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Ubuntu For Tablets Announced
hypnosec writes "Keeping its promise from yesterday Ubuntu has announced an operating system for tablets dubbed 'Ubuntu for Tablets' that it says will work on tablets of any size. Advertised to work on both entry level tablets as well as high-end tablets with enterprise specifications, the operating system offers multitasking, safer sharing, instant launch of applications through the menu bar on the left, effortless switching between applications among other features." The tablet version of the OS will also be presented at Mobile World Congress later this month. Also featured at SlashCloud.
And still no OEM partners like with the Ubuntu TV that we were going to be able to buy by the end of last year. This is going fail and fail hard. Maybe Canonical will then just go away and stop trying to push spyware on people.
Canonical is no longer a linux company, it's a company that uses linux.
Being that Linux can never really be "owned" by any one company, isn't that a given?
What political party do you join when you don't like Bible-thumpers *or* hippies?
Considering it's CLEARLY not for desktops anymore.
I don't want either iOS or Android, but I might get a tablet with KDE Plasma Active.
I have a Kindle Fire around here somewhere that runs aftermarket android roms. I see no reason why I should turn my nose up at a linux distro, if it works well. That part, of course, remains to be seen.
Only a year or so ago, you could have said "If the Tablet won't run iOS then no one will ever buy it. It's an dead investment."
Today we have plenty of Android tablets gaining a footprint. Microsoft aren't going to let go of the market segment easily either, even after their late start and poor initial showing. I'm not sure why you think an Ubuntu tablet is doomed to failure.
What's going to be important is showing it can do things the others can't or won't. Some of the multi-tasking on their video looks impressive and may offer that differentiation.
My tablet-ish thing is an Asus transformer, and while I'm happy enough with Cyanogenmod, I have it set up to run linux in user space because sometimes I want it to be just a bit more of a real computer.
If Ubuntu for tablet could give me a reasonable front end and still let me write code (we're not talking serious compiling here, just hacking together a bit of python here and there, mostly) and give me cleaner access to system underpinnings, I'd be happy to switch. Well, okay, and reasonable functionality in other ways - power management, etc. I've yet to meet an Android distro that really lets me do what I'd like.
...real linux smartphone
Two, in fact (three if you count the n950)...not to mention their predecessors which were Internet *tablets*.
Max.
Everyone uses Linux. You're using it right now. Even Microsoft uses Linux extensively.
The simple fact of the matter is that Linux became *the* mainstream OS a decade ago, and you never even noticed.
No, I don't think we do. What exactly *is* a 'linux company'? Is Redhat a linux company? What about Oracle? Intel?
I think perhaps the distinction is, for example, Microsoft is a company that uses linux. They have to in order to test and develop Hyper-V, since its advertised to work with Linux. They use it.
A linux company is a company that makes money off of selling a distribution or application or services for Linux, making active changes back into the community. By that standard, all the companies I listed above, *including Ubuntu*, are 'linux companies'.
You don't have to like Ubuntu, but you can't deny they've done some really great things for the community. Nothing they do is 'closed source', and you can like or hate their development and future planning methods (I think you have an issue with Unity, thats where most of the Ubuntu haters come from), but they are open and friendly to the community.
I've got a Nook Color tablet, in part because its boot loader is not locked. I can pop in a microSD card with an arbitrary OS (that supports the hardware) on it, and no DRM or cryptography or "secure boot" stuff is there to prevent it from just loading up.
Today, I use this with a stack of microSD cards with different versions of CyanogenMod installed, to be able to rapidly test code on completely different versions of Android.
Anyone know if I'll ever (or soon) be able to boot up Ubuntu on this device the same way? (If so, I'm in, but I'm not buying new hardware just for this OS.)
In the demo of Ubuntu for phones, a Samsung S3 is running Android and Ubuntu *at the same time*.
I don't know whether Android is hosting Ubuntu, or Ubuntu is hosting Android, or some third piece of software is hosting both. But the end result is that you plug your phone into an HDMI monitor, operate an Ubuntu desktop on the monitor using a bluetooth keyboard/mouse, and use Android on the handset at the same time. The Ubuntu stuff had hooks into Android so there were desktop apps that interacted with your Android contacts etc.
Fairly neat. I got the impression that it wasn't all as open-source as I'd like it to be -- ain't that the Android way?
Doomed to failure? No, not completely. But when you are this late to market and your competitors have entrenched and solid ecosystems, your stuff better kick some serious ass and be available on some seriously nice hardware and have a thriving app ecosystem ready to go. Otherwise? Yes, pretty much doomed. You end up struggling mightily like Microsoft is with Windows 8 Phone. It is actually a decent OS and the hardware is pretty much on par with other phones. But it doesn't come out and just blow the others in the market away and the app ecosystem is not really "there" yet (which is why I have an Android phone). So they languish unsold. A tablet competitor like Ubuntu would be the same way. Make it really rock out of the box and get some devs on it right now or it won't go very far very fast.
Yes. The tablet has no keyboard.
Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
iOS has existed since 2007. The iPad has been in existence for less than 3 years as a freestanding product. Don't fool yourself. However entrenched you think one operating system or manufacturer may be in this sector, all it takes is a little bit of rot and a solid kick to turn the entire thing onto its head.
Without this, I can't see much adoption. Who wants to buy a tablet if it has no apps? Linux has plenty, sure, but are they optimized for a tablet interface? Given that it's already a linux kernel, wouldn't it be possible to add the dalvik VM and run android apps? So far as I undrestand, this was the case with the previous Nexus 7 iteration of Ubuntu. Why was this changed? If they release this for Nexus 7, i'll probably run it off a USB stick if possible, but I won't flash it over android unless there is some compatibility there. Simply put, I've purchased Android apps, and I don't want to lose those.
Commenting to undo wrong mod by mistake. Agreed, this is a sticking point for many of us.
Phillip.
Property for sale in Nice, France
Canonical is no longer a linux company, it's a company that uses linux.
Nah, they are a company that uses Linux users.
Who logs in to gdm? Not I, said the duck.
Yeah it's hilarious that they define "entry-level" as a Cortex A-15 and 2GB of RAM. Their OS must be pretty bloated and slow to need all that.
Nokia is forced (by retarded agreement) to buy more M$ licenses that they are currently able to use. Why would they use another os when they are already sitting on unused M$ ones (and M$ will do marketing for them).
Who logs in to gdm? Not I, said the duck.
Nokia had back to 2005 a good Linux tablet already, and kept releasing improved versions of it till 2009. Then went into suicidal mode.
The next one releasing a native linux tablet with WebOS was HP with the Touchpad, and then they got crazy too.
Probably the best strategy for tablet manufacturers regarding Linux is to release them under some base, useful enough OS (i.e. Android) and let all drivers/boot/etc open enough to enable users to install on them the Linux flavor they want if need something better, be this Ubuntu, openWebOS, Mer, KDE Plasma Active or another.
This is as Linux as Android is. Hell Android is probably more Linux this this.
I just dont understand why these mobile OS's keep wanting to force developers into a specific language. Android push's Java hard (ewe) sure you can use the NDK but from my perspective its not as straight forward as youd think. iOS push's Objective-C. and now Ubuntu mobile OS is pushing QML/Javascript/HTML5.
Sure you can make a webpage that does basic calculations or simple animations. But real raw data crunching within JS? seriously ? thats such a joke its not even funny. If all I wanted was a notepad, calender app, and a webbrowser then Id just continue using Android.
Show me a FFT JS implementation thats anywhere near as fast as C/C++. I write only in C/C++ and have zero interest in JS or Java, zero. Im not going to waste my time learning a new language that just anoy me.
Id love to see how JS interacts with low level stuff like gpio's, serial, usb etc. Oh there's a lib for that? what if there isnt... then what? wait out? thats not the point of open source, your supposed to be able todo whatever you want.
Linux imo is popular with developers because we can write whatever we want in whatever language we choose. Linux isnt supposed to force you into anything, why do all these linux mobile OS's feel the need todo so.
UDL
Because they want to sell the tablets?
Agreed. I *just* tried out Ubuntu on my Nexus 7, and I promptly went back to cyanogen 10.1; it was very cool to be able to run basically full blown Ubuntu (and it's relatively speedy), but it's definitely not tablet-optimized, and there are too many little annoyances for me to want to keep it at the moment.
In its current iteration, Ubuntu on tablets seems geared more towards those who prefer using some sort of physical keyboard with their tablet. In that case, I can already see the usefulness. For those who want a tablet they can use while on the livingroom couch, or on their commute to work, Ubuntu isn't yet ready for tablet consumption.
LegendMUD
Only Geeks will want to upgrade the OS on their tablet. Ubuntu is now out of the running for us Geeks.
I think that the tablet space is the same as the home computing space in the 80's. You had your C64s, your Amigas, Ataris, Apples, IBMs, Acorns and various other vendors machines. People's choices were not made about the OS, but if the machine met their needs by having the right games, the correct applications, compatibility with work, friends and family etc. People also expected that if they bought a different vendors machine, that they would have a different experience.
If I am half right, then there is room for other vendors to come in with products and be quite successful. . Of course, we didn't have the litigation and patent trolling so bad back then (although I do admit it exsisted)
. .
Kernel and userland are android. The skin is from ubuntu.
http://michaelsmith.id.au
As it happens, I'm writin this on an HP 2760p. A traditional tablet pc. It's currently running Ubuntu 12.10 and everything works reasonably well.
The reality is that we are in the midst of a very significant shift in computing, from desktop PCs to tablets and phones. Laptop and desktop sales are down, tablet sales are skyrocketing. Canonical is the only company focusing on Linux desktop computing. Unity is good and is getting better quickly. I honestly believe that they have the best approach to scaling the UI. Canonical is essentially pushing responsie design for the Linux desktop.
What other Linux distribution do you see pushing the end-user computing envelop? These guys are moving forward and should be celebrated and supported for doing so.
I look forward to Ubuntu for Tablets on my 2760p. Count me in!