Comment 7 for bug 50699

I am concerned about this as well, so let me add a little more noise. :)

I know that Mark had originally said Launchpad would eventually be opened up, however, I recently watched a talk that he gave at Google (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2728972720932273543) where he mentions that (referring to Launchpad) he does not believe software services should be held to the same standards of free-ness as, for instance, the software running on your home computer. I agree, and I use such non-open services everyday, but I would hope that Mark has not changed his mind about opening Launchpad, using this reasoning as an excuse.

Ubuntu has been a beautiful example of what can come from open source and an open community, and having our central communication mechanism be non-open-source tarnishes our image and respectability (at least amongst the other free software communities). Although Launchpad may make the community a bit more productive, I don't think it's worth the proprietary wart... At least, it has me seriously questioning where I want to contribute my time.

Could we get a statement on this from Mr. Shuttleworth, himself? Is the plan *still* to open Launchpad? When?