Canonical (Ubuntu) Expects to be Profitable within Two Years

Ubuntu Linux is BIG! And, the company expects to be a profitable company doing free and Open Source Linux within two years!

Canonical seeks profit from free Ubuntu

“Canonical is the 65-employee start-up behind a popular version of Linux called ‘Ubuntu’. The company is betting that it can win a place in the market using a strategy that dominant Linux seller Red Hat has dropped. Red Hat offers two versions of Linux: Fedora Core and Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Fedora Core is free, but relatively untested and unsupported by Red Hat, while RHEL is supported and certified, but must be purchased. With Canonical’s Ubuntu, however, the free and supported versions are identical–the approach Red Hat abandoned in 2003. ‘We believe that Ubuntu should be free to everyone–not just a trial version, but our very best version,’ said Christopher Kenyon, Canonical’s business development manager. The South African company even ships free CDs anywhere in the world. Using that strategy, it expects profitability within 24 months, he added.