Canonical to simplify Ubuntu certification

Canonical has announced that it will be changing its commercial certification programme in order to make it simpler for consumers to understand. The certification programme allows original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and original design manufacturers (ODMs) to apply for their systems to be validated and endorsed to work with the popular Ubuntu Linux distribution.

Previously, the non-profit organisation offered two levels of endorsement for systems: "Ubuntu Certified" and "Ubuntu Ready". Under the system, "Ubuntu Certified" indicated that the UK-based Ubuntu sponsor would provide security and stability release updates over the lifetime of an Ubuntu release for the certified system, whereas "Ubuntu Ready" was only an endorsement by Canonical at a specific point in time, thereby offering no guarantee over future release updates.

In a post on the Canonical Blog, Victor Tuson Palau, Platform Services Director at Canonical, says that "We recognise that the differences between these endorsement levels is quite granular and perhaps not obvious to consumers". In order to simplify things, the plan is to close down the "Ubuntu Ready" programme before the release of Ubuntu 11.10 in October.

Moving forward, the certification programme will offer only "Ubuntu Certified" endorsement. New "Ubuntu Ready" services will no longer be offered; Palau notes that customers with existing tokens will still be able to redeem them for Ubuntu 11.04 until it reaches its end of life in October 2012. A list of Ubuntu certified hardware is available at Ubuntu.com/Certification.

See also:

• Ubuntu Friendly: community sourced hardware validation, a report from The H.

(crve)