A popular question in desktop circles is “Can anyone make money from the Linux desktop?” Canonical CEO and Ubuntu founder, Mark Shuttleworth’s answer is “I don’t think anyone can make money from the Linux desktop.”
Yes, that’s right. The man behind what’s almost certainly the most popular Linux desktop doesn’t think he, or anyone else, can make money from the Linux desktop. Furthermore, he never really has.
In a press call about the October 30th arrival of the next version of Ubuntu, Ubuntu 8.10, Shuttleworth said that Canonical has always seen the desktop as a “zero revenue” product.