I like Ubuntu. That’s my Linux distribution of choice. I run it on several computers (except for my server, which runs Debian) and I like it a lot despite some minor idiosyncrasies.
But two things have always annoyed me, and ironically they’re not related to the operating system itself. No, the irritations have been that two services that are vital to the community runs on closed proprietary software.
The first one is the forums, running on Vbulletin. The other one is Launchpad, which runs on a platform developed by Canonical (the company owned by Mark Shuttleworth, who sponsors Ubuntu) and which has been closed-source as well. Launchpad holds various important functions such as bug-tracking and other things.
Well, Launchpad is closed-source no longer. A while back it was announced that it would be transitioned to an open-source model and a few days back this transition was completed. Now Launchpad is free software in every definition of the word “free” and can enjoy being liberated from that oily clutch of nasty proprietary software.
Now we just need to transition the forums to a free platform as well.