HP Is Certifying Ubuntu on their Proliant Server Hardware

Mr. Mark Shuttleworth announced that HP will start certifying Ubuntu 12.04 LTS on it's Proliant Server product line.  What does this mean for customer's who are using Proliant hardware?  It means that HP will no longer invalidate a product warranty because you slap Ubuntu on it's storage as opposed to the standard Windows Server Operating System.

If you are familiar with Linux, you will know that Ubuntu is a great server operating system and it's demand and use is constantly growing.  So, kudos Cannonical; good job in getting some corporate backing.  Here's the kicker, HP's reputation hasn't been the greatest over the last while.  So hopefully this won't hurt Cannonical's decision.  And if you remember, this is not the first time a hardware company has jumped into the Ubuntu arena.  Several years ago, Dell offered a line of computers that came preloaded with Ubuntu (other companies followed suit to a small extent) and they publicized the fact that you could buy an Ubuntu powered machine from them.  However, that PR seemed to fade away about as quick as it showed up.  Hopefully, the same thing won't happen this time around.

And HP isn't just certifying Ubuntu 12.04 LTS on new hardware either.  This also applies to existing Proliant hardware that is already in the field.  So if you are an IT manager at your business and have a need for the Ubuntu Server OS and are running a Proliant product, you should be good to go.  So break out those Ubuntu guides, you may see a growing area in the IT world.

As a huge Linux fan and an Ubuntu user myself, I am glad to see companies like HP getting behind them.  As we near closer to the future of Windows, it is only evident that other options may be just as viable as Microsoft's server offerings as surely things in the Windows Server OS will start to evolve and change as well over time.  Maybe corporate user's will see the need to Ubuntu powered servers in their solutions.  This would be great for Ubuntu, and possibly even great for the open-source community as a whole.  Think about it, with Ubuntu Servers comes the need for companies to have staff who know how to work with it.  And with more "professional" backing, maybe a higher quality of open source software packages would become available to the Ubuntu community.

Here's to you Ubuntu!  Swing by Cannonical's website for more information: http://www.canonical.com/