Ubuntu dropping convergence


So I assume pretty much everyone got the news Canonical is dropping Unity, Mir display tech and Ubuntu phones too. This was quite a huge shock to the world and the biggest news item to happen in Linux, especially Ubuntu in quite some time.

I am one of those Unity fans, so I took the news badly. I didn’t mind them dropping Mir or Ubuntu phones because I had an Ubuntu phone for a long time but I recently migrated back to Android. Unity was a desktop environment that really shook things up for Ubuntu. It alienated many dedicated Ubuntu users and Gnome fans who possibly moved to another Linux or just installed Ubuntu Gnome edition. However, Unity gathered many new Linux users due to a sleek but friendly experience.

It also allowed many PC hardware providers like System 76 to sell a product with software that much closer matched the quality of the hardware shipped. Now with Ubuntu making such a huge change it has a knock on effect to companies who rely on sales. Nobody will know if the effect is good or bad or otherwise until some stats are drawn up based on the same period of sales the previous year.

Do you think its good or a bad move by Canonical?