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Out of curiosity, when it was decided to change the domain from ubuntu.stackexchange.com why was askubuntu.com instead of ask.ubuntu.com chosen? Since SE is an official support channel, wouldn't it be better for it to be under ubuntu.com domain umbrella?

PS Just my personal preferences, I prefer ask.ubuntu.com.

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    askubuntu.com is shorter! Might make sense to have one redirect to the other though.
    – N.N.
    Oct 22, 2011 at 19:02

2 Answers 2

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There was discussion of this when the first came out of beta. However, it was decided that askubuntu.com would be the domain. It'll likely stay this way since AU is a community effort and in the same vein as ubuntuforums.org (which also isn't forums.ubuntu.com)

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    If it's the community route, why .com instead of .org?
    – Oxwivi
    Oct 24, 2011 at 7:37
  • @Oxwivi Probably because .com is arguably an easier to remember TLD and because while being community run we're backed and supported by Stack Exchange, so it's a unique scenario, regardless of the situation .com is typically a "better" tld to start with. Oct 24, 2011 at 12:05
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    While not intended, generally the TLD isn't related to the organization type anymore.
    – Jacob
    Oct 26, 2011 at 4:20
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This community is not a part of Canonical, and is not an official Ubuntu thing. Think of it as a fansite. Granted, if we worked it out with Canonical, we might get them to give us that subdomain of their website, but if we are independent of them, that's not really necessary.

And that's part of the wonder of Ubuntu and all Free Software -- anybody can do anything independently. Canonical manages Ubuntu, but they don't own it -- and if you want to start "BetterUbuntu.com" and sell people copies of Ubuntu with a few small tweaks, you could go ahead and do that. Or if you wanted to actually start a real branch, like Kubuntu, you could do that too. Or you could start a community site like this. Or you could just start distributing Ubuntu as is (except with different branding, because Canonical has a few trademarks), yourself, and try to get recognized as the new authority in the Ubuntu community -- although the community is pretty close to Canonical, at this point.

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  • It's an official support channel. Well, officially recognized community support channel - has a full-time Canonical representative, and other Canonical employees answer here from time to time, something that Ubuntu Forums lack, as far as I know.
    – Oxwivi
    Oct 25, 2011 at 19:32
  • And no, I'm not free to use the Ubuntu trademark and logos, they're Canonical properties. Can't use them commercially anyway, seeing as the LoCos and stuff use it widely.
    – Oxwivi
    Oct 25, 2011 at 19:34
  • Yeah, you got me on that last one -- you'd have to call it Wooooobuntu, and put a hat on the logo, or something.
    – Daniel
    Oct 26, 2011 at 15:16
  • Or get permission to use them, a la OMG! Ubuntu! By the way, I'm not the one who downvoted you, but I will not upvote you either.
    – Oxwivi
    Oct 26, 2011 at 15:28

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