Summary: According to Amazon, the number one selling laptop isn't a Windows PC or a Mac, it's the Samsung Chromebook, which runs Google's Linux-based Chrome OS.

We all know now that Windows 8 sales have been.... disappointing. You can blame the hardware. You can blame Windows 8's mixed-up interfaces. You can blame the rise of tablets and smartphones. Whatever. The bottom line is Windows 8 PC and laptop sales have been slow. So, what, according to Amazon, in this winter of Windows 8 discontent has been the best selling laptop? It's Samsung's ARM-powered, Linux-based Chromebook.

Shocked? Amazed? Why? The Chromebook has several things going for it.

Summary: The Free Software Foundation Europe is claiming that recent changes to the Google's Android Software Development Kit licensing terms has made the SDK into proprietary software. But if you look closely, that doesn't appear to be the case.

Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) member Torsten Grote claims that Google's "Android SDK [Software Development Kit] is now non-free software."On Twitter, Grote summed up his position as "#Android SDK is no longer #FreeSoftware. Is #Google turning evil?"

Grote's solution is not to drop Android. Rather, he suggests developers use "the truly Free Software version of Android called Replicant."

So, Canonical is bringing Ubuntu Linux to smartphones, but what does that really mean? I've seen a lot of confusion about this new offering, even from other Linux and device pros, so, here's my quick guide to what's what with Ubuntu on phones. 

1) It's Ubuntu, not Ubuntu for phones.

Yes, Canonical will be releasing Ubuntu for smartphones, but, unlike Microsoft with Windows RT for ARM-powered devices and Windows Windows Phone 8 for smartphones, there will be no separate version for each device. If all goes as planned when Ubuntu 14.04 rolls out in April 2014 one Ubuntu image will support smartphones, smart TVs, and computers. 

2) You won't be buying an Ubuntu phone anytime soon.

Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth said yesterday in the news conference announcing Ubuntu Linux on phones that the soonest it would arrive in late 2013 or 2014. I'm voting for 2014.

Instead of going after both the tablet and smartphone with a newly-improved touch-enabled version of Ubuntu Linux, Canonical will be focusing its efforts in 2013 on smartphones.

While the smartphone interface is clearly based on Ubuntu's Unity interface, it's not just the same old desktop shrunk down to a smartphone. According to Canonical, the smartphone Ubuntu will use "all four edges of the screen for a more immersive experience. Ubuntu uniquely gives handset OEMs and mobile operators the ability to converge phone, PC and thin client into a single enterprise superphone."
 
“We expect Ubuntu to be popular in the enterprise market, enabling customers to provision a single secure device for all PC, thin client and phone functions. Ubuntu is already the most widely used Linux enterprise desktop, with customers in a wide range of sectors focused on security, cost and manageability” said Jane Silber, Canonical's CEO in a statement. “We also see an opportunity in basic smartphones that are used for the phone, SMS, web and email, where Ubuntu outperforms thanks to its native core apps and stylish presentation.”

This new version of Ubuntu will be "aimed at two core mobile segments: the high-end superphone, and the entry-level basic smartphone, helping operators grow the use of data amongst consumers who typically use only the phone and messaging but who might embrace the use of web and email on their phone. Ubuntu also appeals to aspirational prosumers who want a fresh experience with faster, richer performance on a lower bill-of-materials device."

Summary: Canonical appears to be getting ready to release a fully touch-enabled Ubuntu Linux operating system. Will Ubuntu tablets and smartphones be far behind?

Canonical, Ubuntu Linux's parent company, is hinting in big, bright letters that's its about to release a fully touch-enabled version of Ubuntu Unity. The site's banner headline now reads "So close, you can almost touch it." with a clock counting down to 1 PM Eastern time, January 2nd. If this is indeed what Canonical is planning, can Ubuntu-powered tablet and smartphones be far behind?

Canonical has been planning to bring Ubuntu to tablets since it first introduced its controversial Unity interface in 2010. Then, in conversations with Mark Shuttleworth, Ubuntu's founder, I was told that Unity was meant to be Ubuntu's master interface for desktops, netbooks, and tablets.

Summary: Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth promised to make his popular desktop Linux more suitable for mobile devices and the cloud -- which are key imperatives for any desktop OS vendor going forward

Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth ushered in the new year with a promise to his followers that the Linux desktop will be retrofitted for mobile devices and the cloud.

Seems to be the imperative, particularly as tablets and smartphones increasingly replace the desktop PC and the cloud becomes the storage mecca of the next generation.

In security's name, Microsoft has made it difficult to install Linux, or any other operating system, including older versions of Windows, on Windows 8 PCS. In addition, Microsoft has made it all but impossible to install Linux on Windows RT devices such as the Surface RT.

Microsoft has done this by adding a feature to UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface), the next generation of BIOS, called secure boot. Its avowed purpose is to prevent rootkits, malicious programs that run before the operating system boots, from running.

So far, so good as even the Free Software Foundation (FSF), an organization with no love for Microsoft recently admitted.

Summary: From Goobuntu to Mint to Windows 8, the un-Linux, here are the year's most popular Linux stories.

Taken as a whole, 2012 was a great year for Linux. The most popular stories, however, were more about the day-to-day happenings of Linux then the big picture.

2012's top Linux story was The truth about Goobuntu: Google's in-house desktop Ubuntu Linux. The title said it all. We'd long known that Google uses its own house-blend of Ubuntu on its PCs, but it wasn't until this summer that Google finally revealed exactly how its workers use Ubuntu,

Readers. it’s time to turn a page. In a December 27, 2012 report entitled, "E-book Reading Jumps; Print Book Reading Declines," the Pew Research Center found that "the number of those who read e-books increased from 16% of all Americans ages 16 and older to 23%.” At the same time, the report says, the number of people who read printed books in the previous 12 months “fell from 72% of the population ages 16 and older to 67%."

It's not a sharp decline. The survey of 2,252 Americans (ages 16 and older), found that 89% of the book readers had read a printed book (or 67% of all those ages 16 and older). At the same time, 30% of the book readers said they had read an e-book, which translates into 23% of all those ages 16 and older. An April Pew research project  showed that "in mid-December 2011, 17% of American adults had reported they read an e-book in the previous year; by February, 2012, the share increased to 21%."

Who are these readers? In the April 2012 report, Pew researchers stated:

Summary: 2012 was a very quiet, but very successful year for Linux. How successful? The most popular end-user operating system is now Linux.

2012 didn't see any single large Linux news story. Instead, we saw many small Linux stories that, when added together, led to Linux becoming the single most important operating system of all. Here's the count-down to the top of the operating system stack.

5) Raspberry Pi is as popular as apple pie

People love their polished hardware devices such as the Apple iPad, but some still love do-it-yourself *DIY) gear and nothing says DIY quite so much as the Raspberry Pi. This Linux-powered credit-card sized computer is as bare-bones as it comes, but it still had over 250,000 people on its buyers waiting list before its launch. Months later it's still insanely popular.