Ubuntu made quite a splash when it came on the free software scene, and for good reason: Canonical Ltd., the company that created this distribution, started by hiring thirty-odd Debian developers and publicly stating the far-reaching objective of providing a distribution for the general public with a new release twice a year. They also committed to maintaining each version for a year and a half.

وتنطوي هذه الأهداف بالضرورة على تقليص نطاق العمل؛ يركز أوبونتو على عدد أقل من الحزم من دبيان، ويعتمد في المقام الأول على سطح المكتب جنوم (على الرغم من وجود توزيعات أوبونتو التي تأتي مع بيئات سطح المكتب الأخرى). يتم تدويل كل شيء وإتاحته في العديد من اللغات.

So far, Ubuntu has managed to keep this release rhythm. They also publish Long Term Support (LTS) releases, with a 5-year maintenance promise. As of April 2021, the current LTS version is version 20.04, nicknamed Bionic Beaver. The last non-LTS version is version 21.04, nicknamed Hirsute Hippo. Version numbers describe the release date: 21.04, for example, was released in April 2021.

نجحت أوبنتو في الوصول لشريحة كبيرة من الجماهير. لقد أبهرت ملايين المستخدمين بسهولة تثبيتها، والعمل الذي بذلته لتبسيط استخدام سطح المكتب.

Ubuntu and Debian used to have a tense relationship; Debian developers who had placed great hopes in Ubuntu contributing directly to Debian were disappointed by the difference between the Canonical marketing, which implied Ubuntu were good citizens in the Free Software world, and the actual practice where they simply made public the changes they applied to Debian packages. Things have been getting better over the years, and Ubuntu has now made it general practice to forward patches to the most appropriate place (although this only applies to external software they package and not to the Ubuntu-specific software such as Mir or Unity).