Comments on: Growing the Ubuntu team

By: richard whittaker

richard whittaker — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 07:09:01 +0000

can I download a copy of your dragon to my ubuntu for fun also thanks for making ubuntu just what I need as my retirement hobby if only I could understand commande use I could quit the xp side of my partiion I only need it to use my canon printer and scanner thanks Richard W

By: port7 » Blog Archive » Shuttleworth’s Hiring!

port7 » Blog Archive » Shuttleworth’s Hiring! — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 21:28:41 +0000

[...] a recent blog post Mark Shuttleworth put a call out to say that Canonical is [...]

By: jonobacon@home » 2006 Retrospective

jonobacon@home » 2006 Retrospective — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 02:29:37 +0000

[...] Work – As I just said, back at the start of 2006 I was working at OpenAdvantage. I knew back then that the project was going to finish in March 2007, and I knew that I would likely need to consider a new job by the end of the year. One of the problems with my line of work is that there are very few people paid to be Open Source advocates. As such, the scope of companies was and is fairly restrictive. That was not the real sucker-punch though, oh no. The real kick in the goolies was that being a good advocate means you have to advocate things that you truly believe in. As such, this mean’t I could only reasonably work for companies that make the software and subscribe the ethics and direction that I believe in. From a distribution stand-point this locked out Novell, Yellow Dog, Mandriva, Red Hat and more – they all do great work, but I was and am an Ubuntu guy. As such, Canonical were always my #1 choice for my next step. Back in May when I started talking to Mark about the job, I never anticipated looking for work until later in the year, but this blog entry started the discussion. After a lengthy interview process (apparently the job was very heavily applied for) I got the good news and Mark announced it and so did I. OpenAdvantage was a truly awesome place to work at and I miss them all hugely. Working there was a fulfilling, inspiring experience and I hope to work with my friends there again. Now I am at Canonical and working longer days, getting more email and looking after an incredible worldwide community of Ubuntu contributors. Moving to Canonical was daunting, but has been a great experience and I am loving every moment of it. [...]

By: Richard Scotti

Richard Scotti — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 12:24:33 +0000

You have a great idea for the emerging markets and smb marketplace. You need bright people and business partners with a passion for open-source and a head for marketing and business. I wish you all the best and as a system integrator and ISV with an open source j2ee supply chain solution intend to get involved

By: Kurt von Finck

Kurt von Finck — Thu, 25 May 2006 22:27:13 +0000

Jose,

Be aware that although Mark is a South African by birth, Canonical is incorporated on the Isle Of Man, has offices in London and Montreal, and staff scattered across the globe. Indeed, working for Canonical and the GNOME Foundation has shown me that if you think SuSE is developed by Novell in the US, you are sadly mistaken. Novell has people working on SuSE across the globe.

I don’t mean this as an affront to Novell. Indeed, it speaks well of them to hire based on talent rather than geography. I feel Canonical takes the same approach.

While it may be a sad fact that executive boardrooms make hasty decisions on tools based on the tools’ point of origin, personally I don’t see that factoring in to Ubuntu adoption rates.

All of these sentiments fall under the, “just my personal opinion and not a reflection of Canonical policy, procedure, or ethos” umbrella.

By: Neil Blakey-Milner

Neil Blakey-Milner — Wed, 24 May 2006 18:13:23 +0000

José, do you find that people that you want to work for hold your name against you (whereas a “John” or “David” is treated better)?

Any engineer worth dealing with bases his decisions on facts. Similarly, any employer worth working for won’t make a rash judgement based on the name of the project.

I’m sure “Canonical” (a company nominally based in the Isle of Man, and primarily run from the UK) won’t carry a stigma around of being involved with Africa. And if you work hard, a reference from someone like Mark won’t hurt your career options later on either.

By: José Joseph

José Joseph — Wed, 24 May 2006 04:57:33 +0000

It will never be easy to convince an engineer to put his lot in with an African Linux distribution. When it comes to a choice between Novell Linux, for example, and Ubuntu Linux, Ubuntu is a non-starter regardless of what it’s like.

The question will always hang over the project: “What’s the African connection? What has ever come out of Africa that would inspire others to accept African leadership in anything?” Who would hire me after spending time on an African project. I’d have the same problem working for a software company from Russia, Iraq, or Indonesia.

To get to the front of people’s minds, you’ll have to create a USA connection. Anything else will be second (Europe or Australia) or third (the rest of the world) tier.

Before being outraged, I must advise that I worked two years on a Jamaican project, and I’ve been burdened with that history ever since. It’s a real problem for a software engineer.

By: simone brunozzi

simone brunozzi — Tue, 23 May 2006 05:08:39 +0000

Dear Mark,
I’m very interested in working with Canonical… what about a 12 month, 10 hours a week, costless try?
Would you be interested in it?
cheers,

By: » Debian Etch: Solid, Crufty, Some Assembly Required

» Debian Etch: Solid, Crufty, Some Assembly Required — Mon, 22 May 2006 08:47:44 +0000

[...] Finally, while I do see that Debian has given Ubuntu a great base and that Ubuntu could probably be helping Debian more, it seems fair to say that Ubuntu has taken Debian and polished it up quite a bit and they deserve more props for that than I and many others in the Debian community have given them. Of course, when Canonical adds another 24 people, Ubuntu will really rock… [...]

By: Filippo Ongaro

Filippo Ongaro — Mon, 22 May 2006 05:50:38 +0000

Hi Mark,

I am following from the distance your projects…I think you are doing great stuff and I am sure you will find the right people as you did for the First African in Space!
All the best
F