May as well put a hockey mask on the face of the Google operating system stories that keep cropping up; another version of the story that will not die contends an internally developed version of the Ubuntu Linux distribution from Google is in the works.
The anti-Microsoft crowd got a present from The Register, which reported that someone at the Googleplex has been hammering out a desktop operating system based on Ubuntu.
Even more amazingly, The Register claims to have confirmation from Google about the project. Read on and be astounded:
A version of the increasingly popular Ubuntu desktop Linux distribution, based on Debian and the Gnome desktop, it is known internally as ‘Goobuntu’.
Google has confirmed it is working on a desktop Linux project called Goobuntu, but declined to supply further details, including what the project is for.
As suggested, we’ve seen this story before. Originally, the Google OS was thought to be a three-pronged offering aimed at the embedded, portable, and corporate markets.
Still, it is fun to consider the potential for Google sending shockwaves through Microsoft by debuting an operating system carrying the third-most-visible brand name in America right before Vista launches later in 2006.
If that does come to pass, Google will have to make a lot of things easy for new users. Internet connectivity, video and sound card detection and support, and useful applications like OpenOffice from its collaboration partner Sun Microsystems should be part of the package.
Perhaps then, finally, Google would make software like that contained in its Google Pack available to Linux users. That will be the real accomplishment.
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David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business.
