Canonical’s Ubuntu Desktop Training Gives Ubuntu An Edge in Businesses
Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, just announced an online course intended for “corporate and home desktop users to get started with Ubuntu.” The course is available for $100 and covers the following topics, according to the announcement:
- Understand the concepts of open source and how they tie in with Ubuntu
- Customize the look and feel of the Ubuntu desktop
- Navigate through the file system and search for files
- Connect to and use the Internet
- Perform basic word-processing and spreadsheet functions using OpenOffice.org
- Install and play games
- Add, remove and update applications
- View, draw, manipulate and scan images
- Play, edit and organize music and video files
- Seek help on Ubuntu from free and commercial sources
- Create partitions and dual-boot options
To be honest, I can’t imagine any home user wanting to take a course in using Ubuntu, but I do think that offering this to businesses is a great idea. Here is why:
For a company planning on switching to Ubuntu, their IT people, who would probably not be familiar with Linux, would want to get some training in Linux, before deploying it to all the employees. With this course, they can not only learn how to use Ubuntu, but also how to teach other people at the company how to use it, all while only paying $100.
This is an advantage Ubuntu really needs to compete in the enterprise space. Right now, many people are probably tempted to go with Red Hat or Novell’s comercial Linux offerings, because of the support that comes with it. By providing even this modest kind of support for commercial users, Canonical may be able to develop a bigger presence in that market to complement its leading position among non-commercial users.
