Canonical

Short description: UK-based software company that maintains the Ubuntu OS

Canonical Ltd

Type| Private company limited by shares[1]
Industry| Computer software
Founded| 5 March 2004; 21 years ago (2004-03-05)
Founder| Mark Shuttleworth
Headquarters| London, United Kingdom

Area served

| Worldwide

Key people

* Mark Shuttleworth (CEO)
* Neil French (COO)
* Seb Butter (CFO)
* Jane Silber (board member)

Products|

* Ubuntu
* Launchpad
* Bazaar

Services| Landscape, Ubuntu Advantage

Operating income

|  US$5.3 million (2020)[2]: 13

Net income

|  US$4.4 million (2020)[2]: 13
Total assets|  US$82 million (2020)[2]: 14
Total equity|  US$−53 million (2020)[2]: 14

Number of employees

| >1000 (2023)[2]: 3
Subsidiaries| Canonical Group Ltd
Canonical USA Inc.
Canonical China Ltd (Chinese: 科能（上海）软件科技有限公司)
Canonical Brasil Ltda
Canonical Canada Ltd
Canonical Ltd Taiwan Br. (Chinese: 英屬曼島商肯諾有限公司臺灣分公司)
Website| www.canonical.com
Footnotes / references
Formerly "M R S Virtual Development Ltd"[3]
Ubuntu, the company's main product

Canonical Ltd.[4] is a UK-based privately held computer software company founded and funded by South African entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth to market commercial support and related services for Ubuntu and related projects. Canonical employs staff in more than 70 countries and maintains offices in London, Austin, Texas , Boston, Shanghai, Beijing, Taipei, Tokyo and the Isle of Man.[5][6]

## Contents

* 1 Projects
* 1.1 Open-source software
* 1.2 Other projects and services
* 1.3 Joint ventures
* 2 Business plans
* 3 Subsidiaries
* 4 Employees
* 4.1 Current
* 4.2 Past
* 5 References
* 6 External links

## Projects

Canonical Ltd. has created and continues to back several projects. Principally these are free and open-source software (FOSS) or tools designed to improve collaboration between free software developers and contributors. Some projects require a Contributor License Agreement to be signed.

### Open-source software

Mark Shuttleworth (standing) and other Canonical employees discuss Launchpad at a design sprint in Germany in 2006

* Ubuntu Linux,[7] a Debian-based Linux distribution with GNOME (formerly with Unity) desktop
* Ubuntu Core, tiny, transactional version of Ubuntu
* GNU Bazaar,[8] a decentralized revision control system
* Storm, an object-relational mapper for Python,[9] part of the Launchpad code base
* Juju, a service orchestration management tool
* MAAS, a bare-metal server provisioning tool
* cloud-init, the de facto standard for the initial setup of virtual machines in the cloud
* U1DB is a cross-platform, cross-device, syncable database application programming interface (API). It allows applications to store JSON documents and synchronize them between machines and devices.[10][11]
* Upstart, a discontinued event-based replacement for the init daemon
* Quickly, a framework for creating software programs for Linux
* Ubiquity, installer
* Mir display server
* MicroK8s since December 2018[12]
* Snappy package manager
* Snapcraft, python-based tool for packaging software
* Launchpad[13][14] a centralised website containing several component web applications designed to make collaboration between free software projects easier:
* PPA, a special software repository for uploading software packages to be built and published as an APT repository,
* Blueprints, a tool for planning features of software,
* Code, hosting of Bazaar branches,
* Answers, support tracker,
* Rosetta, an online language translation tool to help localisation of software (cf. the Rosetta Stone),
* Malone (as in "Bugsy Malone"), a collaborative bug-tracker that allows linking to other bug-trackers,
* Soyuz, a tool for creating custom-distributions, such as Kubuntu and Xubuntu.

### Other projects and services

* Landscape,[15] a proprietary web service for centralized management of Ubuntu Linux systems
* Ubuntu One, a discontinued service since 2014 for file synchronization and other uses
* Ubuntu Advantage, a commercial support service that covers Ubuntu and other Canonical products
* Multipass,[16][17] launched in 2019, provides a command line interface to launch and manage virtual machine instances of Linux in Windows, macOS and Linux.

### Joint ventures

* Windows Subsystem for Linux, with Microsoft[18]

Ubuntu - Version History - Visual Timeline - 20231019 Canonical - Ecosystem - Mind Map - v20231018

## Business plans

In 2007, Canonical launched an International online shop selling support services and Ubuntu-branded goods; later in 2008 it expanded that with a United States-specific shop designed to reduce shipment times.[19] At the same time, the word Ubuntu was trademarked in connection with clothing and accessories.[20]

In a The Guardian interview in May 2008, Shuttleworth said that Canonical's business model was service provision and that Canonical was not yet close to profitability. Canonical stated that it would wait three to five years to become profitable. Shuttleworth regarded Canonical as positioning itself as demand for services related to free software rose. This strategy has been compared to Red Hat's business strategies in the 1990s.[21] In an early-2009 The New York Times article, Shuttleworth said that Canonical's revenue was "creeping" towards US$30 million, the company's break-even point.[22]

Canonical achieved a small operating profit of $281,000 in 2009, but until 2017 struggled to maintain financial solvency and took a major financial hit from the development of Unity and Ubuntu Touch, leading to an operating loss of $21.6 million for the fiscal year 2013.[23] The company reported an operating profit of $2 million in 2017 after shutting down the Unity development team and laying off nearly 200 employees. The company now plans to focus on its server and professional support solutions,[buzzword] which have proved to be most profitable. Through this, Canonical plans to maintain solvency and achieve long-term profitability.[24][25] In 2022, Ubuntu made a profit of £0.52m on revenues of £14.31m. [26]

## Subsidiaries

* Canonical Group Ltd is located in London.
* Canonical USA Inc. is located in Boston, Massachusetts and Austin, Texas.
* Canonical China Ltd (Chinese: 科能（上海）软件科技有限公司 and 科能（上海）软件科技有限公司北京分公司) is located in Shanghai and Beijing.
* Canonical Ltd Taiwan Branch (Chinese: 英商科能有限公司台灣分公司) is located in Taipei.
* Canonical Limited is located in Isle of Man and Tokyo (Japan).[6]
* Canonical Brasil Ltd is located in São Paulo (this office is no longer listed on their website).
* Canonical Canada Ltd is located in Montreal (the office is no longer in service[27]).

## Employees

Ubuntu Developer Summit October 2011

Canonical has more than 600 employees.[5] The head office is in London on the 5th Floor of the Blue Fin Building, Southwark Street,[28] having previously moved from the 27th floor of Millbank Tower.[29] In the summer of 2006, Canonical opened an office in Montreal to house its global support and services operation.[21] Taipei 101 is also home to a Canonical office.[30] There was formerly an OEM team in Lexington, Massachusetts, United States.[31]

### Current

Notable current employees of Canonical include:

* Mark Shuttleworth, CEO and founder of the Ubuntu project, former Debian maintainer of Apache and founder of Thawte Consulting (2004–), CEO until March 2010 and from July 2017 to present
* Jane Silber, Board of Directors,[32] formerly CEO (March 2010-July 2017); formerly COO and leader of the Ubuntu One project

### Past

Notable past employees:

* Ben Collins, former Debian Project Leader and kernel developer (2006–2009)
* Jeff Waugh, employee no. 3, GNOME and Planet aggregator developer, Business Development (2004–2006)
* Benjamin Mako Hill, core developer and community coordinator (2004–2005)
* Ian Jackson, developer of dpkg and former Debian Project Leader (2005–2007)
* Lars Wirzenius, first contributor to the Linux kernel and Linus Torvalds' former office mate (2007–2009)
* Scott James Remnant, formerly a Debian and GNU maintainer of GNU Libtool and co-author of the Planet aggregator (2004–2011)[33]
* Matt Zimmerman, formerly of the Debian security team – worked at Canonical as Ubuntu Chief Technical Officer (2004–2011)[34]
* Stuart Langridge (2009–2013)
* Jono Bacon, Ubuntu community leader (2006–2014)
* Björn Michaelsen, founding member and director at The Document Foundation, LibreOffice contributor (2011-2017)[35]

## References

1. ↑ The Isle of Man Companies Registry, Annual Return 2005 for Company no. 110334C (non-distributable, available for a fee of £1.00)
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `Canonical 2020 Financial Statement`
3. ↑ "Company no. 110334C". The Isle of Man Companies Registry. http://portal.gov.im/pvi/CompanyDetails.aspx?company=110334C. "[ Previous names: ] M R S VIRTUAL DEVELOPMENT LIMITED [ Name type: ] PREVIOUS"
4. ↑ UK registered trademark #EU004059218 "CANONICAL", filed 29 September 2004.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "About Canonical". Canonical Ltd. http://www.canonical.com/about-canonical. "We've come a long way since our launch in 2004. We now have over 800 staff in more than 42 countries, and offices in London, Austin, Boston, Taipei, Montreal, Shanghai, São Paulo and the Isle of Man."
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Canonical | Contact us". https://canonical.com/contact-us.
7. ↑ UK registered trademark #EU004059119 "UBUNTU", filed 29 September 2004.
8. ↑ UK registered trademark #EU005152467 "BAZAAR", filed 21 June 2006.
9. ↑ "Canonical Releases Storm as Open Source". Ubuntu.com. 9 July 2007. http://www.ubuntu.com/news/storm-python-orm-open-sourced.
10. ↑ "U1DB — u1db 0.1.4 documentation". Pythonhosted.org. http://pythonhosted.org/u1db/. Retrieved 2014-03-03.
11. ↑ "Conflicts, Synchronisation, and Revisions — u1db 0.1.4 documentation". Pythonhosted.org. http://pythonhosted.org/u1db/conflicts.html#synchronisation. Retrieved 2014-03-03.
12. ↑ Canonical (2018-12-06). "Canonical launches MicroK8s – deploy Kubernetes in seconds" (in en). https://snapcraft.io/blog/canonical-launches-microk8s-deploy-kubernetes-in-seconds.
13. ↑ UK registered trademark #EU006251219 "LAUNCHPAD", filed 4 September 2007.
14. ↑ "Canonical releases source code for Launchpad". Canonical Ltd.. http://www.ubuntu.com/news/canonical-open-sources-launchpad.
15. ↑ UK registered trademark #EU005152418 "LANDSCAPE", filed 21 June 2006, published 6 August 2007.
16. ↑ Canonical (2018-12-06). "Canonical launches MicroK8s – deploy Kubernetes in seconds" (in en). https://snapcraft.io/blog/canonical-launches-microk8s-deploy-kubernetes-in-seconds.
17. ↑ "Multipass - wikieduonline". https://www.wikieduonline.com/wiki/Multipass.
18. ↑ "Windows 10 will receive an Anniversary Update with Linux support, Xbox One compatibility, and more - ExtremeTech". https://www.extremetech.com/gaming/225737-windows-10-will-receive-an-anniversary-update-with-linux-support-xbox-one-compatibility-and-more.
19. ↑ "Canonical launches U.S.-based shop.ubuntu.com in time for holiday season". Canonical Ltd.. 20 November 2008. https://insights.ubuntu.com/2008/11/20/canonical-launches-u-s-based-shop-ubuntu-com-in-time-for-holiday-season/. "Canonical launched today an U.S.-based on-line shop for Ubuntu-branded merchandise and software. With a new fulfillment house in St. Louis, Missouri, shipments are faster and less expensive for Ubuntu users and enthusiasts in the U.S"
20. ↑ "UK registered trademark #EU007426265". UK Intellectual Property Office. 27 November 2008. http://www.ipo.gov.uk/tmcase/Results/4/EU007426265. "Mark text: UBUNTU ... Class 16: Stationery; ... Class 18: Luggage; ... Class 25: Articles of clothing ... CANONICAL LIMITED"
21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Shankland, Stephen (6 October 2006). "Canonical seeks profit from free Ubuntu". C|NET. http://www.news.com/Canonical-seeks-profit-from-free-Ubuntu/2100-7344_3-6123249.html.
22. ↑ "A Software Populist Who Doesn't Do Windows". The New York Times. 11 January 2009. https://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/11/business/11ubuntu.html.
23. ↑ "CANONICAL GROUP LIMITED - Filing history (free information from Companies House)". https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/06870835/filing-history.
24. ↑ "Does Canonical Have Enough Technical Assets to Attract Investors?" (in en-US). 2017-06-19. https://thenewstack.io/canonical-enough-technical-assets-attract-investors/.
25. ↑ Vaughan-Nichols, Steven J.. "Mark Shuttleworth sees increased demand for enterprise Ubuntu Linux desktop" (in en). https://www.zdnet.com/article/mark-shuttleworth-sees-increased-demand-for-enterprise-ubuntu-linux-desktop/.
26. ↑ "CANONICAL UK LIMITED filing history - Find and update company information - GOV.UK" (in en). https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/05055134/filing-history.
27. ↑ ""LOCO Team Portal: Canonical Offices Montreal"". Canonical. http://loco.ubuntu.com/events/venues/Canada/544/detail/.
28. ↑ "Ways to contact". Canonical. http://www.canonical.com/about-canonical/contact.
29. ↑ "("Where?")". Bazaar-vcs.org. 18 May 2007. http://bazaar-vcs.org/SprintLondonMay07.
30. ↑ "Canonical Taiwan Branch @ Rm D, 46th floor, Taipei 101 building | Flickr - Photo Sharing!". Flickr. 26 February 2009. https://www.flickr.com/photos/37452853@N00/3479931232/.
31. ↑ "Ubuntu for Android". Canonical Ltd.. http://www.ubuntu.com/devices/android. "We have over 500 staff in more than 30 countries, with offices in London, Boston, Taipei, Montreal, Shanghai, and São Paulo."
32. ↑ "A new vantage point". 12 April 2017. https://insights.ubuntu.com/2017/04/12/a-new-vantage-point/.
33. ↑ Remnant, Scott James. "Leaving Canonical". http://netsplit.com/2011/01/11/leaving-canonical/.
34. ↑ "Matt Zimmerman leaving Canonical". 6 May 2011. http://blog.canonical.com/?p=566.
35. ↑ "Canonical unterstützt LibreOffice". 22 February 2011. https://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Canonical-unterstuetzt-LibreOffice-1194699.html.

## External links

* v
* t
* e

Ubuntu

General|

* Canonical Ltd.
* Releases
* Ubuntu philosophy

People|

* Jono Bacon
* Benjamin Mako Hill
* Ian Jackson
* Scott James Remnant
* Mark Shuttleworth
* Jeff Waugh
* Jane Silber

Derivatives|

| Official editions|

* Ubuntu
* Ubuntu Server
* Ubuntu Kylin

|

Community
supported|

* Kubuntu
* Lubuntu
* Ubuntu Budgie
* Ubuntu MATE
* Ubuntu Studio
* Ubuntu Touch
* Xubuntu

Third party|

* EasyPeasy
* elementary OS
* Emmabuntüs
* Linux Mint
* Trisquel
* Zorin OS

Terminated|

* Ubuntu GNOME
* Edubuntu
* Gobuntu
* Mythbuntu
* Ubuntu Mobile
* Ubuntu Netbook Edition
* Ubuntu JeOS

Software|

* Bazaar
* Juju
* Landscape
* Startup Disk Creator
* Software Updater
* Ubiquity

| Discontinued|

* Mir display server
* OpenCD
* StartUp-Manager
* Ubuntu for Android
* Ubuntu One
* Ubuntu Software Center
* Unity interface
* Upstart
* Usplash
* Wubi
* XSplash

|

Third party|

* Brasero
* GNOME Files

Technology and
user interface|

* LightDM
* Side Stage
* Snappy
* Uncomplicated Firewall

| Third party|

* AppArmor
* APT
* deb format
* dpkg

|

Hardware|

* System76
* Ubuntu Edge

Support|

* Ask Ubuntu
* Launchpad
* Medibuntu
* Paper cut bug
* Personal Package Archive
* Restricted extras
* Ubuntu Professional Certification
* Ubuntu Forums
* Ubuntu One Account (Ubuntu SSO)

| Third party|

* GetDeb

|

Fonts|

* Ubuntu (typeface)
* Ubuntu Titling

Media|

* Full Circle
* Ubuntu User

Related topics|

* Debian
* aptitude
* dash
* Debian configuration system

* Category
* Commons
* Book
* Wikiversity

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