Failure to Innovate or Failure to Update

I am reading a article with Mark Shuttleworth of Ubuntu about criticism regarding the release of Ubuntu Hardy Heron. I’ve thought about this for awhile after using 8.04 and being somewhat dismayed with how difficult it actually was to get Firefox 2 working with plugins after doing a Hardy Heron install. The plugin architecture appears to be all different and I got numerous “failed to load plugin xxyy; missing file” when I attempted to actually use a web browser that would work with the vast number of my plugins. I did solve that actually but it created a few other questions in my vast universe of thought regarding exactly where Linux is heading these days. Perhaps its a good time to come up with these since Linuxworld Expo is around the corner as well. Its not like the IDG show will yield appreciable insight into where Linux is going. Mark says that Gnome would benefit from QT integration and that the 6 month release cycle works even with a few issues. I have more basic questions about it like:

Where is it all going? What is the roadmap, the plan, the goal? To what end does Linux itself plotting? I don’t honestly get it anymore. Kernel releases come out slower but they seem higher in quality yet they often break things that integrate like VMware. Where do we wish to see the value? What is the innovation point? Does a failure to actually update things mean a failure to innovate? Should there be a “bleeding edge” of Ubuntu much like Sid on Debian for those of us that want to play at a dangerous level?

What timeline are we discussing for true innovation? I just don’t see the path any longer nor do I see my place on the path. I’ve grown a bit reticent about updating perfectly good Ubuntu 7.10 installations because I don’t see the big change. What does it get me in terms of the underlying form and function? I could probably use a new kernel for some things but why?

What are the visible trends that Linux is answering? Is it desktop? Server, Embedded? I don’t see the trend any longer. I see gnome and KDE doing things but there is not a path to the light.

For us tool users, we will always use the tool with the best fit whether it innovates or just updates. But we also may want a playground which can be stressed a bit. I’m going to Linuxworld to meet up with some people I know and don’t know. But I don’t expect a set of answers. Ubuntu Linux in some ways seems stalled on a set of features that really don’t innovate but just update. Perhaps I should just go back to Sid.