The Death of Ubuntu Desktop Was Greatly Exaggerated

It was just a few months ago when Ubuntu announced they were killing off Unity, their main desktop option.  Many people were wondering if this was part of their larger pivot towards more profitable ventures and thus they would be leaving the desktop behind.  I too was filled with worry about that potential outcome but calmed myself remembering that I was not locked into one vendor for my OS any longer.  In the intervening months however it has become clear that Ubuntu is not killing of the desktop, far from it.  In fact the strides they are taking with Ubuntu 17.10 and Ubuntu 18.04 look like they are about to put out the strongest desktop offering to date.  Not having to carry the weight of a phone platform, their own desktop environment, etc. has allowed their team to focus on giving positive contributions to Gnome proper.  I’ve had the opportunity to play around with the Ubuntu 17.10 betas and have to say that I don’t think I’d be missing anything from my current Ubuntu experience.  I look forward to upgrading to 18.04 when the time comes and no longer worrying about if one of my desktop baselines was going away.