Ubuntu made quite a splash when it came on the Free Software scene, and for good reason: Canonical Ltd., the company that created this distribution, started by hiring thirty-odd Debian developers and publicly stating the far-reaching objective of providing a distribution for the general public with a new release twice a year. They also committed to maintaining each version for a year and a half for both core and security-related components.

These objectives necessarily involve a reduction in scope; Ubuntu focuses on a smaller number of packages than Debian, and relies primarily on the GNOME desktop (although an official Ubuntu derivative, called “Kubuntu”, relies on KDE). Everything is internationalized and made available in a great many languages.

So far, Ubuntu has managed to keep this release rhythm. They also publish Long Term Support (LTS) releases, with a 5-year maintenance promise. As of April 2012, the current LTS version is version 12.04, nicknamed Precise Pangolin. The latest non-LTS version is 11.10, nicknamed Oneiric Ocelot. Version numbers describe the release date: 11.10, for example, was released in October 2011.

Ubuntu has reached a wide audience in the general public. Millions of users were impressed by its ease of installation, and the work that went into making the desktop simpler to use.

However, not everything is fine and dandy, especially for Debian developers who placed great hopes in Ubuntu contributing directly to Debian. Even though this situation has improved over the years, many have been irked by the Canonical marketing, which implied Ubuntu were good citizens in the Free Software world simply because they made public the changes they applied to Debian packages. Free Software proponents understand that an automatically-generated patch is of little use to the upstream contribution process. Getting one's work integrated requires direct interaction with the other party.

This interaction is becoming more common over time, thanks in part to the Ubuntu community and the efforts it makes in educating its new contributors. But this policy is still not enforced by Canonical on its employees. Some kept true to their roots, and do make the required effort (Colin Watson, Martin Pitt and Matthias Klose are noteworthy in this regard), but others — often overworked — can no longer find it in them.