Ubuntu cloud chief beats CTO to exit door (The Register)

Since their software will always be free (gratis, not necessarily libre), I think they need the fund to sustain its continuity by selling various services. Furthermore, perhaps Mark Shuttleworth wants to have a profitable business in FLOSS (at least some part of it).

The 200M thing is a nonsense, even if you believe they have the 12M or more users they claim. Even if they're counting the "instant-on dualboot OS" system that some laptops ship, that still requires them to get on some substantial minority of *all* new PC sales, and today I can't think of a single store I can walk into and buy something with Ubuntu on. I'm sure they exist, but they are not the norm.

Meanwhile previous goals, like breaking even by 2008, don't get talked about so much. It's great setting goals for yourself, but there's no point doing them unless you actually achieve them.

I would love them to set a goal like "make a profit two years running" and achieve that. It doesn't really matter how many users you have unless your business is sustainable, particularly when you're not charging for the product that you're scaling up. Updates servers and all that infrastructure isn't free, or even that cheap.

Somehow I can't help thinking this:

>Pinky: "Gee, Brain, what do you want to do tonight?"
>The Brain: "The same thing we do every night, Pinky—try to take over the world!"