Shuttleworth Sets Up Virtual Office in His London Flat

Business Day (Johannesburg)
November 11, 2004
Johannesburg

FOR several years business gurus have been predicting a change in the way companies are structured, as telecommuting and the ease and speed of international communications eliminate the need for workers to cluster together in an office .

Until now that has largely remained pure fantasy, but SA's famous software developer Mark Shuttleworth has launched a new company around that idea of longdistance collaboration.

Canonical employs 37 professional software developers based in 12 different countries. The nearest thing it has to a headquarters is Shuttleworth's flat in London . The staff expect to meet three or four times a year as Shuttleworth holds conferences in different cities.

Canonical was formed to develop Ubuntu, an open-source operating system and a suite of business and creative software applications . As well as the staff, another 300 people have formed a voluntary, virtual community to help develop the software by collaborating over the internet. Every six months Canonical will collate those additions into a formal upgrade for the software.

Shuttleworth tracked down his team by analysing vast amounts of correspondence posted online in open-source development forums.

"That gave me a good idea of the team I wanted to put together and they all came on board," he said at the Ubuntu launch in Johannesburg last week.

For software developers, a personal invitation to join Shuttleworth's next project was bound to prove attractive especially since they are being paid to indulge their passion for open-source .

The venture is also compelling as Shuttleworth has committed to pay them even if Canonical fails. Its vision is to put Ubuntu on to millions of computers around the world, but the software will all be free.

Canonical must generate $2m to 5m a year to be self-sustaining, and its only income will come from consulting services and from supplying support. However, with a community continually refining, extending and translating Ubuntu applications for free, there may be little need for paid-for support.

"I have what some people say is the impossible task of building a company around a product that we will give away. I don't know if we can make it sustainable, but if we can we will change the software game," Shuttleworth said.

He has committed $10m for the first two years. "Then I will assess whether or not the community likes this way of working. "

The first release of Ubuntu comes with business software including a word processor, spreadsheet, database, internet browser, email and presentation programs. Users can download thousands of other applications over the internet, including some in Zulu, Sotho and Afrikaans.

Here is the Wiki entry on it.