Ubuntu Linux and Canonical Moving Forward, Two Years After Leadership Change

From the ‘Leadership Changes that Work’ files:

Two years ago in March of 2010, Mark Shuttleworth stepped down as CEO of Canonical Ubuntu Linux. Shuttleworth moved aside to deal with the strategic technical issues of the project and his Chief Operating Office Jane Silber stepped up to become the CEO.

It’s a move that today in 2012 is still working out well for Ubuntu and Canonical. I recently got the chance to chat with Silber and she told me point blank that there is no way she is going back to her former position at Canonical, she’s loves her job as CEO too much.

“It’s really good and challenging for sure, but it’s also such an exciting time for Canonical and Ubuntu right now, from our increased product development activities to work that is going on in the cloud, it’s just an incredible time and I’m loving it,” Silber said.

And what about Mark Shuttleworth?

Though Shuttleworth isn’t the CEO, Silber said that he’s absolutely engaged in what we’re doing.

“He leads strategy now so the things that we’re seeing with Ubuntu TV and converged devices are really evidence of the successful working relationship that he and I have,” Silber said.

Long story short – it means that Shuttleworth is doing what he want to do, namely drive strategy and technology innovation and Silber is running the business. It’s a business that is on the cusp of its biggest release ever with Ubuntu 12.04 coming in a few short weeks.

Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at InternetNews.com, the news service of the IT Business Edge Network, the network for technology professionals. Follow him on Twitter @TechJournalist.