[throwaway7767]

> Also look at popular Linux distros like Ubuntu. As soon as they reach mass market they lose what made them special to begin with and start experimenting with advertising and so on.

Well, ubuntu is a company. It was always their intention to become profitable at some point, even if they were willing to operate at a loss to build their market.

I very much doubt debian would go the same way if it got the same level of publicity, for example. But then, as the GP said, it's unlikely to happen because they're a community project without a marketing budget.

[morganvachon]

> Well, ubuntu is a company.

A minor nitpick: Canonical is a company, Ubuntu is their (main) product.

[reedlaw]

What made Ubuntu special was making Linux and other free software easier to use. But when it became too easy they started to take away the "free" part by adding intrusive "features". It's was never a given that as a company they would try to make money that way.