Given Ubuntu’s recent glitzy and fanfare-accompanied debut on the world’s mobile stage, it’s beginning to look like limelight and red carpets will increasingly be a part of FOSS’ future. You’ve come a long way, baby! And to think, we knew you back when! Now, what could be a more logical next step than an appearance on the silver screen?

The Linux community may not exactly be known for its glitzy launch events, but last week saw one the likes of which has rarely — if ever — been seen in these parts before. Splashier even than the blogosphere’s New Year’s Eve festivities, most agreed, the Ubuntu for phones announcement on Wednesday might well have been a Cupertino production, so loud were the trumpets and fanfare.

Well another holiday season has come and gone, leaving more than a few jangled nerves and expanded waistlines in its wake. Holiday pressures are bad enough by themselves, of course, but Canonical’s splashy and yet profoundly confusing Wednesday announcement so soon afterward hasn’t exactly helped.