Freemium Ubuntu

I read an article over at Ubuntu Blogspot about the Lucid Lynx release and some of the plans

One of the things that caught my eye was the above diagram showing off the Ubuntu One service. While it’s already included in Karmic Koala, this diagram indicates to me that they are going to push it a little further, leaving it in the background for now for users to play with and route out any bugs.

But this is a real step forward, Canonical has found a way to charge for users on Ubuntu, but for a service that will be useful – Microsoft (to my knowledge doesn’t push a similar service) and Apple has Mobile Me but I view that as more of a phone -> computer link. The thing I love about this, is that I’m confident that’ll be a great, affordable service worth the money. Then this money will hopefully go part into the development of Ubuntu. Then to get Ubuntu to start matching some of the big boys in terms of simple things you might take for granted on other platforms, is the music store on rhythmbox.

Another way for Canonical to make a little money through Ubuntu?

All in all – awesome news as monetising Ubuntu in a way that doesn’t force any user to pay for Ubuntu, but rather extras that certain users may want is just a fantastic idea.