It's doubtless that Ubuntu is one of the most innovative Linux distributions - it made Linux desktops becoming more user-friendly and - thanks to this - raised the acceptance for end users in the last years.

Currently the gossip factory is working overtime again - some reliable sources announced that some big strategy changes - that are the focus of this article - are pending to the distribution.

New engine: ARM-focused - no GNU/Linux for the first time?

According to insider information there is a middle-term objective to move to a new kernel platform. In the past the maintenance of the Linux kernel exposed as a very time-consuming and complex task. Special Ubuntu modifications have to be made later and new device drivers are often buggy which decreases the customer's satisfaction.

In pursuance with internal analysis these problems are caused by the obsolete monolithic design of the Linux kernel. To solve this issue, first tests on alternative kernel architectures are currently taking place. It seems that a previously unknown unixoid hybrid kernel, which is based on the Mach principle and includes some monolithic elements, is quite convincing.

Another target is to limit the hardware support to some exclusive manufacturers - the products of there manufacturers are going to be supported 100%. Three manufacturers from Round Rock, Raleigh and Cupertino are supposed as potential contractual partners. The end user won't have to worry about driver support anymore and could buy any product of the broard product portfolio of these manufacturers.

It seems that the classical 32-bit architecture i686 isn't interesting anymore - in accordance with appropriate suggestions it might be discontinued with the upcoming release "13.10 Sloppy Seagul". In the medium term this shall happen to the 64-bit architecture x86_64, too. It seems that this is a preparation for concentrating on supporting the ARM architecture, which is more interesting for the consumer market. According to representative studies and market analysis the sales figures of tablets and smartphones will be four times higher than those from conventional Personal Computers. It seems that it's a good idea to get prepared for this trend by discharging all required structuring procedures.

Focusing the consumer market also affects the maintenance of Ubuntu Server - this product is going to be provided for ARM-based device only by 2014. The i686 and x86_64 support for desktop and server releases will probably be discontinued at the same time.

New release cycles and update mechanisms

The typical 6-month release cycle with additional 1,5 to 2 years update maintenance shall be replaced by a new system called "Short Term Support (STS)". Security updates for future releases will be provided for up to 6 months.

The primary target of this re-structuring is to provide the most latest software. Thanks to the work reduction for additional hardware support (see above) there is more manpower to test and patch (if required) the latest software under different aspects.

Updates and additional applications won't be downloadable using apt or aptitude anymore - this mechanism is going to be replaced with a subscription principle, which has also been established for some enterprise Linux distributions. These subscriptions can be bought online in a multimedia store which provides also movies and books. Additional applications are provided as purchasable "apps".

Software harmonization

Next to the kernel maintenance there is another major target: the software harmonization of the broad software portfolio of Ubuntu.

Currently there are plently desktop environments for Ubuntu including GNOME, KDE and LXDE. This programm variety isn't in accordance with the original rule of thumb, to provide one application for every task, anymore.

The above-named desktop environments are all having different agendas, advantages and disadvantages which are going to be combined.

After the work on Mir, a custom display server, was announced in march, it seems that the major objective also includes the development of a custom desktop environment. This environment is going to be named Ubuntu Desktop Environment (UDE) and persuades with a clean appearance. The environment isn't designed to be controlled with a mouse and an external keyboard - instead it's using a very mature voice detection which was developed together with Hessian and Swabian universities. Plenty internal tests were taking place satisfyingly and promised a global end-user enthusiasm.

Applications are going to be executed in fullscreen mode only - this is a principle which already known from smartphones and tables. A feature that will be missing is multitasking because users aren't using more than one application at the same time (in accordance with internal analysis).

Off to the cloud: complete Ubuntu One integration

After cloud storage has been provided 2009 with Ubuntu One for the first time, is has became another objective to stop providing local user accounts with the open operating system anymore.

User accounts shall be implemented using the popular social network Facebook in the future. Because personal data is going to be saved exclusively on Ubuntu One instead of dedicated /home partitions, users won't have to worry about complex data synchronization anymore. Users can login on any Ubuntu device using face recognition or a three-digit security code and access their sensitive data.

Connected USB storage devices are automatically grabbed into the cloud. Existing music and video data will be synchronized with appropriate online portals automatically.

Perspective: first screenshots and new release names

Release names have been selected and announced short-dated by now - for the first time plenty of upcoming code names have been selected before their release. Like before, a release name consists of a animal name and an additional adjective:

I found some first secret screenshots of the upcoming user interface "Ubuntu Desktop Environment (UDE)" on the internet - you can find them here: [click me!]

There's also a first video of UDE: [click me!]