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Ubuntu Heads To Smartphones, and Tablets

Posted by samzenpus on from the have-another-option dept.

First time accepted submitter GuerillaRadio writes "Mark Shuttleworth is to announce that Canonical will be taking Ubuntu Linux to smartphones, tablets, and smart TVs at the Ubuntu Developer Summit in Orlando, FL starting today. Shuttleworth said, 'This is a natural expansion of our idea as Ubuntu as Linux for human beings. As people have moved from desktop to new form factors for computing, it's important for us to reach out to our community on these platforms. So, we'll embrace the challenge of how to use Ubuntu on smartphones, tablets and smart-screens.'"

10 of 281 comments (clear)

  1. This is clearly what he was always planning... by JustNiz · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ...since Unity has made Ubuntu completely suck on anything with a mouse and keyboard.

    1. Re:This is clearly what he was always planning... by HopefulIntern · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I am trying to understand what people miss from KDE, Gnome 2 or other DEs that Unity doesn't have

      Familiarity.

  2. Good news - Android minus Google's crippleware... by jkrise · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Google has taken Linus and modified it to suit their aims and goals, rather than using the power of community Linux. Canonical will give the smartphone world the power of Linux minus the controls and restrictions imposed by Google. Customers will be the biggest winners here.

    --
    If you keep throwing chairs, one day you'll break windows....
  3. The Difference by masternerdguy · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Microsoft doesn't have a monopoly there. That's the big difference. They're competing mainly with Apple/Google, and I think they can take them on.

    --
    To offset political mods, replace Flamebait with Insightful.
    1. Re:The Difference by Chrisq · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Microsoft doesn't have a monopoly there. That's the big difference. They're competing mainly with Apple/Google, and I think they can take them on.

      You might be right, but Apple has proved to be as unscrupulous as Microsoft. Expect all the ridiculous patents (e.g looks like a tablet) that they have used against Android to be used against Ubuntu.

    2. Re:The Difference by Kjella · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Microsoft doesn't have a monopoly there. That's the big difference. They're competing mainly with Apple/Google, and I think they can take them on.

      No, only:
      - A long history of locked down devices
      - A lot of custom hardware on each phone/tablet
      - No tradition for dual boot
      - Covered by a ton of silly software patents

      Just look at how many problems Linux has had, and still to some degree has, with basic functionality even on fairly standard desktop gear. Like sound, network, wifi, suspend/resume, bluetooth, power management and so on. Now try this in the phone/tablet world where a lot of the hardware is used exactly once in one generation and there's lots of magic values and toggles. I predict the YotLT is even further away than the YotLD.

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
    3. Re:The Difference by interkin3tic · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Apple is going after Samsung using design patents [wikimedia.org] this is a slightly different concept that the 'standard' patent for an 'invention'.

      See, I didn't BEAT the victim up for owing me money. I tasered him. Beating for owed money implies I hit him with blunt objects to hurt him because he didn't give me money. Not the case at all. I used electricity to coax him to pay me what I was owed.

      There wasn't any apple-bashing going on there. Apple, like most other tech companies, is using lawyers to stifle competition. With samsung, the most logical weapon were the design patents. That doesn't mean they're going to say "Okay, ubuntu mobile doesn't have rounded corners or a home button, so we're just going to try to compete by making a better product rather than trying to shut them down with lawyers."

  4. Re:Unity's table look and feel by MrHanky · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I thought it was just a half-assed imitation of OS X with the dock moved over to the left side and inconsistent application menus. Unlike Gnome3, it doesn't seem like something that would work on a tablet (nor anywhere else). I'd like a Gnome3 version of the Asus Eeee Pad Transformer.

  5. Re:Good by tomhudson · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I'm not entirely sure how Ubuntu think they'll compete with Android when it's already free*, though.

    The same way they "competed" with Vista on the desktop with the Walmart $200 Ubuntu PC. Too many returns.
    The same way they "competed" with Windows with those Dell consumer laptops running Ubuntu ... 30% return rates suck. Ended up being replaced by the aging XP.
    The same way they "compete" with Amazon's cloud service (hint - they don't - they use Amazon's EC2 cloud service).
    The same way they "compete" with Apple and Microsoft right now - oh wait - they can't even GIVE it away.
    Ubuntu is shuttleworth-speak for "make a big announcement, then nothing much happens, then move on to the next Oh shiny!"

    The TV and blu-ray manufacturers already have their own customized distros. Nobody's going to switch from Android to a distro that has a history of breaking something important on every update.

  6. know your market by t2t10 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Ubuntu's traditional market niche is the technical and professional market, people who used to use UNIX workstations. Unfortunately, with 11.10 and the upcoming move away from X11, Ubuntu is hell-bent on leaving that market: Unity is already nearly useless for power users (it doesn't work well at all on large or multi-screen setups), tools like Synaptic are becoming non-standard, etc.

    Unfortunately, Ubuntu doesn't have a chance in the tablet and smartphone market either. That market is already well service by Android and iOS. Ubuntu has virtually no mobile developers. And if it manages against all odds to even get a small market share, Ubuntu will face the kind of patent feeding frenzy that Android is being subjected to.

    Too bad Shuttleworth couldn't leave good enough alone. He's going to kill Ubuntu and seriously hurt Linux as a whole.