Canonical’s “Ubuntu Friendly” hardware-validation program, which officially debuts next month along with Ubuntu 11.10, should make life a little easier for people with computers that don’t get along so well with Linux. But what if your computer is designed from the ground up to run Linux flawlessly? I recently got a chance to speak with ZaReason CEO Cathy Malmrose, whose company has been shipping Linux PCs for years, about precisely that question. Here’s what she had to say.

With the exception of ZaReason and a handful of similar Linux-oriented vendors, such as System76, few OEMs give much thought to how well their hardware can run open source operating systems. That’s why the Ubuntu Friendly program, which encourages Ubuntu users to run simple tests to measure how well their computers work with Ubuntu and then upload their results to a public database, is a great move on Canonical’s part. It promises to make it easier to choose Ubuntu-friendly PCs before purchasing, or find solutions for compatibility problems on the hardware one already owns.

ZaReason’s Take

I expected Malmrose to be excited about the Ubuntu Friendly program, since ZaReason’s hardware is almost certain to pass the tests with flying colors and enjoy prominence in the database as being among the most Ubuntu-compatible hardware around. Instead, although she expressed no opposition to the Ubuntu Friendly initiative, she emphasized a goal that surpasses the simple “compatibility” that the Ubuntu Friendly site seeks to gauge.

In Malmrose’s words, “ZaReason hardware is not ‘compatible’; it’s built for Ubuntu. If you want to make me growl, call it ‘compatible.'”

The difference between being compatible and being designed for Linux from the get-go, she explained, is that ZaReason doesn’t simply work to patch over hardware-support issues via proprietary drivers or in-house bug fixes that only ZaReason customers can enjoy. Instead, Malmrose stressed the importance of making hardware work flawlessly using only upstream code.

“The difference between us and others is that we don’t do our own drivers. When we fix bugs or otherwise make improvements we send them upstream. Not the greatest business model, but excellent for the community.”

She was also keen to underline ZaReason’s focus not just on Ubuntu, but on Linux as a whole: “We have no trouble supporting a variety of distros because everything we do goes upstream.”

The Pitfalls of Being Compatible

Malmrose raised an important point that merits greater consideration: In general, a majority of Linux users are happy just to find hardware that works — and if the vendor actually puts any effort into helping ensure that it does, it’s only icing on the cake. Most of us, excepting the bona fide members of Richard Stallman’s Church of Emacs, don’t worry too much if running Linux involves proprietary hacks or out-of-tree code, as long as they get the job done.

While getting things to work is a good prelimary goal, however, it’s not the same as true Linux-friendliness, as Malmrose stressed. Being Ubuntu-friendly using only the open source modules and firmware that ship with the Linux kernel itself is a world apart from working on Ubuntu once proprietary drivers are installed.

It would be interesting for the Ubuntu Friendly program to draw a distinction between these two different degrees of compatibility. That may be asking a lot of an initiative that’s only getting off the ground, and which already offers a great resource to users. But since Linux is all about constant improvement, this is a goal worth aspiring to.