Is Google going to roll out Goobuntu?

I have been wondering quite a while. Is Google going to come up with an operating system? In fact I thought about this way back in late 2005 when the giant search engine started introducing new applications and later acquired several social networking tools as well as blogs such as Blogger. Wouldn't it be great, one day, to come up with an operating system for all your wonderful applications to run on?

With all the applications and merging of all the services under one Google account, what could possibly do next? I thought it would naturally be an operating system - possibly a Linux based one because it was available free, Open Source,

Then in January of 2006, news (some claimed it was rumours) went out like wildfire - Google was indeed working on one and on Linux, too. This was written about by journalist Ben King (The Register UK). The piece mentioned about Goobuntu.

Quoting King:

A version of the increasingly popular Ubuntu desktop Linux distribution, based on Debian and the Gnome desktop, it is known internally as 'Goobuntu'.

Google has confirmed it is working on a desktop linux project called Goobuntu, but declined to supply further details, including what the project is for.

In March this year, an unofficial blog watching Google's next move wrote about the search giant having acquired a company called Android in 2005 and might be working on an operating system for cell phones.

Putting these and more together, I am wondering when Google's Goobuntu will be released. After all, Google has been using Goobuntu for some time already.

What's keeping it from opening the floodgates and initiate a clash of operating systems that will eventually see the triumph of Open Source?

Is it true, as Anders Bylund reported in January 31 last year, that Google does not plan to distribute Goobuntu?

Quoting Bylund:

Despite today being earnings release day, presumably a very busy time at the Google press relations office, technology spokeswoman Sonya Borälv responded very quickly to my query on the topic. She said that "we use Ubuntu internally but have no plans to distribute it outside of the company."

Screenshot of Goobuntu?

Last Thursday, Google launched OpenSocial which, in a nutshell, is a common mastercode (APIs) that permits developers to create applications that work on common social networks. If you are on Facebook, for instance, it will allow you to access other social networking applications such as orkut, Friendster, etc. with the click of a mouse.

With this latest development, I am quite convinced that a Google OS will not be far down the horizon. I am second guessing that Google would get an OS, Goobuntu or not, out soon.

Already there is a huge group of Linux users out there. There is also a large group of Window users who want to change but did not know how because of the uncertainty and lack of technical backup.

If Google were to provide this OS, and free, as all its applications, then we will see an interesting change in the playing field. One thing I am sure, free OS would mean making a dent in the illicit earnings of software pirates.