Yesterday, Ubuntu's commercial sponsor, Canonical Ltd., initiated a survey with the purpose of finding out in what way exactly Ubuntu Server Edition is being used. Jointly sponsored by Canonical and Red Monk, the study is carried out to learn more about the community organization types within which Ubuntu Server Edition is made useful.

Today, Ubuntu is one of the most popular Linux distributions, with fans all over the world, designed for laptop, desktop, thin client and server alike, and putting together the best functionality, while trying to be as user-friendly as possible. With a 6-month release cycle, Ubuntu is an open source, free Linux product (and will always be that way), and can be easily downloaded from mirrors spread all over the world.

Through this survey, a large number of users will be asked by the Ubuntu Server community to share the experience they've had so far with it. This is the first time that the Ubuntu Server team is making such a large scale attempt to get some info on how their product is being used, although, not long ago, a similar action was taken by Canonical, aimed at those requesting cost-free server CDs.

Here are the main improvements that will hopefully be operated by using the insight provided by this survey:

· Improve future product releases;
· Prioritize feature requests;
· Guide partnerships to add technologies;
· Drive the focus at the next Ubuntu Developer Summit in December 2008.

About Canonical

Headquartered in London, Canonical is devoted to distribution, development and making the world know about open source products, and also to making sure the community has the tools and support it needs. It achieves these purposes by:

· delivering Ubuntu, one of the world's most popular and efficient, free software platform;
· making sure it's available to everyone;
· supporting it with professional service and quality engineering offerings;
· encouraging the perpetual growth and development of the free software community.