Beyond Ubuntu: Canonical Pursues New Revenue Streams

At first glance, Canonical is an operating system company — built around Ubuntu Linux. But take a closer look at Canonical’s moves during the first half of 2009, and you’ll find the company has increasingly bet its revenue stream on cloud, online and consulting/support services. Here’s some perspective.

Am I suggesting that Canonical is abandoning potential support revenue from Ubuntu? Certainly not. Rather, I’m pointing to a range of services built around Ubuntu.

Three quick examples include:

1. Ubuntu One: The online storage and file sharing system is in beta test now. The first 2GB are free; 10GB of storage costs (US)$10 per month.

* The Opportunity: 12 percent of WorksWithU readers say they’re willing to pay for Ubuntu One. That figure, based on a reader poll we conducted in June, may sound low. But I think it’s a reasonably good figure.

Read more at Works With U