Clearing the air around Ubuntu and Chrome

05/17/2010

Reports of the popular Linux distro ditching Firefox get clarified

Reports that Ubuntu would ditch longtime default browser Firefox for Google's Chrome browser were put to rest with a resounding "sort of."

A recent blog post by Ubuntu Community team member Jorge Castro explained that while Canonical has considered a Firefox alternative, it isn't Google Chrome, but rather Chromium, the open source version of the Chrome browser.

Castro was also quick to dispel any rumors that the potential browser switch was for the desktop build of Ubuntu. If Chromium is chosen, it will only affect the netbook edition of Ubuntu 10.10.

Again, this is all potential. The distribution models for Chromium and Ubuntu are largely dissimilar, so coordinating a chromium release so that it can be packaged in Ubuntu Netbook Edition is its own challenge. The Mozilla Foundation is also prepping a faster, sleeker version of Firefox for a fall release as well, so at this point its anyone's game.

More on the story as it develops.

( Trevan McGee)

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