Bug 1
Bug #1 was filed by the CEO of Canonical Mark Shuttleworth in 2004 to highlight how proprietary software dominated the desktop market. It proposed that the majority of personal computers should be sold with primarily free software, and acted as a declaration of intent for the Ubuntu project. The original bug can still be found on Launchpad.
The original text of the bug, and the comments made by Mark when the bug was closed, are included below:
Proposal for a new Bug #1
2004-12-21
Title: Proprietary operating systems have a majority market share
Description:
Operating systems that are, in whole or in part, comprised of proprietary software have a majority market share in the new desktop PC marketplace. This is a bug, which Ubuntu is meant to fix. As the philosophy of the Ubuntu Project states, "Our work is driven by a belief that software should be free and accessible to all."
"Ubuntu software is free. Always was, always will be. Free software gives everyone the freedom to use it however they want and share with whoever they like. This freedom has huge benefits. At one end of the spectrum it enables the Ubuntu community to grow and share its collective experience and expertise to continually improve all things Ubuntu. At the other, we are able to give access to essential software for those who couldn’t otherwise afford it – an advantage that’s keenly felt by individuals and organisations all over the world."
Non-free software is a form of subjugation for computer users, taking away control over their own machines. Additionally, proprietary software is restricting innovation, creating artificial scarcities that exploit less wealthy populations, and limiting software developers from being able to create new tools to benefit the world.
This bug is widely evident in the PC industry.
Steps to repeat:
- Visit a local PC store.
- Attempt to buy a machine without any proprietary software.
What happens:
Almost always, a majority of PCs for sale have a proprietary operating system like Windows or Mac OSX. In the rare cases that they come with a GNU/Linux operating system or no operating system at all, the drivers and BIOS may be proprietary, the kernel may contain binary blobs, and the user may be enticed to install non-free software.
What should happen:
A majority of the PCs for sale should include only free software.
Closing the bug
2013-05-30
Personal computing today is a broader proposition than it was in 2004: phones, tablets, wearables and other devices are all part of the mix for our digital lives. From a competitive perspective, that broader market has healthy competition, with IOS and Android representing a meaningful share (see http://www.zdnet.com/windows-has-fallen-behind-apple-ios-and-google-android-7000008699/ and in particular http://cdn-static.zdnet.com/i/r/story/70/00/008699/meeker620-620x466-620x466.jpg?hash=ZQxmZmDjAz&upscale=1).
Android may not be my or your first choice of Linux, but it is without doubt an open source platform that offers both practical and economic benefits to users and industry. So we have both competition, and good representation for open source, in personal computing.
Even though we have only played a small part in that shift, I think it's important for us to recognize that the shift has taken place. So from Ubuntu's perspective, this bug is now closed.
There is a social element to this bug report as well, of course. It served for many as a sort of declaration of intent. But it's better for us to focus our intent on excellence in our own right, rather than our impact on someone else's product. In the (many) years since this bug was filed, we've figured out how to be amazing on the cloud, and I hope soon also how to be amazing for developers on their desktops, and perhaps even for everyday users across that full range of devices. I would rather we find a rallying call that celebrates those insights, and leadership.
It's worth noting that today, if you're into cloud computing, the Microsoft IAAS team are both technically excellent and very focused on having ALL OS's including Linux guests like Ubuntu run extremely well on Azure, making them a pleasure to work with. Perhaps the market shift has played a role in that. Circumstances have changed, institutions have adapted, so should we.
Along those lines, it's good to reflect on how much has changed since 2004, and how fast it's changed. For Ubuntu, our goal remains to deliver fantastic experiences: for developers, for people building out production infrastructure, and for end-users on a range of devices. We are doing all of that in an environment that changes completely every decade. So we have to be willing to make big changes ourselves - in our processes, our practices, our tools, and our relationships. Change [sic] this bug status is but a tiny example.