Everyone agrees that Ubuntu is making huge progress towards mainstream adoption. But what do we mean when we say "Ubuntu"? Don't we really mean *buntu, a collection of all Ubuntu versions? How do we explain this to the mainstream user? Will the names "Kubuntu", "Edubuntu" and "Xubuntu" make sense to a newcomer? Are they self-explanatory?

Every operating system is fighting to gain users and marketshare, but is becoming "mainstream" a good goal? While "mainsream" obviously means more users and, thus, usually more revenue for the maker of the OS, it also has some disadvantages. For example, it becomes much harder to break compatibility with older applications in order to move forwards or to change the interface too much.

...I'll state it plainly – Ubuntu, you got us this far and then, just when it mattered, you blew it for all of us... For the first time ever, the mainstream tech press mentioned an upcoming Linux release in a Windows preview article. And what did Ubuntu do to capitalise on this new-found exposure? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Many mainstream Linux distributions like Fedora, Ubuntu, and Mandriva provide support for popular netbook models. Consequently, they run on your little companion pretty much right out of the box. However, the desktop metaphor that works so well on conventional PCs and laptops doesn’t translate very well to the netbook computer.

The VAR Guy was flipping though his Sunday morning paper when he spotted an article about Ubuntu Linux. He took a few more sips of coffee to perk up and make sure his eyes weren’t deceiving him. Sure enough, Ubuntu had made the leap into the mainstream media — earning coverage in Newsday, the eight largest newspaper in the nation. Has Ubuntu reached its tipping point with consumers?

Eager to add Penguin-power to your pint-sized portable? New releases of Mandriva and KDE Desktop are being optimised for a better netbook experience.

Out of the Netbook craze, a new category was born: the Nettop. The Nettop is supposed to be  the desktop equivalent of a Netbook, being inexpensive and small. It's not a bad idea, but I agree with the author of this OSNews article that they are a bit over hyped, but for a different reason.

Linux is well on it’s way to being a mainstream operating system. The bad news is that this will not happen the way many of us envisioned.

Linux is now mainstream -- so mainstream, in fact, that two of the top three Linux distributions are commercially successful operations, and the third aims to be.