Canonical chases deal to ship Ubuntu server OS

By Jeremy Kirk, IDG News Service, 10/09/07

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Canonical Ltd., the company that supports Ubuntu Linux, is trying to work out a deal with hardware vendors such as Dell Inc. to make Ubuntu available preinstalled on servers.

So far, Canonical has struck deals with small, white-label hardware vendors to ship Ubuntu Server Edition, said Gerry Carr, marketing manager. Another one of those deals is pending, although Carr did not name the manufacturer.

But Canonical is in discussions with "multinational" hardware vendors for a big server deal, which could boost its standing in the enterprise market among Linux giants Red Hat Inc. and Novell Inc.

"We haven't got the same deal as we have with Dell on desktop," Carr said. "My personal belief is that it [a deal] will happen reasonably soon."

Canonical, despite obviously supporting such a deal, had little to do with Dell's decision. Dell said it was merited by customer demand. Likewise, the decision of whether Ubuntu Server will ship preinstalled will be determined the same way.

Hardware vendors are "not going to take our word for it," Carr said. Those vendors need to see "a level of demand that allows them to take risks. We're seeing more demand from the MNCs [multinational corporations] and OEMs [original equipment manufacturers]."

It's been hard to tell how popular the Ubuntu desktop has been for Dell, which started selling the OS in May on two desktop PCs and the Inspiron E1505n notebook. Asked how well those PCs have sold, Canonical referred the questions to Dell. A Dell spokeswoman said the figures are confidential.

But enlargement of its enterprise support business could bring more contracts to Canonical, which is not yet profitable but does not release revenue figures. Canonical's business revolves around securing support contracts for companies using the OSes, since the software is free to download and use.

The company estimates it has a minimum of six million active users and perhaps as many as 12 million, figures that are based on how many IP (Internet Protocol) addresses poll its Web site for updates, Carr said.

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.

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