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KDE's Aaron Seigo Bashes Ubuntu Phone

Posted by samzenpus on from the no-sir-I-don't-like-it dept.

sfcrazy writes "KDE's Plasma Active team leader Aaron Seigo has raised some concerns around Ubuntu Phone. He says 'We can start with the obvious clue: Unity currently does not use QML at all; Ubuntu Phone is pure QML. So, no, it is not the same code, it is not the sort of seamless cross-device technology bridge that they are purporting.' He then concludes, 'If you're a Free software developer, user and/or supporter and buying into these claims, I don't know how else to put it other than this: you're being duped. Consider what supporting those who employ such tactics means for Free software.'"

10 of 92 comments (clear)

  1. Pretty heavy handed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    He has a point (actually two: the phone isn't using the same API, and Canonical marketers implied that it was) but he seems to think that that is disqualifying for users of free software. I don't think it is.

    Point it out, but just add "KDE's approach is quite different. Here's what we're doing instead..." instead of talking about ethics and such.

  2. Re:Hrm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    No, it's just Michael over at moronix who needs more clicks, so he misrepresents what someone says to get them. Slashdot gets on the bus for the same purpose. News at 11.

  3. poppycock by drankr · · Score: 5, Informative

    Not, he's not bashing Ubuntu phone, mostly because such a thing does not exist - yet. He is criticizing Canonical's less than sincere approach to the rest of the world. That's all.

  4. Mod Parent Up! by Carewolf · · Score: 5, Informative

    There is almost no correlation between this story headline and the actual content Aaron wrote. Among other things Aaron wrote:

    I want to make it crystal clear that I think Ubuntu Phone a great thing to see; more Free software mobile efforts, particularly ones using Qt/QML, warm my insides like a good bowl of soup on a cold winter's night

    1. Re:Mod Parent Up! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      The question is, if all of you can see how obvious it is that the editors here are misleading people to sell a few ad clicks, why are you still visiting the site? I had considered making an account to post this but to be honest I'd really rather not bother. I'd rather not help the editors make a buck off another pointless flame-war that THEY FUCKING STARTED!

      I'm not saying that any other site is any better, but Slashdot used to be one of my favorites. I think I'm now getting a glimpse of exactly what made Malda retire from his post. The flame-war monster that he created has spun out of even his control so he got out while the getting was good. With any luck this place will go the way of digg.

  5. Not a problem with Ubuntu Phone by suy · · Score: 5, Informative

    I doubt Aaron has many complaints with the technology used in Ubuntu Phone, because that's Qt Quick using QML, the same is used in Plasma. The thing is, Plasma was conceived as a very flexible way to create the primary user interface (that is, the visible thing that is not the applications). At that time, that was the "desktop shell" (Plasma Desktop), and nowadays is also a touch-device user interface and others (Plasma Active, Plasma Media Center, etc.).

    The vision the KDE guys had was right, and with few resources have created a great framework. Instead, Canonical had to write Unity several times. The "normal" Unity I don't even remember in what's written (GTK+, Clutter, Nux... can't follow it), but I remember that there is the Qt-based Unity-2D (dead, AFAIK) and the new Ubuntu Phone version, which uses Qt again.

    They could have saved tons of resources by choosing the technology and sticking a bit to it, helping to develop it. And now they claim they provide a seamless user experience across devices. Well, that could be true, but not using the same technologies, so the user experience is not going to be consistent with different bugs, different features, because the code bases are totally different.

  6. His actual post by Noughmad · · Score: 5, Informative

    on Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/107555540696571114069/posts/HSL2C21DJt7

    --
    PlusFive Slashdot reader for Android. Can post comments.
  7. apt-get by duckgod · · Score: 5, Insightful

    IF Canonical does this right. That is a big IF. We will have the same advantages of the linux desktop on our phones. That is the ability to install any window manager you want. No one corporation will have the power to decide what my work environment will be like. So if you don't like it what Unity is, it is 5ish magic words to get something else installed. Please I beg you Canonical just let me type "sudo apt-get install kubuntu-desktop".

  8. Pearls from the post by suy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Some pearls from the original conversation. Alan Pope:

    We're agile enough that we can migrate our desktop to QML if that's the decision that gets made. Unity has existed on four toolkits already, what's a fifth between friends ;)

    Daniel Stone on wether Ubuntu Phone uses Wayland or not:

    No idea, no-one from the project will respond even to direct questions. They've said in the past that they're writing their own window system, which is pretty tragicomic.

    And the best one, the only thing that Mark Shuttleworth had to say:

    As Kipling put it:

    If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
    Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools

    The rest of the poem is pretty apt, too. My kingdom for a link.
    Mark

    I wish success to Ubuntu Phone, really, but it hurts me a little bit that it receives the same or more attention from the community than Plasma Active, when the later delivered the same or more (specially if you value open governance and source code from day 1), with way less resources.

  9. Re:Pot and kettle by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    And if Slashdot (and DICE) won't do something about this story, why aren't its readers doing the open source thing and "forking" Slashdot to something better. Make a new website, just like Slashdot, except with responsible editors (or any editors, for that matter).