Ubuntu on phones

This news is going to be everywhere. Here too.

Ubuntu on phones announcement:
http://www.ubuntu.com/devices/phone

There are several things that excite me about this initiative, this is one of them, a full PC now in the smartphone:



I only have one question:

When can I buy one!

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Comments

Ubuntu on smart phones
Username: Sage
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20891868 Should be able to get a Nexus3 on eBay now or very soon? Looks as if it'll eventually be released for earlier (Nexus?) machines. A s/h Nexus 1/2 should be available for <A$200?

The opposition
Username: BarryK
"It remains to be seen just how far ahead in the future before we see actual phones with Ubuntu-for-phones preinstalled. Then there's another problem. If it really is that good, and works seamlessly, it poses a very serious threat to certain other major players. We can then expect Canonical to get bogged down with legal challenges, and every trivial patent being trotted out to oppose them. Particularly in the USA, where, the patent system is appalling, and, dare I say it, US-based companies will get rulings skewed in their favour.

UforP timeframe
Username: BarryK
"Mark Shuttleworth has stated: [i]he expects the first full Ubuntu phones to ship by the end of this year or early next year.[/i] That's a long way off.

phone
Username: aarf
"my one question would have been, how much longer do we wait for a puppy phone? re litigation in the market place: there are far more people/customers in china and india, so why not switch out and be done with it.

have to "dock" your phone though
Username: bark_bark_bark
"You have to "dock" your phone though, which means no using it on the go. Also it implies it is for phones not tablets. I found a much better way to run ubuntu and it even works on tablets. Check it out @: http://linuxonandroid.org If you want puppy I found a another app for that, but I really only got Akita to run well.

A Ubuntu-Puppy Phone PC
Username: GCMartin
"One issue of note: The early demo's are on an existing Phone which was Jail-broken. The CES versions are going to be demo'd on latest from Processor vendors. So, the performance responsiveness issues will not be so evident. Expect a smooth platform showing

Puppy in the Allwinner SoC
Username: Raffy
"Puppy in the Mele has been a good start, and since the A10 is becoming multi-core, this path is still promising. I've been using the Mele A1000 (single-core A10) in the classroom since last year and there's nothing to complain about.

html 5
Username: darkcity
"[i]is html5 going to replace/bury java? havent looked at html5 and dont know its capabilities, should that be a preferable endeavour?[/i] html 5 seems like its a 'full' language, drawing apps have been written in it, also the Linux Action Show featured a 3d first-person-shooter game written entirely in html 5 http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/html5-web-applications/

Charbax videos
Username: don570
" Charbax did a couple of videos showing demos of the Ubuntu phone in November http://armdevices.net/2012/11/15/ubuntu-for-android-is-imminent/

netchef
Username: scsijon
"just saw an add for the netchefhttp://www.digiframe.com.au/netchef.html specs are nice, Android Tablet, Radio, Wifi, Browser, Video on line, Weather, Facebook, Recipe Book, Computer port,... now, that would be an interesting :-) mix for a puppy to live on and only$A349.

Re Mele
Username: BarryK
"It has been gathering dust for awhile, but yesterday I got it out of the box and connected everything up. I am interested if T2 will compile OK running on the Mele ...I don't recall if I have tried that before. Anyway, I will give it a go today. I am interesting in creating binary packages optimised for armv7+neon+thumb2 and minimal dependencies.

Microsoft is "evil"
Username: BarryK
"My comment about certain companies attacking Canonical if Ubuntu-on-phones starts to look to good, was written mainly with Microsoft in mind. There is a lot written about MS being in decline and not so relevant anymore, however I think that attitude grossly underestimates MS's power. MS has fingers in many pies, monopolies in many areas, not just PC operating systems, and a huge cash reserve. MS can, and will, set out to destroy competition that looks like it might be a serious threat. I have been around in the computer field for a long time, and I know very well how sneaky MS is. My earliest recollection of this behaviour is when they blocked Windows 3.1 from installing on top of DRDOS -- the latter being an alternative to MSDOS. At the time, I found a way around it, by installing MSDOS, then 3.1, then DRDOS. Then there was MS's pretence of supporting OS/2. It goes on. Does anyone here remember the Lindows fiasco? MS kept on taking legal action against them, in one country after another, and kept loosing, but Lindows eventually capitulated under the legal onslaught -- in other words, might won, not right. The latest nastiness is the use of petty patents to extort money from manufacturers of Android-based devices. This forum thread has a post by delta0.delta0 that documents much of MS's more recent "evil" behaviour: http://www.osnews.com/comments/26669

Google is evil
Username: bark_bark_bark
"According to the article GOOGLE blocked Windows phones not MS blocking google, but google is now unblocking it. But still you can install firefox on a windows phone. And MS is not evil at all.

Microsoft is the quintessential evil
Username: disciple
"> And MS is not evil at all. Really? Let's check that out... http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/evil [b]Adjective[/b] evil (comparative eviller, eviler, or more evil, superlative evillest, evilest, or most evil) 1. Intending to harm; malevolent. 2. Morally corrupt. 3. Unpleasant. 4. (computing, programming, slang) undesirable; harmful; bad practice Global variables are evil; storing processing context in object member variables allows those objects to be reused in a much more flexible way. ... [b]Noun[/b] evil (countable and uncountable; plural evils) 1. The forces/behaviors that are the opposite or enemy of good. Evil generally seeks own benefit at the expense of others and is based on general malevolence. The evils of society include murder. 2. Any particular individual or state which may follow these forces or behaviors. Microsoft matches every one of those meanings, if you broaden the second number 2 to include organisations as well as individuals and states. Here's some light reading for you: http://www.ecis.eu/documents/Finalversion_Consumerchoicepaper.pdf

MS might
Username: BarryK
"Of course, we do need to be very careful when criticizing MS, or any other large corporation. It would indeed be a nasty surprise if a letter arrived in the mail from a solicitor! So, we are just expressing individual opinions, based on our limited knowledge. Large corporations are able to do what we describe as "evil" behaviour, but they operate with the laws of any particular country. I see MS's subverting of open standards as "evil", they no doubt see it as survival strategies. Which it is, as truly open document standards for example (ODT) would kill MS's Office monopoly. I think that our hope for the future lies in brave Government legislation around the world, for open standards.

Pay to play
Username: Dewbie
"[b]BarryK wrote:[/b] [i]Large corporations are able to do what we describe as "evil" behaviour, but they operate with the laws of any particular country.[/i] In the States, many of those laws are practically written by corporate lobbyists, then made official by their puppet legislators. ( in exchange for bribes...oops, I mean [i]campaign contributions[/i];) ) It's a broken, entrenched system, and it's going to take one hell of an uprising to change it. And by the way, I smell a double standard: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_System_divestiture

Broken USA
Username: BarryK
"Yeah, I shouldn't really get onto what is wrong with the USA, it is way off-topic. I know most US citizens are patriotic, and will easily get offended by criticisms from an outsider. But, perhaps those of us on the outside do see the situation more clearly. My observation, over many years, is that the USA is sick, morally, financially, in many other ways. The statistics that come out of the USA are appalling, for example: 100,000 people shot per year, 30,000 of those die (that's 87 dead every day): http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_gunshot_deaths_occur_each_year_in_the_US There are other countries that have lots of guns in the community, yet you can safely walk the streets at night. For example, Switzerland, Singapore. Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_politics In 2010, 1.6 million people were incarcerated: http://www.prb.org/Articles/2012/us-incarceration.aspx I can keep finding more stats, but it is very depressing. I wonder what Abraham Lincoln is thinking, if he is seeing this?

Re incarceration
Username: BarryK
"I had better stop these off-topic comments, but just a clarification about incarceration rates in the US, in 2012 there were 2.3 million people in prisons at any one time: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-09-28/the-plight-of-young-black-men-is-worse-than-you-think The undercurrent of discontent results in chaos if law-and-order breaks down, as for example after the flooding of New Orleans. OK, that's it, I won't post any more about the very substantial problems of the USA. I do hope that they somehow muddle through. Back onto Ubuntu for phones...

BOB
Username: 01micko
"Barry, Is it time for BOB? (guess, acronym, regulars will get it)

Tags: general