Canonical, the company behind the Linux distro Ubuntu, has collaborated with software distributor ValuSoft to sell a boxed version of Ubuntu 8.04 into Best Buy retail stores.

If you walk into a BestBuy this week you may spot some new software peeking out from the shelves. Yes, Ubuntu is now available as a spiffy boxed set in stores and on-line.

Recently Ubuntu/Canonical contacted me for the use of buntu in our domain name. I had emailed them long before any announcement of the site but with no reply until the site began to attract visitors/users.

I understand that Ubuntu/Canonical has a job to do when it comes to protecting their best interest. But Ourbuntu is doing nothing more than giving users the ability to setup a Ubuntu/Linux based system and sell it at no cost. Which helps promote the use of opensource software.

The Ubuntu Eee project has just announced they will be selling SD cards pre-loaded with the latest version of Eee Ubuntu. This SD card can then be inserted into the Eee PC and you can run Eee Ubuntu right off of it. This is a great idea, but it would be even better if the cards were sold in stores along with the Eee PC.

Wow, this certainly surprised me. Today I found out that Ubuntu Linux is now being sold at Best Buy online and even at some stores. And normally I would say this is great, except there is a problem - what the heck is Ubuntu “complete” edition?

Ubuntu users were promised a radical new desktop theme with Ubuntu 8.04 and then that ended up getting postponed to the upcoming 8.10 release (a.k.a. the Intrepid Ibex). There was a new brown theme that had appeared early on in Intrepid but many users were dissatisfied with this work and Canonical ended up reverting the theme to that of Ubuntu 8.04 and earlier.

The next red-letter day for Ubuntu fans will be April 24, when Ubuntu 8.04 LTS (Long Term Support) arrives. Mark Shuttleworth, the CEO of Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, guarantees that the next version of the popular Linux distribution will make it on time, with something for enterprise, desktop, and Internet users.

We’re just a few days away from the Ubuntu 8.10 launch on the 30th, but it doesn’t look that impressive at first glance. Of course, it’s a mature operating system and changes are usually incremental – but was there more that could be done? In this article we’re going through 7 most requested Ubuntu features that didn’t make the cut in this release.

Linux distributor Canonical is putting a price tag on packaged Ubuntu installation CDs and making them available for purchase on shelves in retail stores.