Amazing, simply amazing! We have no idea how many Ubuntu phone units were sold today, but after only three hours all available BQ Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition smartphones were sold out. Looks like the Ubuntu community in Europe is really strong, as they also had to face some server issues with BQ’s online store, which apparently was not prepared for a large crowd.

Also The Second Batch of Ubuntu Phones Was Sold Out in Ten Minutes

BQ Says They Received 12,000 Ubuntu Phone Orders Per Minute

As we announced yesterday, Ubuntu Phone’s flash sale happens today, February 11, 2015, right now. Therefore, if you are desperate to get one today, forget about reading this article and go get yours from BQ’s online store.

Despite all the unhappy snowflakes that have flung their poo in the general direction of Canonical, and all the Phoronix headlines that have thrown fuel on the fire, I respect Canonical and the community for their willingness to be different and try something new.

Much as I admire the work of Mozilla and Jolla on their respective phone platforms, they are largely doing what we already have today, just in a slightly different way (and in the case of FirefoxOS, to target important new markets). Canonical, though, is doing something genuinely different: scopes are a new model, the application developer model is new, and the feel of Ubuntu on phones even feels new.

With it, they are stirring the pot in a heavily entrenched market and having the confidence to propose something new, something that fits into a bigger convergence story, and something that is entirely free and open source.

Is it a risky play? Sure it is. All of the eggs are being put into the convergence basket, but if they pull this off, it could open up a whole new exciting era, not just for Ubuntu, but for open source too.

Two years after its initial announcement, Canonical will finally release its Ubuntu Phone in Europe during the coming week.

Also: Ubuntu Smartphone: Small Player Debuts In A Big Game

Ubuntu on smartphones is here, but is it enough to make you switch?

The first Ubuntu smartphone is finally here