If you’ve checked out Ubuntu’s website lately, you’ve probably noticed that it’s looking pretty slick, especially compared to a few years ago. Here’s a look at how ubuntu.com has evolved over time, and why it matters.

Well designed websites aren’t a forte of the open-source community. There are some exceptions, but many projects have home pages that, although functional, don’t look like they’ve had an aesthetic update since the Windows 95 era. GNU Mailman is an example. Linux.org is another.

Geeks may not care about pretty CSS or flashy javascript as long as they can access a site’s content easily, but there is something to be said for sleek Web design when it comes to appealing to the masses.

Ubuntu.com through the years

On this front, Ubuntu’s website has come a long way in the last couple years. Here’s a look at the home page from August 6, 2007, courtesy of the Internet Archive (since dead links broke the CSS in the Internet Archive’s version of the page, I pieced it back together; for the full HTML, click here):

Rest Here