poor second-class citizens”

What they specifically said was, We are going to treat “Kubuntu in the same way as the other community flavors such as Edubuntu, Lubuntu, and Xubuntu, and support the projects with infrastructure.”

You mean the infrastructure that you’re currently pitting entirely to Ubuntu?

The reason why many users switched to Kubuntu in the first place was probably similar to the reason why I switched to Kubuntu. It’s probably best summed up by the KDE charter: “We have a strong focus on finding innovative solutions to old and new problems, creating a vibrant, open atmosphere for experimentation.”

Another way to express this is, “I went with Kubuntu because of all the things that the user is restricted from doing on Ubuntu.”

So, now… Canonical says they are going to support Kubuntu with infrastructure. In other words, there will be no apparent support. Rather, just like things are progressing in Xubuntu, Edubuntu, and Lubuntu, things slowly stop working with increasing regularity as Canonical’s favorite child, Ubuntu, breaks things.

Kubuntu Users Unite!

It’s time for Kubuntu users to step forward!

It was actually time for that for the past seven years, but now it is especially needed. To ensure that Kubuntu remains a strong presence in the Linux community, users are needed to step forward. There are plenty of places to volunteer! Pick one!

1. Development
2. Testing
3. Documentation
4. Support
5. Bug squad
6. Or simply forming Kubuntu chapters in your local community.

Kubuntu should not be forgotten!

For the past several months, I’ve been switching distros on a fairly regular basis, trying to find one that appeals to me and satisfies all the requirements that I place on a Linux distro.

I don’t think I ask for much… As I blogged here, I look for 5 things specifically.

1. offer the vaunted security and stability that Linux is known for
2. work right out of the install without needing to be tweaked
3. but also allows the user the most options to design and tweak their desktop, should they desire to do so.
4. have excellent documentation
5. provide help and support in multiple ways (real-time chat support, help desk forum, bug reporting, etc.)

It’s points #2 and #3 that I’ve been ripping Unity and GNOME over the past several months. Very few options are included, users and developers are leaving because of a decided push to remove options. And according to some sources I have within the GNOME community, more options are primed to be removed soon.

Linux distros have always been about providing options. Linux users, by nature, are tweakers. This is not because they download Linux distros that need tweaking, but because they like exerting a level of control.

If the user is not fundamentally in control of the software, then the user has no control.

I recently downloaded and tried out Kubuntu, testing it against my list of requirements above.

Kubuntu is based on KDE, which makes this claim: “We have a strong focus on finding innovative solutions to old and new problems, creating a vibrant, open atmosphere for experimentation.” Experimentation? Sounds this is a distro that is friendly for tweaking! And indeed it is.

Kubuntu satisfies all 5 requirements I established for Linux distros. It is stable and secure. It works without needing to be tweaked… but, tweaking on Kubuntu is SO MUCH FUN!! The desktop comes with widgets that can be used on either the taskbar or desktop.

Here are few things that I’ve earmarked as amazing on Kubuntu. You might recognize the list of things I’m excited about is the same list I criticized GNOME and Unity for in my Antidevelopment article.

Mouse cursors - Want a different cursor? No problem! Check out System Settings, > Workspace Appearance > Cursor Theme. The cursor theme manager has options to change cursors, and a download manager included in the window aids you to preview and download hundreds of other cursor themes. There is no need to be a Terminal junkie to switch your cursor (like is needed on Unity or GNOME). Once you select a theme and click Apply… it just works!

Screensavers! - While GNOME removed all the screensaver options available from gnome-screensaver, KDE preserves the wild screen of idle. Go to System Settings > Display and Monitor > Screensaver. The first time you go there, the screensaver list is empty. But immediately a message pops up telling you that there are optional packages which can be installed to add more screensavers! This package adds the kscreensavers, but if you want a truly amazing list of screensavers to choose from, you can also add the xscreensaver packages to the list as well.

Themes! - Everything can be themed in KDE. The theme window where you set your system themes at also provides a download manager so you can add more themes to the system, downloading and installing them automatically.

Extensions! - While Unity may not support extensions, and GNOME breaks extensions constantly… KDE has a plethora of extensions installed automatically. To access them, just click on the Tool Box on the desktop and start customizing.

If you need something that’s not included by default on KDE, try clicking on “Get New Widgets…” and the download manager will help you find what you want and install it for you so you can immediately use it.

Other Goodies - Here’s a few things I used to wish were options on GNOME or Unity, but I assumed at the time that they were just too hard to program or no one else had desires like me…

Konsole - For example, check out Konsole (the KDE Terminal program). I used to like gnome-terminal because it supported more color themes than other Term programs. But then I met Konsole, which had the one feature I wished gnome-terminal had: The ability to make your own color theme!

And if that’s not enough, you can also share your color theme with other people! Just go to /home/.kde/share/apps/konsole and your color theme is there. Send the file to anyone you want, and they can load that theme into that directory and immediately use your color theme!

Klipper - GNOME3 has an extension which is similar to Klipper called GPaste. I found GPaste to be so very useful, but it broke frequently on GNOME3.

Klipper is by far the best clipboard manager I’ve ever seen! It does all the things you expect of a clipboard manager; saves clipboard history, captures text you select, pastes clipboard contents.

But it also has a feature I never dreamed of in a clipboard manager. Actions! On Klipper you can define actions that can be executed against a selected clipping. As an example, look at the image below.

I have 4 actions preset in my Klipper. The first and second actions are designed specifically downloading things I find online. With the third action I can look up the clipping on IMDB. And the fourth action looks up and defines the word using Merriam Webster Online.

All of these actions are executed by Klipper, making this more useful than just simply for copy and paste.

Hot Corners! - Everyone who has used GNOME3 knows about the top-left hot corner that is used to access the menu and spread open applications on the screen.

It was the hot corner on GNOME3 that kept me coming back to GNOME3 even when everything else about GNOME3 frustrated me! I really like the hot corner!

Since I had never seen hot corners on any other distro I assumed that this was a GNOME3 invention. Turns out this was a feature that KDE had already designed and perfected. Just go to System Settings > Workspace Behavior > Screen Edges and you can customize the screen edges and hot corners. Yes, corners… plural. KDE doesn’t have a single hot-corner, it has 8 customizable hot spots!

Another cool feature about the hot spots… GNOME3 needs an extension called “Native Window Placement” to arrange spread windows in a more compact way. Without this extension it arranges the windows in a grid pattern. But, KDE doesn’t need this extension… it already spreads the windows in the most compact way

Every day I use KDE, I discover some new feature that rocks my world and makes me wonder why. I am in love with KDE, which preserves the way Linux was meant to be.