“If you’re currently using free Ubuntu, you’re getting supported Ubuntu Pro as part of your VCF license — which is amazing.” – Thibaut Rouffineau, Canonical

At VMware Explore 2025, Doug Green, Publisher of Technology Reseller News, spoke with Thibaut Rouffineau, Vice President of Marketing at Canonical, about how Canonical is elevating Ubuntu into the heart of enterprise private cloud.

Canonical, the publisher of Ubuntu and a leader in securing open-source for enterprises, featured prominently in VMware’s major announcements. The news: Ubuntu Pro is now bundled with VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) licenses, instantly providing enterprise customers with long-term support, compliance, and hardened security — at no extra cost.

Rouffineau explained that this recognition of Ubuntu as a first-class enterprise Linux within VCF is about much more than operating systems. Enterprises can now confidently run workloads across VMs, manage Kubernetes clusters with less disruptive upgrades, and accelerate container adoption on a secure and scalable foundation.

Since the announcements, VMware Explore attendees have been eager to understand how these changes impact their modernization journey. Canonical’s answer: what was once free Ubuntu now comes with enterprise-grade support, helping organizations move faster while reducing risk.

For more information, visit Canonical.com.