So what's Mark Shuttleworth's real plan for Ubuntu Linux? Giving Windows a run for its money was part of the game from the beginning, but in a recent article in Datamation he discussed his real ambitions: to compete with or beat the Macintosh at its own game.

... our goal, very simply, is to make sure the Free software ecosystem can deliver a Mac OS-like experience, or an experience that will compete with the Mac OS.

We see Apple as the gold standard of the user experience. We believe that, while it can be a challenge, the innovation inherent in the Free software process can deliver an experience that is comparable and in many ways superior.

This is about as bold a statement as you can make in today's computing world (short of "Yeah, we're going to knock Microsoft off the desktop"). The challenge is twofold: they have to build something at least as good or better, and then get it out in front of people where they will be willing to adopt it.

The first part is tough enough. I'm not sure it's a question of the Mac's look and feel being the product of a closed-ended design philosophy whereas Linux/FOSS is more out-in-the-open, although the latter certainly makes it easier to give and implement feedback. It's a question of having designers who understand how to build a good user interface -- in short, smart people and not just good code.

Mark also believes the Internet is a crucial part of why people use an OS at all:

We face an opportunity now, and partly that's because Vista has not delivered to people's expectations. Partly that's because the Web is increasingly how people define the PC experience. It used to be, the PC was what you used to run Microsoft PowerPoint and today it's what you use to surf the Web. And we can deliver a fantastic Web experience on Linux; I would argue a better Web experience than you get on Windows from a safety-security perspective. So for all of those reasons this is a really important time in the history of Linux.

This is why it's important to make it as easy as possible to run Flash content and allow MP3 (and maybe also DVD) playback. I mentioned the $20 boxed version of Ubuntu yesterday; one of the few things that makes sense to charge money for when selling Linux is licensing for encumbered codecs.

I give Mark credit for being bold, and for trying to make Linux go new places. For many people Ubuntu is Linux, and how it succeeds or fails will set a pattern for people's expectations for Linux in general. He doesn't have to take market share from the Mac to make that happen, if you ask me, but if you're going to dream, dream big, right?