Ubuntu’s unplanned delay tally, all-time: One week

Did you know that, if combined, all of the days that Ubuntu was “late” (i.e., didn’t launch exactly six months after the previous release), it would add up to only about a week?

It’s true! Canonical CEO Mark Shuttleworth told me so during a conference call this week announcing the launch of Ubuntu 7.10 on Oct. 18.

I found this particularly fitting given the delays experienced by some other operating systems of late (pun intended, I think). In addition to being just plain polite, the speedy six-month, clockwork Ubuntu release schedule bodes well for its enterprise aspirations too.

That’s one of the reasons why consultant Conrad Knauer is optimistic about Ubuntu’s chances in the enterprise. The OS’s rapid six-month release cycle could help sway uncertain IT managers, he said, because they can simply skip a release they don’t like and wait to see if the next one is better.

UPDATE from the comments: Conrad K. corrects me on this one. This is “unplanned” delay time. “Dapper (6.06) was intentionally delayed for six weeks to ensure that it was of sufficient quality for a Long Term Support (LTS) release; the time was deducted from the development of Edgy (6.10) which immediately followed it. The Dapper delay was not at Shuttleworth’s whim, however; it was discussed and voted on,” Conrad said.