Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

OEMs Looking to Ubuntu for Netbook Market

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the big-bad-microsoft-gets-left-behind dept.

Anon writes "Mark Shuttleworth provides much more detail today about development of the Ubuntu netbook platform, and says OEMs are calling Canonical when they want to start building netbooks. Channelweb notes: 'It's actually a big deal. For example, Dell CEO Michael Dell has been carrying around an early version of a Dell mini-notebook, and referring to it as the device for the next billion Internet users [...] Asus has become an industry rock star by using GNU Linux to power its Eee PC. HP's niche Mini note runs SLED 10 Linux. The iPhone, of course, doesn't run Microsoft software. Is anyone paying attention in Redmond?'"

15 of 224 comments (clear)

  1. They are listening by snl2587 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    And here comes the next round from a company on it's way out the door and no longer truly innovating: litigation!

  2. Is anyone paying attention in Redmond? by sconeu · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "Is anyone paying attention in Redmond?"

    Yes.

    At least OLPC and Asus are.

    --
    General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
  3. If ya think about it.. by TheDarkener · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It really is pretty simple here - there are those who want overcoded, overprotective, overhyped operating systems. And then, there are those who want to use their computer.

    The eee, Netbook remix, ume-launcher and all OSS-friendly friends fit into the latter. Let's face it - the operating system is slowly melting into the background. Vista, for instance, is trying to kick and scream its way back to the front of your widescreen LCD - but sooner or later, people are going to 'ho-hum' them into oblivion, and get on their Intarwebs the easier way.

    P.S. lolsauce.

    --
    It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
    1. Re:If ya think about it.. by RMH101 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      you know you're enormously in the minority, right? I mean, I'm in there with you, as are a lot of /. readers, but compared to the general public, we're really a very small minority. desktop email/web/photos/mp3s/minor document editing - that's *it* for most people. And who's to say that's wrong?

    2. Re:If ya think about it.. by Nulifier · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I don't think you'll be running Photoshop, Matlab, video games, and Maya on a subnotebook. Subnotbooks are more geared towards the things that Linux does really well and it doesn't do any differently from Windows, like surfing the internet, reading email and word processing. The way that you can get people to be open to trying Linux on their main computer is showing them that it is not just a command line (every non-tech person I talk to thinks it is) and that it is as capable of being the full-fledged OS that we all know it is.

  4. Stop the mind control by moderatorrater · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Just call it Linux. Calling it Gnu/Linux completely ignores the work that's gone into making Linux a household name. "Linux" is a weird enough name, throwing a little-known water buffalo that nobody knows how to pronounce is disastrous.

    1. Re:Stop the mind control by pembo13 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      You can call it what you want. But at least on Slashdot, you should try to be specific.

      --
      "Thanks for all the money you paid to us. We've used it to buy off ISO among other things" -Microsoft
    2. Re:Stop the mind control by Kjella · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Don't worry, the consumers will be sufficiently confused by there being ubuntu linux, suse linux, fedora linux, mandriva linux and so on. The most damage it could do is that people mistake it for another distro. At any rate, I think GNU/Linux is either redundant or insufficient. "Linux" is enough to identify it, to describe my system KDE/x.org/GNU/Linux would be in order. I think all four are about equally fundamental to me, I don't think I'd run any other three if one was missing.

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
    3. Re:Stop the mind control by the_humeister · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Right, so I should call my system KDE/x.org/GNU/Linux? Otherwise GNU/Linux would just imply that you're just using the command-line interface.

  5. what does this have to do with ubuntu? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The iPhone, of course, doesn't run Microsoft software. Is anyone paying attention in Redmond?'

    if anyone is a bigger offender of lock-in it's apple. why do slashdotters act like it's some kind of victory? is this about a brand or about freedom as you all caw on about?

    1. Re:what does this have to do with ubuntu? by khellendros1984 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I think in the case of Apple, it's the lingering mindset that they're the ailing underdog (which was true for a number of years). I think that as they become larger and stronger, they're losing some of the underdog image, and some people (such as yourself) are beginning to notice that they're just a company, and worse in some ways than the companies we love to ridicule for their success (Microsoft). People as a whole aren't logical. Expecting them to be consistent is further straining credulity, haha.

      --
      It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
    2. Re:what does this have to do with ubuntu? by trouser · · Score: 4, Insightful

      My macbook is a closed system of open APIs. The implementation is closed source but the APIs are documented.

      My w2k VM is a blackbox. I don't have a clue what it is doing or why or how to change it. The implementation is closed source but the APIs are documented.
      --
      Now wash your hands.
  6. Re:Linux critical mass by MightyMartian · · Score: 4, Insightful

    So, at this point, I have to wonder whether Microsoft is going to try to converge WinCE code with Vista code for Windows 7 to have a single OS that can run on phones / UMPCs / netbooks / laptops / desktops (or at least the same codebase even if CPUs aren't the same). That's probably going to be hard for Microsoft. I expect they'll try to reimplement apps in silverlight instead.


    I'm sure that's what they'll want to do, but for Microsoft the chief problem is while everyone else is concentrating on mimimalistic systems whose specs were top-notch six years ago, everything in Microsoft's code base has been going the other way. By the looks of it, they're going to try to reposition Windows XP for low-end systems, because it will run reasonably well on these systems. Vista and Windows 7 are going to be no-shows. There's simply no evidence I can see that suggests that Windows 7 is going to be any less a resource hog that Vista.

    And good luck to them recoding for Silverlight. I think they're going to need it.
    --
    The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  7. LIMP by deanston · · Score: 4, Insightful

    OEM such as Dell and HP has always relied on MS to tell them when to upgrade hardware and drivers, but all the time half listen and looking for cheap outs, ergo the Vista flop. They've long lost the ability to innovate or motivate on their own nor understand their users. Linux companies ought to beware of established OEM as partners when they come knocking looking for help on that next sale to bail them out. As soon Ballmer slip a 'We'll give you a Windows XZ for a nickel!', the same OEMs will drop Linux on a dime. And will the same vendor offer dedicated support to help novice users upgrade the ever-evolving OS 3 times a year? To ensure long term success and real Linux traction, whoever the Linux company is supplying the netbook OS must keep up the positive user experience for years, not months.

  8. Interface needs a make over by Macka · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I've tried playing around with the Eeee PC, and while I can see the appeal, the GUI experience is a bit sucky. Gnome as is, just wasn't designed with a screen that small in mind, and it shows with the amount of real estate consumed by control buttons and what not in proportion to the data.

    What's needed is a kind of minimalist mode, where contol buttons and menus don't get in the way, but can be exposed easily and intuitively as they're required. That's going to be a lot of very hard work.