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Ubuntu Tablet OS To Take On Android, iOS
snydeq writes "Canonical CEO Jane Silber discusses the Ubuntu maker's ambitions in the mobile market, saying there is plenty of room for a new player in tablets, TVs, and maybe even smartphones. 'There is a real demand for an alternative platform. We believe Ubuntu has all the characteristics that are needed to become that platform,' Silber says, adding that she expects to see Ubuntu on tablets later this year. 'And we think we can do that effectively because of characteristics of Ubuntu as a platform, industry dynamics, and an increased wariness around the walled gardens of Apple and to some extent Google and even Amazon, as they are increasingly in this game as well.' Silber cites openness, open governance, collaboration, and a strong developer ecosystem as key for Ubuntu as a tablet platform, when compared with Android and iOS."
Hasn't competition in the Linux community always been the case, between the various distros ?
My two bits
Clive DaSilva Email: clive.dasilva@gmail.com Ubuntu 18.10 Kernel 4.18
Network guy here - I've got a WebOS tablet, and 2 recent Android smartphones, none of which are usable for work due to reliance on crap apps in the software store. If Ubuntu becomes available, it will be all Ubuntu - give me NetworkManager for VPN, and a terminal window with actual ssh and telnet, and I'm happy. Oh and I can run bash and python scripts from my phone? I WANT I WANT I WANT
Anyone who has seen Unity saw this coming. Its not very fluent for most peoples desktop usage, but would be great on a tablet or smart phone.
Then buy one now.
Install Ubuntu on a Fujitsu stylistic and get something that has far more power than any of these toys.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Have you ever written an app for Android?
I have, that platform utterly SUCKS to program for.
"or you could write your own" is the same as, "or you can build your own car from scratch"...
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
While you are right that Unity (and GNOME3 for that matter) probably make sense on tablets, don't expect to buy one anytime soon. Did ya hear any OEM deals being announced? Hint, if they weren't at CES hyping hardware deals you shouldn't expect any to ship in the next six months to a year. And that is the problem, nobody will ship Ubuntu on a tablet because nobody wants it. Nobody wants it because nobody has ever seen it on a tablet, nobody even knows it exists. And with signed boot being the new hotness there won't even be much aftermarket loading except onto the skeeviest Chinese imports.
But aftermarket loads don't matter anyway, look at Linux. Twenty years on and we are still an asterisk. End users don't load operating systems, they use whatever the factory preloads. And Google and Microsoft will be competing to offer OEMs bennies to pick their offering, what is Canonical planning on offering? It's Free? And so is Android and for all intents and purposes so will Windows 8 be free after the CoOp marketing kickbacks and such, or at least close enough to free that the ability to price the final product higher will make up for it.
Democrat delenda est
Linux has gained traction in any market not dominated by a single vendor that had a greater than 90% share of the entire market even before Linux got started.
You mention MacOS in passing.
Apple couldn't unseat MS-DOS with a product that implements just about every "well meaning" suggestion ever hurled at Linux.
A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
I wouldn't say that.
Has Canonical burned an epic amount of karma with Unity? Absolutely. But now we see the strategy of Canonical and why the (at the time) weird decisions were being made - for moving into the mobile & embedded market.
1) The nasty split with the Gnome community over Gnome3. Due to the Gnome community designing for the desktop and ignoring Canonical's input for the most part. Canonical decides to develop Unity so it can control the development path.
2) Wayland - X has way too much overhead and features for low-power mobile devices. Wayland keeps it nice and light.
3) Close/minimize/maximize debacle - pure usabilty idea. It was thrown out there to play with the code and how far people will accept change.
4) Ubuntu One - iTunes/Amazon fighter.
Being as they are one of (if not the) largest GPL distros on the planet, they know they have a massive built in base they can use for beta testing ideas, Q&A and bug fixing (since the code is all out in the open). That's huge. Add in the rock solid dependability of Linux and they have a winner.
I call it 'The Aristocrats'
Actually, Ubuntu screws around quite a bit with configuration files. I find this particularly annoying, it seems that nothing is where it used to be, or works as it used to work.
Very annoying.
X has way too much overhead and features for low-power mobile devices.
I always find this argument funny, considering I first used X on a 32MHz CPU with 32MB of RAM.
I would agree that it's not ideal for a tablet that's mostly used for full-screen apps and media consumption, but 'overhead and features' are not the reason.
Actually, I *love* my HTC Flyer and Samsung Galaxy Tab Plus; both 7" form factor tablets.
In fact, nothing has changed the way I live more since my first personal computer. Albeit, I use them almost totally as ebook readers, music players, occasional browsing and the rare sudoku game.
I carry a tablet with me everywhere these days. 7 inch tablets fit nicely in my pants pocket, the battery lasts 8+ hours of *active* use. What's not to like?
Slashdot Valentines Beta Massacre: iT WORKED! The boycotts killed Beta!!
I hate Unity but I love Gnome-shell. (No seriously) Tapping the top left corner to see the overview of apps per desktop, with my videos still playing while I choose which application to bring to the foreground with all its 3D acceleration glory. That's going to rock on a tablet. Then apt-get install whatever I want. Squeeeee!!! I want it. When Ubuntu with Gnome-shell hits an ARM based tablet or a Medfield Atom tablet, that's when I'm jumping in.
Burn FAT not OIL
I hate Unity but I love Gnome-shell. (No seriously)
Tapping the top left corner to see the overview of apps per desktop, with my videos still playing while I choose which application to bring to the foreground with all its 3D acceleration glory.
That's going to rock on a tablet.
Then apt-get install whatever I want. Squeeeee!!! I want it.
When Ubuntu with Gnome-shell hits an ARM based tablet or a Medfield Atom tablet, that's when I'm jumping in.
OK, now we've sold FIVE of those suckers! On a roll!
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
Perhaps more to the point: with Linux, fragmentation is a feature. Not always a very useful one, but a feature nonetheless.
Rule of Slashdot #0: You and people like you are not representative of the larger population. - A.C.
"don't expect to buy one anytime soon."
You mean dont expect to buy a PRE MADE READY TO GO one anytime soon.
I built my 5th one last week and have another on the way.
starter Cost to build? $99.00 shipped for a used Stylistic ST5011d off of ebay with better specs than the ipad 1. Ubuntu installs nicely with small tweaks. Make it screaming fast by dropping in a 32 or 64 gig SSD drive instead of a spinning drive.
Total cost with new SSD, upgrade ram to 2 gig, and a new battery? $329.95 Oh and it kicks the crud out of any android tablet... Except most linux apps are NOT written for tablet use. so there are almost ZERO apps that have a smooth operation.
But it's a Ubuntu tablet, in my hands right now. and you can have one too!
You can have one now if you have the education to spend 3 hours putting one together.
Wait, it kicks the crud out of any Android tablet except there isn't a single app with smooth operation? So, find a used one on eBay, wait for it to arrive, then spend some time sticking in new ram, a new battery and a new hard drive, then install Ubuntu, and then notice that there are no optimized apps, and all existing apps run poorly? And that's just from your comments, and you seem to like the things!
I have an ASUS Transformer with keyboard dock and I think it's great. I really do. It's my netbook as necessary and a tablet which is particularly good for tabling events.
My problem with the Transformer is that it runs Android. I would prefer Android over iOS any day, but Google continues to develop Android as a single-person data collection device (requiring me to be constantly signed into a variety of services) instead of a multi-user platform where *I* get to choose who sees what.
If/when Ubuntu gets prepped for tablet distribution and I can install it on my Transformer, I will do it the very night it's available. Google has just over-stepped its bounds for me to give it the benefit of the doubt with my data any more.
> Offering Linux costs OEMs money because MS gives the OEMs cash incentives for preloading Windows.
No. Go look at Microsoft's balance sheet. The only divisions making significant coin are the OS and Office lines and almost nobody buys those products at retail. So logic dictates the lion's share of their revenue is being extracted in OEM contracts. Which it is. The way it works is they charge such insane prices for WIndows that an OEM is totally uncompetitive. Then IF and only IF that OEM plays ball they will refund enough in co-op marketing credits for them to survive. But it has been true for some years that the Windows license is often the most expensive component in a lower end PC and is is now moving up to the midrange. It is so bad that for netbooks they have to offer Starter Edition to prevent the netbook makers from going back to Linux[1]. At those price points the normal Microsoft Tax just isn't an option.
And Intel plays exactly the same game btw. You should hear the Intel splash at the end of PC adverts as "We are being paid not to do business with AMD." The difference is that Windows is so pervasive they don't even bother insisting on a sound or logo because they prefer to maintain the image that there aren't even any competitors.
Now it is true that OEMs collect money for the crapware that gets loaded atop Windows and that does offset some of the license fees to Microsoft and that revenue isn't yet available on a Linux preload. But I really doubt the trialware/crapware truly equals the cost of a Windows license.
[1] They initially went with Linux because Vista wouldn't run on the first netbooks and XP wasn't being offered anymore except as an option with a Vista Business Edition license. Microsoft quickly realized the problem and made XP available at a special cut rate to netbook makers; at which time Linux instantly vanished and has not been seen since in the netbook space. Plus the original netbook was a small, inexpensive and netcentric device. Which customers loved but OEMs hated because of the small margins. Moving to larger, more expensive small WIndows laptops and calling them netbooks was far more profitable, even with the license fees. Observe how the 9" netbook went extinct at about the same time as the shift to Windows.
Democrat delenda est