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Ubuntu For Phones To Arrive Next Week On Nexus 4

Posted by Soulskill on from the year-of-linux-on-the-nexus4top dept.

nk497 writes "Canonical has revealed that a developer preview of Ubuntu for phones will arrive next week, on the 21st of February. The touch preview will initially only be available for the Galaxy Nexus and Nexus 4 smartphones, but Canonical plans to support more devices. The release is designed to let developers create apps — and to give 'enthusiasts' a sneak peek — ahead of the smartphone side of Ubuntu arriving in version 13.10 in October. Canonical suggested that the OS will initially only support low-end smartphones, but the group plans to also support higher-end models, too, and the OS will work across mobile devices, PCs and TVs."

107 comments

  1. Anyone with experience with the simulator? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I've burned in the past with simulators not working like the the device it's supposed to simulate. Does anyone have experience with it?

  2. Oh, the stupidity! by plover · · Score: 0, Troll

    Few features on the iPhone are as unwanted or un-Appley as the stupid 'search' feature. And here's Canonical, the guys who made Linux's GUI suck harder by porting it to their platform, about to inflict their GPLed brand of user-hostility on some unsuspecting phone users?

    Here's a tip to all cell phone vendors: prepare a thick stack of RMA forms for the onslaught of unhappy customers.

    --
    John
    1. Re:Oh, the stupidity! by RyuuzakiTetsuya · · Score: 4, Informative

      Really? I have pages and pages of apps. Rather than memorize where that rarely used but critical app is, I just search.

      --
      Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
    2. Re:Oh, the stupidity! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      " unsuspecting phone users"

      What the fuck are you babbling about?

    3. Re:Oh, the stupidity! by Nikker · · Score: 5, Funny

      Mark Shuttleworth will break into your house in the middle of the night and install Ubuntu Phone on your smartphone, toaster and refidgerator with out you knowing. It's been known for a while not sure why it hasn't become a post on ./

      --
      A loop, by its nature, continues. If that didn't make sense, start reading this sentence again.
    4. Re:Oh, the stupidity! by plover · · Score: 3, Insightful

      And do you want to remember and tap that obscure name into the phone's keyboard? I also have many pages of apps, but with a decent set of named folders to organize them, I can get to any of them in a few taps.

      Foe example, I know I have an app of the periodic table, but I certainly don't remember it's named "EMD PTE" (by the way, that's an absolutely terrific free periodic table app if you need one), yet I swipe and tap into my "Weather and Science" folder and there it is.

      --
      John
    5. Re:Oh, the stupidity! by spire3661 · · Score: 0

      One thing that Steve and Apple got absolutely right is the need to database your data. I hated and resisted Itunes forever, but I understand the need for it. Files in folders sucks and we need better ways of abstracting without removing the ability to file manage at all.

      --
      Good-bye
    6. Re:Oh, the stupidity! by admdrew · · Score: 1

      And do you want to remember and tap that obscure name into the phone's keyboard?

      While your anecdotal use of EMD PTE is interesting, I personally have never forgotten the names of any of the apps on my phone. And other than games, I don't see any of my apps that are illogically named, or difficult to remember.

      --
      LegendMUD
    7. Re:Oh, the stupidity! by admdrew · · Score: 1

      un-Appley as the stupid 'search' feature

      Oh, like Spotlight, the incredibly useful search mechanism I use daily on my mbp?

      --
      LegendMUD
    8. Re:Oh, the stupidity! by narcc · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Files in folders is great. I have no problems with it at all. So far, no one has found anything better.

      If you have something better, write it up. If nothing else, you'll learn to appreciate the current system.

      Nothing yet proposed has matched (or even come close) to the simplicity and utility we have now. Steve's goofy idea didn't make anyone's life easier. The lack of FS access on iOS has done nothing but made simple, common, tasks difficult or impossible . iTunes is about as far from ease-of-use as it gets. The whole library and sync concepts just don't work very well outside a very narrow (and uncommon!) use-case.

      Trying to extend that bad idea to other user data like documents, pictures, etc. was one of the biggest mistakes Apple's ever made. Why do you think dropbox is so popular with iOS users? It gives them some of the control they're absolutely desperate to get back. It let's them do simple things like "copy and damn file" and organize their documents, photos, etc. in whatever way suits them best. Dropbox is primarily a workaround for a broken UI.

      --
      Required reading for internet skeptics
    9. Re:Oh, the stupidity! by dhomstad · · Score: 1

      If you have something better, write it up. If nothing else, you'll learn to appreciate the current system.Nothing yet proposed has matched (or even come close) to the simplicity and utility we have now. Steve's goofy idea didn't make anyone's life easier.

      Here's a better idea. Let's put files in folders ***over the internet***. You can store unlimited files (at a hefty price)! We can market it with a sweet name, like "The human brain," "the human network," or "water vapor storage."

      Q: And what do I do when I don't have an internet connection?

      A: Nobody doesn't always have an internet connection!

      --
      No trees were killed to send this message, but a great number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
    10. Re:Oh, the stupidity! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      After all, he is the evil overlord forcing all ubuntu users to use Unity on their systems; Hence the name of the GUI.

    11. Re:Oh, the stupidity! by Rob+the+Bold · · Score: 1

      Really? I have pages and pages of apps. Rather than memorize where that rarely used but critical app is, I just search.

      While it's easier to find an app you're looking for whose name you know by searching by name rather than wading through categories, it's easier to find an application/function/feature of a particular type the other way.

      --
      I am not a crackpot.
    12. Re:Oh, the stupidity! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      exactly!!

    13. Re:Oh, the stupidity! by blind+biker · · Score: 1

      I know I have an app of the periodic table, but I certainly don't remember it's named "EMD PTE" (by the way, that's an absolutely terrific free periodic table app if you need one)

      Thank you, yes, I need one.

      By the way, I, like you, cannot be arsed to remember the name of the apps I have installed on my Nexus 7.

      --
      "The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
    14. Re:Oh, the stupidity! by Common+Joe · · Score: 1

      While we're comparing anecdotes, I forget app names all the time. I may be a half way decent programmer, but my memory recall is pretty poor. I work around my memory issues with very specific habits and naming conventions.

  3. I imagine nobody cares by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Honestly, at this point, who cares about the Ubuntu phone? BTW, call my Nexus 4 a low end phone to my face! Yes, no LTE, but everything else about it is very nice. Hardly in the low end space at all.

    1. Re:I imagine nobody cares by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Flamebait

      BTW, call my Nexus 4 a low end phone to my face!

      By low-end they mean devices that initially come with Android.

    2. Re:I imagine nobody cares by dhomstad · · Score: 2

      Buying the Nexus 4 was the best way to say "fuck you" to the marketers who coined the phrase "4G LTE". I have the Nexus 4 and I would love to load Ubuntu onto it. Forewarning: The Nexus 4 MIGHT be low end compared to some unreleased phones that will reach consumers in 2013.

      --
      No trees were killed to send this message, but a great number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
    3. Re:I imagine nobody cares by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They can call it whatever they want. it works.

      My Galaxy nexus speedtests at 1,380 kb/s in 3G CDMA mode.
      same phone, same spot, speedtests 22,100 kb/s in 4G LTE mode.

      that's a 16fold improvement. What the hell more do you want between generations? hell even ethernet only increases 10fold between generations.

    4. Re:I imagine nobody cares by unrtst · · Score: 0

      My Galaxy nexus speedtests at 1,380 kb/s in 3G CDMA mode.
      same phone, same spot, speedtests 22,100 kb/s in 4G LTE mode.

      that's a 16fold improvement. What the hell more do you want between generations? hell even ethernet only increases 10fold between generations.

      Wrong.
      That's an improvement of 16 times, or 4 fold. Ethernet increases 10 times between generations, or just over 3 fold.

      1380 * 16 = 22080 ...or...
      1380 * 2 = 2760
      2760 * 2 = 5520
      5520 * 2 = 11040
      11040 * 2 = 22080
      = 4 fold

    5. Re:I imagine nobody cares by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have a Nexus 4 on T-Mobile and get something like 15-19mbps down on their HSPA+ network.

      Its not 4G LTE but its blisteringly fast and more than enough for whatever I do with my phone.

    6. Re:I imagine nobody cares by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Might want to re-investigate your math. For base 10, which is what I was working in, I am correct.
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fold_change

    7. Re:I imagine nobody cares by LT218 · · Score: 1

      Your 3G results are low you are on CDMA. GSM/HSPA/HSPA+ 3G networks are much faster. In the past 2 years, I've used a Verizon 4G Galaxy Nexus and a Google Galaxy Nexus (GSM/HSPA) on T-Mobile and AT&T. My Verizon results were similar to yours. With AT&T 3G, I usually get in the neighborhood of 6-8 Mbps. When I was using T-Mobile, speedtests ran anywhere from 10 Mbps to 16 Mbps. So I don't think it's accurate to say 3G isn't "good enough" or "doesn't work". I would agree that Sprint and Verizon 3G is sub-par but AT&T's and T-Mobile's 3G is plenty fast. I can haven't noticed any difference speedwise in my daily use when switching from Verizon to T-Mobile/AT&T.

    8. Re:I imagine nobody cares by unrtst · · Score: 1

      I stand corrected.
      My definition of fold was simply wrong... sure made more sense to me that it meant to behave like folding a piece of paper (so 4 fold would be N * 2^4), and I thought that was the case for many many years, but it looks like I'm wrong, as you pointed out. Sorry.

  4. Can I just be the first to say... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    Awww yisssssssssss

  5. i could see it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I can't see it ever becoming more than a gnat on the side of Android and iOS, but I can see it filling a particular niche - a phone for more technically literate people who are not happy with Apple's draconian control and Android's data harvesting (excepting certain community mods like Cyanogenmod, granted).

    If it turns into a device that can run my desktop software with a "real" windowing system with good mouse/kbd support, e.g, not a bunch of fullscreen touch apps when it's talking to PC peripherals, and without losing good touch support when it's acting as a mobile device, then hey I'm down. Hope they port it to the Galaxy S3 or upcoming S4.

    Apps will be tricky since the community will be so much smaller than iOS and Android. But we need to support phones that don't march us ever closer to a world where everybody's experience is beholden to megacorps. Even if there are amazon-shoppping-whatzits installed on the Ubuntu phone by default, if it's really fairly bog stock ubuntu underneath without a ton of carrier-locked-down shit, could be good. I could see it being everything the N770/N800/N900 series could have been had it kept on being developed: a hacker's dream phone.

    Will reserve final judgment until I get to test drive one.

    1. Re:i could see it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

      a phone for more technically literate

      You lost me there. When has Ubuntu ever been targeted at the "more technically literate"?

    2. Re:i could see it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

      When has Ubuntu ever been targeted at the "more technically literate"?

      The more technically literate are aware you can install (more or less) all the same packages as you can on any distro, including throwing out Unity and using KDE or XFCE or E17. On a phone, Unity might even be a good interface, but you're getting a device that can presumably do both.

      A Unity phone will be far more suitable to the technically literate than iOS, and even Android.

    3. Re:i could see it. by gmuslera · · Score: 2

      The interesting point there is that potentially could be installed in most actual android phones, at least the ones where cyanogenmod could be installed. Is not just one device, but a lot of them, available now, not in october. Would love to see it ported to the N9 (a phone designed for gestures), but probably Sailfish will win there, mostly because device drivers.

    4. Re:i could see it. by N0Man74 · · Score: 2

      a phone for more technically literate

      You lost me there. When has Ubuntu ever been targeted at the "more technically literate"?

      They certainly are more technically literate than the 90% of people that don't know Ubuntu even exists.

    5. Re:i could see it. by gl4ss · · Score: 1

      the hw in n9 isn't any more designed for gestures than say xperia play, 808, samsung galaxy or whatever else that's cap touch screen...

      and this thing eats memory.

      --
      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
    6. Re:i could see it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Android's data harvesting (excepting certain community mods like Cyanogenmod, granted)

      What data harvesting? Do you have any reference to anything specific, or is this just a general theory that Google must be doing something like that? AFAIK, the only data gathering Google does through Android at a system level (as opposed to in Google's apps) is location data, and even that's opt-in.

    7. Re:i could see it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Google Fanboy.

    8. Re:i could see it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

      a phone for more technically literate

      You lost me there. When has Ubuntu ever been targeted at the "more technically literate"?

      Let me guess, you reminisce about the days you used to need to park your hard disk before switching off your computer?

    9. Re:i could see it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's always been targeted at the technically literate - technically literate doesn't mean "prefer to waste my time manually compiling, installing and configuring everything from scratch". In fact, I'd go as far as to say that's the opposite of technically literate, that's technical poseur.

    10. Re:i could see it. by Rob+the+Bold · · Score: 0

      a phone for more technically literate

      You lost me there. When has Ubuntu ever been targeted at the "more technically literate"?

      When? When your Mom starts bitching about DRM and vendor lock-in, and extolling open source like she's RMS while ripping her CDs to FLAC, that's when.

      --
      I am not a crackpot.
    11. Re:i could see it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

      So... that's a no.

    12. Re:i could see it. by Gordonjcp · · Score: 1

      You lost me there. When has Ubuntu ever been targeted at the "more technically literate"?

      Ubuntu has always been the best distro for the more technically literate.

      "Minimal" distros like Gentoo and Arch are great for newbs who want to watch pages and pages of compiler output so they can pretend they're learning about Linux. Those of us that actually have to Get Stuff Done use Ubuntu, and are up and running in ten minutes.

    13. Re:i could see it. by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 2

      I can see it filling a particular niche - a phone for more technically literate people who are not happy with Apple's draconian control and Android's data harvesting (excepting certain community mods like Cyanogenmod, granted).

      I

      I'm holding out for the command line phone. Anything else is just for sissies.......

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    14. Re:i could see it. by MrHanky · · Score: 2

      Arch uses pre-compiled packages, just like Ubuntu.

    15. Re:i could see it. by Rich0 · · Score: 1

      Those of us that actually have to Get Stuff Done use Ubuntu, and are up and running in ten minutes.

      That very much depends on your definition of "Get Stuff Done." If you are only using your OS as a platform to run common applications like Libreoffice, Eclipse, etc, then sure you're up and running fast.

      If getting stuff done means building an embedded system, or something else that is off the beaten path, then a distro like Gentoo is likely to be far more useful. You're going to have to rebuild half the system from source anyway, so you might as well use a distro that makes it easy.

      Oh, and most people running Gentoo don't see any compiler output unless something goes wrong. It is suppressed if you're building in parallel.

    16. Re:i could see it. by spike+hay · · Score: 1

      I spend far less time dealing with retarded bullshit on Arch than on Ubuntu. Far less breakage and pacman is much faster than apt get. It takes longer to initially set up, but you get a system configured how you want and you don't have a cluster fuck update every 6 months.

      Ubuntu has a lot more bugs and quirks, both from using unity and by heavily patching upstream packages.

      --
      If you don't understand any of my sayings, come to me in private and I shall take you in my German mouth.
  6. no one cares by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Ubuntu phone will be a complete dud. Android has the world sewn up for the foreseeable future.

    1. Re:no one cares by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

      Android? Perhaps you forgot about the company that makes 3/4 of all the profits made in mobile... Android is fighting for the table scraps.

    2. Re:no one cares by Teresita · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Android? Perhaps you forgot about the company that makes 3/4 of all the profits made in mobile... Android is fighting for the table scraps.

      Those profits come from the bling factor of Apple phones. It's like Rolex. People want to be seen using it. Never mind if it's any good.

    3. Re:no one cares by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Never mind if it's any good.

      iPhones have almost double the customer satisfaction rate of the closest Android competition. People think they are good.

    4. Re:no one cares by CanHasDIY · · Score: 1

      Those profits come from the bling factor of Apple phones. It's like Rolex. People want to be seen using it. Never mind if it's any good.

      An irrational aspect of human behavior I will never understand.

      --
      An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
    5. Re:no one cares by spire3661 · · Score: 1

      This is nothing new. How many BMW M3 owners are actually ever going to take their car to the track and wring it out? They bought it as a fashion statement, not a finely tuned automobile capable of glorious visceral returns on the track.

      --
      Good-bye
    6. Re:no one cares by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hey mongoloid, read your own link. Ubuntu is an operating system. Android is an operating system. iOS is an operating system. iOS has 9% marketshare.

      What various companies make in mark-up on handset hardware has nothing to do with what he said.

    7. Re:no one cares by narcc · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I'd love to see Ubuntu replace Android. In case you haven't noticed, Android is a bit of a mess. Even Android development is a nightmare compared to iOS and BB10.

      Now, if they can ditch the over-engineered pile of garbage that is X and replace it with something sensible we could see the whole of Linux improve dramatically. That's probably not going to happen, sadly. Still, Ubuntu phone is a step in the right direction.

      --
      Required reading for internet skeptics
    8. Re:no one cares by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The only claim Apple has left is "we make more profit" which is geek speak for "we rip off customers more than anyone else". People don't care if Samsung or Google lose billions and make no profit as long as they continue to make the best OS and phones, the people will buy. Marketshare is what matters. As Android has sewn up the marketshare for smartphones, more and more people are buying and more vendors are selling. No one except for apple share holders care about profit. I did not buy my android because the maker makes or loses money. I bought it because it is the fastest phone on the planet, is open and easily modifiable, cost less but has more to offer than any other phone and OS maker today. If that changes in the future, I would re-assess. Apple however is over-priced and can not do the myriad of things that I need done efficiently. My wife ditched her Iphone 4 for the Galaxy S3 as did my other family members. They are tired of being told what they can do with the phone that they own.

    9. Re:no one cares by Rhys · · Score: 1

      Isn't that the point of Wayland? Did you miss the memo?

      --
      Slashdot Patriotism: We Support our Dupes!
    10. Re:no one cares by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What makes you think Ubuntu isn't a mess ?

      GNU/Linux a whole is a fragmented mess and is getting more and more chaotic.

  7. What about FirefoxOS? by osoriojr · · Score: 2

    I was at the FirefoxOS announcement in Brazil. They gave a developer device to many developers because it is on its first steps. I think it will have a very long way to beat the Canonical OS.

    1. Re:What about FirefoxOS? by robmv · · Score: 1

      Not sure about that, at least Mozilla has a hardware partner that will launch Firefox OS devices. Ubuntu Phone sounds like the Ubuntu TV announcement from last year, no hardware partner at that time, no TVs yet. Images for existing phones will not get them any market share

    2. Re:What about FirefoxOS? by osoriojr · · Score: 1

      Well... At this point I will agree with you. I really saw the Firefox OS developer device, its real and works.

  8. Is the Nexus 4 low-end? by Improv · · Score: 2

    If they're targeting low-end smartphones, either there's a range of super amazing phones I'm completely unaware of, or the decision to release for Nexus 4 as well is a bit odd.

    --
    For every problem, there is at least one solution that is simple, neat, and wrong.
    1. Re:Is the Nexus 4 low-end? by LarryRiedel · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I figure the Nexus 4 is a low-end 2014 smartphone, the target for Ubuntu.

    2. Re:Is the Nexus 4 low-end? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If $350 is a LOW end phone I'll stick to not having a cell phone at all.

    3. Re:Is the Nexus 4 low-end? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The current versions of Ubuntu are developer previews. Ubuntu-phone has a release target of autumn 2013

    4. Re:Is the Nexus 4 low-end? by ChunderDownunder · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The preview release has nothing to do with high or low end. The Nexus 4 devices have community support through AOSP and are targets for community development such as replicant and freedreno. It's a hacker phone, a shipping product that provides a base platform on actual hardware. Such that first-world nerds such the average Slashdotter might possibly own and thereby try out Ubuntu and contribute to the ecosystem.

      By targeting the Nexus 4, they support one of the more popular SoCs in Snapdragon. Coincidentally, Snapdragons are found in the both the developer phones that Geeksphone are producing for Firefox OS, neither of which are super high end by flagship Samsung/HTC/Apple standards.

    5. Re:Is the Nexus 4 low-end? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Since you consider a phone with 2GB RAM, 4.8" display, and a quad core CPU to be "low end", what phone(s) do you consider to be high end?

    6. Re:Is the Nexus 4 low-end? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      it will be low end in 2014.

  9. "Low-end" smartphones? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    "Canonical suggested that the OS will initially only support low-end smartphones... will initially only be available for the Galaxy Nexus and Nexus 4 smartphones." Low-end?? And who would replace their latest and greatest Android with Ubuntu "testing"? Canonical sure know how to make new friends.

    1. Re:"Low-end" smartphones? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And who would replace their latest and greatest Android with Ubuntu "testing"?

      "And who would replace their latest and greatest Windows with Ubuntu?"
      Maybe the ones who like the devices but don't like the OS?

    2. Re:"Low-end" smartphones? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And who would replace their latest and greatest Android with Ubuntu "testing"?

      Those of us who find current smartphone and tablet GUIs a regression to the 1980's and a total security and privacy disaster.

    3. Re:"Low-end" smartphones? by Bill_the_Engineer · · Score: 0

      Those of us who find current smartphone and tablet GUIs a regression to the 1980's and a total security and privacy disaster.

      Smartphones and tablets in the 1980s? What universe are you from?

      --
      These comments are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of my employer or colleagues...
    4. Re:"Low-end" smartphones? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Those of us who find current smartphone and tablet GUIs a regression to the 1980's and a total security and privacy disaster.

      Smartphones and tablets in the 1980s? What universe are you from?

      No, GUIs in the 1980s. Do try to keep up.

    5. Re: "Low-end" smartphones? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What's a GUI got to do with security and privacy?

    6. Re:"Low-end" smartphones? by Patch86 · · Score: 1

      The image for Nexus 4 is a developer release- something for their army of coders to use to write applications and so forth. It is not necessarily representative of their "for the market" offerings, which they claim will all be purpose made, with Ubuntu pre-installed, in the normal fashion for phones.

      Nexus 4 is higher spec than their claimed "low spec" requirements, if I recall correctly, but is not as powerful as their "high spec superphone" requirements, which seems to be aimed at hardware which isn't likely to exist until at least next year.

  10. What does Canonical get out of this? by bogaboga · · Score: 2

    Is there any? I ask because I don't see the possibility of support conracts...Or do they exist? Anyone?

    1. Re:What does Canonical get out of this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      They want to convence phone makers to make Ubuntu phones rather then Android phones.

      The people trying it out aren't really the target audience, they are the argument.

    2. Re:What does Canonical get out of this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Desperation must be setting in after all their efforts in the Desktop space have failed to move the needle. This sounds like a last-ditch attempt to salvage the business before Canonical folds.

    3. Re:What does Canonical get out of this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Is there any? I ask because I don't see the possibility of support conracts...Or do they exist? Anyone?

      Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him.

    4. Re:What does Canonical get out of this? by Rhys · · Score: 1

      Sure it exists, its called a Landscape subscription. Being able to manage both the desktops and smartphones/tablets for a company all through Landscape is actually kinda compelling. I know a lot of IT pros, since I used to be one before going back into programming and they universally hate hate hate iOS/Android/etc phones, because they is no good central management for them.

      I'm sure for paid apps (on the desktop or phone or phone-desktop hybrid) Canonical gets a cut. The phone app store is much more a cultural norm than the desktop app store.

      As a consumer, the idea that I could buy a phone with 64-128 Gb of flash and a quad to octo core cpu, 8 gigs of ram for under 500 within 5 years, which I could use with a cheap unlimited data plan (like t-mobile's $30/month 4G for the first 5gbyte and unlimited 3g after) and I could use it as a desktop or phone? Sign me up!

      --
      Slashdot Patriotism: We Support our Dupes!
  11. Will they be releasing source? by brunes69 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Ubuntu has been surprisingly close to the chest on this effort. I haven't seen any source code come out for this, or for their Ubuntu for Android work. If they release the source for this, it will be ported to a plethora of devices in a very short time period. There is a very active community of developers on xda-developers.com who would be all over this.

    So it makes me wonder, if they plan on releasing source at all, or if this will be some closed-source fork, and thus useless.

    1. Re:Will they be releasing source? by Knuckles · · Score: 5, Informative

      London, 15th February 2013:

      Images and open source code for the Touch Developer Preview of Ubuntu will be published on Thursday 21st February, supporting the Galaxy Nexus and Nexus 4 smartphones.

      Canonical press release

      --
      "When I first heard Daydream Nation it quite frankly scared the living shit out of me." -- Matthew Stearns
    2. Re:Will they be releasing source? by Knuckles · · Score: 0

      Hehe, anti-Ubuntu moderators out in force. This wasn't informative, the press release mentioning a source release which I linked to in my sibling post was TFA and linked from TFS.

      --
      "When I first heard Daydream Nation it quite frankly scared the living shit out of me." -- Matthew Stearns
    3. Re:Will they be releasing source? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      They CAN'T fork it closed-source due to the GPL. Even if they could, they'd risk alienating everyone who helps Ubuntu for free.

    4. Re:Will they be releasing source? by brunes69 · · Score: 1

      Where is the source for Ubuntu for Android though?

      That has been promoted since last summer, and was actually demoed last fall. Yet we have seen no source at all, they are only giving access to handset makers.

    5. Re:Will they be releasing source? by Knuckles · · Score: 1

      Well, has Ubuntu for Android been release to the general public in binary form? It does not look like it, and as far as I can tell they will release the source when they release the binaries.

      --
      "When I first heard Daydream Nation it quite frankly scared the living shit out of me." -- Matthew Stearns
    6. Re:Will they be releasing source? by brunes69 · · Score: 2

      Exactly... why? This could get done so much faster and they could get so much assistance if they would open it up more. Why do you need to be a handset maker to see this? If they had released the source last year then I could be runnig it on my Optimus G right now.

    7. Re:Will they be releasing source? by Knuckles · · Score: 1

      OK, but that's just a difference in opinion about the better marketing approach, and it appeared to me that you earlier insinuated that they would try to violate the GPL ("if they plan on releasing source at all"), and risk to alienate the whole community.

      --
      "When I first heard Daydream Nation it quite frankly scared the living shit out of me." -- Matthew Stearns
    8. Re:Will they be releasing source? by gl4ss · · Score: 1

      Exactly... why? This could get done so much faster and they could get so much assistance if they would open it up more. Why do you need to be a handset maker to see this? If they had released the source last year then I could be runnig it on my Optimus G right now.

      ubuntu for android is/was trolling for some handset manufacturer to give them cash for development - but those big enough to be possibly interested and which would have had money to throw around tried their own things in the similar space(lapdock etc)..

      (technically what they have on their ubuntu for android page as an example image isn't possible on most phones, if any, with hdmi out you see..).

      --
      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
    9. Re:Will they be releasing source? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      While it is true they can't make GPL code into a closed source fork, that doesn't mean they can't make the UI, or any other bits they wrote from scratch, closed source.

    10. Re:Will they be releasing source? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Great, just what the world needs. A bunch of linux faggots bringing their halfassed work on over to smartphones. They can barely get a stock PC to run (of course the peripherals still don't work... beyond a mouse) but now it's time for them to convince a lot of innocent bystanders to brick their phones so they can run vi or something equally retarded.

    11. Re:Will they be releasing source? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Diagnosis: Had dream about being molested by penguin after scary visit to zoo aged 3. Never recovered.

    12. Re:Will they be releasing source? by rdnetto · · Score: 1

      Ubuntu has been surprisingly close to the chest on this effort. I haven't seen any source code come out for this, or for their Ubuntu for Android work. If they release the source for this, it will be ported to a plethora of devices in a very short time period. There is a very active community of developers on xda-developers.com who would be all over this.

      So it makes me wonder, if they plan on releasing source at all, or if this will be some closed-source fork, and thus useless.

      There's not much that needs to be ported, really. All the Ubuntu-specific stuff is in userspace, so it can be used as is or with a recompile at most. The bit that differs between phones is the kernel, and that's where the bulk of the effort will be in targeting other phones (either in modifying the Android kernel to function like the mainline Linux kernel, or merging the drivers into the mainline kernel).

      --
      Most human behaviour can be explained in terms of identity.
  12. VZW Galaxy Nexus? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I don't have a lot of interest in this.

    But if they can get this on the Verizon Galaxy Nexus, I'll switch today.

    Seriously.

  13. Linux on the phone? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    I know slashdot is the Linux zealot's home-from-home on the web, but believe it or not, many of us actually make our livings providing solutions based on Microsoft and Apple technology.

    Its not that we are somehow dumb, or "don't get it", in fact quite the opposite. We have investigated Linux (and BSD, etc) and found it lacking. In all of the key areas of business, Linux is clearly inferior to W2K, let alone IOS or RT.

    Obviously I will be modded down for saying something so heretical in a linux-bigot forum like slashdot, but it needs to be said.

    If businesses were not making $$$$s from their Microsoft and Apple systems, do you really think they would stick with them ?

    If Linux really did offer any competitive advantage do you think businesses (whose main concern is making money) would not install Ubuntu straight away ?

    Lets face facts. Linux is an obscure, hard to use, inconsistant OS, with a few cool features and thousands of drawbacks. Microsoft has nothing to fear, and indeed is giving Linux a spurious credibility by even acknowledging it.

    Microsoft will still be hear years after we have forgotten who Linus Torvaldees is. I mean, you don't hear too much about OS/2 or the Amiga these days, do you ? Both these OS's were supposedly superior to windows, but Microsoft kicked both their asses real hard.

    Anyway I know I am wasting my breath here, but geeks and nerds who want to succeed in the information economy had better study a few business courses, in addition to their geek courses, then they will realise that their time would be better spent getting a professional qualification such as MCSE rather than rebuilding their kernal every 2 minutes.

    Phew, good to get that off my chest.

    1. Re:Linux on the phone? by Nerdfest · · Score: 2

      You won't be modded down for being a heretic; it will be because you're delusional. Most companies are still using Windows because they consider themselves stuck with it, which to a degree, they are. Plenty of companies *do* use Linux and a few big ones (Google, IBM) saw what was coming much sooner than most and also run non-MS desktops. The hard part is extracting themselves from the lock-in.

    2. Re:Linux on the phone? by Nerdfest · · Score: 1

      ... and I realize that I'm probably being trolled, but I wouldn't trust most of the 'professional' MSCEs I've met too install a browser add-on.

    3. Re:Linux on the phone? by spire3661 · · Score: 1

      Indeed. If I find out you have an MCSE incidentally, no big deal. If you TELL me you have an MCSE, i immediately think you are an incompetent until proven otherwise.

      --
      Good-bye
    4. Re:Linux on the phone? by Steauengeglase · · Score: 1

      Not sure if hard to use is still fair assessment. Back when it was purely a geek affair, but these days you don't even have to run a typical package manger. Just fire up Ubuntu Software Center, search and install. Just as you would on a smart phone. Easier than Windows at this point. Did that come 10 years too late, maybe, but the "Linux" of 10 years ago isn't the same as the one of today.

    5. Re:Linux on the phone? by swillden · · Score: 1

      a few big ones (Google, IBM) saw what was coming much sooner than most and also run non-MS desktops

      IBM? Hmm. It's been a couple of years since I left IBM, but back then desktops and laptops almost all ran Windows. Plenty of technical people ran Linux on their machines and there was an officially-supported internal distro, but it was far from the norm.

      At Google (where I work now), Linux really is the norm on desktops. On laptops it's probably 60% OS X, 30% Linux and 10% ChromeOS, though Chromebooks seem to be replacing MacBooks at a good clip, so the first and last numbers are changing. Windows does exist, and I think just about anybody can get it if they want it, but you have to ask for it specifically; it's not on the normal menu of choices. Based on personal observation, I'd say Windows has about 2% share of laptops and significantly less than that on desktops. Of course, all of my numbers come from looking at my engineering-heavy environment. Less technical parts of the company may be different -- but I actually doubt it.

      --
      Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
    6. Re:Linux on the phone? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >believe it or not, many of us actually make our livings providing solutions based on Microsoft and Apple technology.

      This is not important. Broken window fallacity. Most problems with Microsoft technology just don't exist on Linux (Viruses, almost infinite number of security problems, malware, VFS that doesn't even support all file *names*, ...) so of course no one can make their living treating symptoms there.

      >If businesses were not making $$$$s from their Microsoft and Apple systems, do you really think they would stick with them ?
      >If Linux really did offer any competitive advantage do you think businesses (whose main concern is making money) would not install Ubuntu straight away ?

      Vendor lock-in and running foul of antitrust law. Microsoft was tried and convicted for it.

      And many do.

      >Microsoft will still be hear years after we have forgotten who Linus Torvaldees is.

      Or not. Who knows.

      >professional qualification such as MCSE

      O_o

      >rather than rebuilding their kernal every 2 minutes.

      Last time I built a kernal was on the Commodore 64 in the 80s.

    7. Re:Linux on the phone? by EmagGeek · · Score: 2

      The sad thing is you are 100% right.

      The not-so-sad thing is that Linux is still damn useful in many situations and those who know how to use it will continue to do so for those applications where it is appropriate.

  14. Old News.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I had ubuntu on my phone a couple years ago. Someone mentioned XDA; XDA put ubuntu on phones long ago. Everyone else is behind the power curve.

    1. Re:Old News.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's done through an Android chroot. This will hopefully be a lot more native. ALSA on my phone? Yes please

  15. Target Obsolete Devices by Luthair · · Score: 2

    Hint to anyone peddling a new phone OS, target devices which have been abandoned. Why would someone who explicitly bought an Android device which will always be updated suddenly abandon ship and install another OS? On the other hand users who have been abandoned on an older version are much more likely to roll the dice and throw something on.

    1. Re:Target Obsolete Devices by gl4ss · · Score: 1

      Hint to anyone peddling a new phone OS, target devices which have been abandoned. Why would someone who explicitly bought an Android device which will always be updated suddenly abandon ship and install another OS? On the other hand users who have been abandoned on an older version are much more likely to roll the dice and throw something on.

      well.. they'll be obsolete devices in few years!

      but their web apps mentality would provide you with really, really basic stuff on 100$ zte's.

      --
      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
    2. Re:Target Obsolete Devices by dcherryholmes · · Score: 2

      Because we like to tinker?

      I have a Galaxy Nexus, which is my only phone, and I will be installing this at the first opportunity. I have no idea how long it will *stay* on there (nandroid backup standing by), but I want to check it out.

  16. What about the Ubuntu fragmentation issue? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What about the Ubuntu fragmentation issue :)

  17. Surely by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If they release the source for this, it will be ported to a plethora of devices in a very short time period.

    They just said they wanted to see it on more devices, of course they'll provide the source (besides the fact that it's mostly under the GPL already).

  18. Ship Of Fail Due In Port March 1 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The Ship of Fail is due to steam into port March 1, 2013.

    Canonical/Ubuntu excited in anticipation of arrival.

  19. Ubuntu is crap by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I gave up with Ubuntu on the PC years ago. I got fed up with its bugs, slowness and the unpredicatability of what would break with each release. Ubuntu gives Linux a bad name and its unfortunate its become the most well known distro