Now that the 2010s are over, omg Ubuntu writer Joey Sneddon has sorted out the 10 defining moments of the second decade of the 21st century, from Ubuntu 10.04 LTS to Ubuntu 19.10.
1. Rebranding
Ubuntu at the beginning of 2010 looked like this:
The Ubuntu logo and font looked flashy at the time:
Ubuntu used to have an orange and brown look, and the slogan “Linux for Humans” sounds a bit dated in the 2010s.
But none of this lasted long. In March 2010 Canonical undertook a full branding overhaul before launching the Ubuntu 10.04 LTS release. The brand image after remodeling is more modern.
Not everything was perfect, though, as the new wallpaper was dubbed “purple vomit” by some users. It wasn’t very popular and had to be redesigned before Ubuntu 10.10 was released.
2. Move the window button to the left
One of the biggest controversies in Ubuntu history was undoubtedly the window button controversy in Ubuntu 10.10. At that time, Ubuntu decided to move the window button from the right side of the window frame (Windows-like) to the left side (MacOS-like) in version 10.10. The whole community expressed its displeasure, and the decision was roundly condemned.
In the end Ubuntu didn’t flinch, and the issue seemed to be forgotten after a few months, with few people talking about it again.
Until 2017, Ubuntu 17.10 moved the window button back to the right.
According to Joey, this was actually the first taste of Ubuntu’s belligerence, and this uncompromising attitude has become increasingly evident in releases over the next decade.
3. Unity desktop
For many, the introduction of Unity was a defining moment in Ubuntu’s history. This is where the distribution builds the user experience. The Unity desktop was launched in 2010. Originally, it was intended to replace the Ubuntu Netbook launcher UI. But surprisingly, the Unity desktop became the default desktop in Ubuntu 11.04.
On the one hand, Unity is arguably the most successful and widely used Linux desktop environment ever. But on the other hand, it’s also one of the most divisive and controversial Linux desktop environments ever.
Early versions of Unity had little to offer when things went wrong, key features were lacking, and there were obvious performance issues. Sometimes it feels like Ubuntu’s design and engineering teams are moving in very different directions. But once those early problems are solved, it’s a pretty good product on its own.
Arguably, Unity makes Ubuntu more than just a Linux distribution, and makes it the beginning of a true operating system.
4. Failed Crowdfunding for Ubuntu phones
Canonical kicked off 2013 with a new plan: To bring Ubuntu to smartphones.
Later that year, Ubuntu launched a crowdfunding campaign for the project, with a goal of $32 million. After raising $2 million in 12 hours and $12.8 million in a month, the Ubuntu Edge crowdfunding campaign failed. Mark Shuttleworth’s fantasy of a “high-end smartphone” never made it into production, but the Ubuntu Phone planted a seed.
5. Ubuntu One
From Unity, HUD and Scopes to Sound Menu, MeMenu, Web application integration and more, Ubuntu is forging ahead. Ubuntu One is One of those achievements.
Ubuntu One is a cloud service that includes free and paid online storage, branded music stores, music streams, dedicated syncing apps for Windows, macOS and Linux desktops, mobile apps for Android and iOS, paid app purchases, and more.
This is an emerging experience that Ubuntu is trying to bring. It just didn’t last very long. Although available to tens of millions of users worldwide (and perfectly normal on Windows and macOS desktops), Ubuntu One has not found a way to make itself profitable.
6. A controversial shopping experience
The “Shopping Lens” feature was flagged by many users as spyware after it showed up relevant Shopping recommendations that didn’t look smart when you did some searches, and users were bombarded with spam.
To determine if a search query made in Dash is related to shopping, Unity sends each word typed to a remote server. The remote server parses the search term and passes it to the Amazon Store for a set of (possibly related) product results. These are returned to the Dash user. Although there is no personally identifiable information in the data going to and from Amazon, the information is not optional and Amazon picks up the search content by default. These privacy concerns are hard to ignore.
At this point, the Ubuntu distribution feels like it’s built on profit, treating the user base as a commodity rather than a community.
7. First Ubuntu phone
After several years in the making, the first Ubuntu Phone went on sale in early 2015.
The Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition is manufactured by Spanish mobile company Bq and costs €169 with modest specs. But the finished product seems less than the hype before, and also limited distribution. Joey thinks he could even write a thesis on the mistakes he made in the Ubuntu Phone era.
Releasing an Ubuntu phone completely is still a remarkable achievement. Sadly, its over-hyped marketing may be misplaced.
8. The Snap applications
The Ubuntu Phone project ultimately failed to achieve its goal of disrupting the mobile industry and launching a new era of personal computing, but some of those efforts survived and continued to grow.
The.Snap app format, launched in 2016, is an improved version of the “sandbox”.click package format created for Ubuntu on phones and tablets. It was a huge success.
Snap is more than just a GUI application format. Many of its core features (such as transaction update, automatic update, application rollback, etc.) are better suited to the needs of servers, the cloud, and the Internet of Things.
Canonical introduced desktop support for the Snap application in Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, and soon after offered related support for.snap application side loading, Snap :// URL handling, and GUI browsing via Snapcraft storage. Within a few short years, Snappy managed to do what the early “Ubuntu Software Center” could not: attract a lot of independent software developers.
9. Dramatic 32-bit support events
Ubuntu’s reputation is built on “providing the best Linux operating system for all types of developers”, and it has often had to make some tough decisions.
When Ubuntu dropped support for 32-bit installation images starting in 2017, it also worked to retain a 32-bit archive. However, some developers are upset when Ubuntu 19.10 plans to remove full support for 32-bit applications. This year’s Steam event changed that.
Valve announced that Steam for Linux would no longer officially support Ubuntu if the planned move away from 32-bit went ahead. Ubuntu decided to continue to maintain some important 32-bit libraries to keep applications like Steam running.
Unlike in the past, Ubuntu has compromised, choosing to listen to feedback and adjust accordingly.
10. GNOME
Mark Shuttleworth’s blog post announced the end of the Unity 8 era. Ubuntu phones, tablets, Unity 8 desktops, OTA updates, and so on are all gone. This may be a good opportunity for correction, and Canonical can focus more on Ubuntu’s core strengths next.
GNOME Shell has become the default user interface for the Ubuntu desktop, a very welcome change. Ubuntu also conducted a GNOME desktop survey to listen more to user feedback.
At the heart of Ubuntu 19.10 is the GNOME 3.34 distribution, which has received a number of performance improvements. Since switching to GNOME, things have gone smoothly, and Ubuntu 19.10 has received better reviews than expected.
This has laid a solid foundation for the future, and the next long term support release will be tailored to the needs of the Ubuntu community. Despite the sad end of the Unity era, Ubuntu has made the most of the opportunities offered by the GNOME desktop, and it has paid off handsomely.
Finally, here’s a chart of Ubuntu’s 10-year trajectory:
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