Ubuntu Linux For Mobile Phones Announced

[droidhacker]

Here is a little suggestion to all of those MORONS trying to build their very own phone/tablet/whatever stack.... DON'T KEEP REINVENTING THE WHEEL!!!! Put your hard work into making something that already exists WORK BETTER.

[liam]

Here is a little suggestion to all of those MORONS trying to build their very own phone/tablet/whatever stack.... DON'T KEEP REINVENTING THE WHEEL!!!! Put your hard work into making something that already exists WORK BETTER.

The problem is that we haven't yet decided which "wheel" design is the best.
Ubuntu's actually looks compelling (especially the first class html5 support and qml should be nice as well). Certainly fast task switching is something that neither android nor iOS does well. W8 is better but the implementation is a bit delicate. Ubuntu's looks best of all.a
I especially like that it supports both slide and edge gestures. I also think it is very forward looking to only have soft buttons (like the nexus devices).

[Decatf]

Everyone wants a piece of the mobile system pie!

[Krysto]

I hope theyre using the Firefox runtime for html5 in order to access the system features.
Too bad about them going with Qt. EFL seems a much better choice for low end hardware.
Also I was very surprised by the features shown. Much more impressive than what was shown by Jolla, IMHO. Very usable and actually nice looking. The gestures looked natural and easy to remember without requiring the odd contortions of the "finger roll" that Jolla is using.
Still, I prefer FFOS and since they have actual hardware partners and launch dates I think they are going to be a better position despite their interface not being as nice as the Ubuntu one.

I think Jolla is one of the worst looking mobile operating systems, right there with Tizen (at least the Tizen we saw last year). But Ubuntu, Android, iOS, Firefox OS, and BB10 all look better than Jolla.

[liam]

I think Jolla is one of the worst looking mobile operating systems, right there with Tizen (at least the Tizen we saw last year). But Ubuntu, Android, iOS, Firefox OS, and BB10 all look better than Jolla.

I honestly don't remember the looks of tizen well enough but Jolla is pretty damned ugly, IMHO.

[blackout23]

This is real. Hands on.
http://www.viddler.com/v/ac8413f3?secret=106830881

[dstaubsauger]

Plasma Active looks like a better idea than this actually... Still nice, it would be good if they maintained compatibility with Plasma...

Ubuntu. Compatibility. Haha

[frantaylor]

Was there an ETA on the sale of the phone. Can't find it anywhere.

They could just distribute it as an app and then anyone with appropriate hardware can run it.

Don't need no steenkin' dedicated phone.

Why not? Ubuntu on your phone uses the same kernel as android and runs concurrently with android.

Why not? A linux desktop is really just an app anyways. Even on a standard x86 system the desktop is just another package that you install.

It's an app that runs other apps, but it's an app.

[frantaylor]

Here is a little suggestion to all of those MORONS trying to build their very own phone/tablet/whatever stack.... DON'T KEEP REINVENTING THE WHEEL!!!! Put your hard work into making something that already exists WORK BETTER.

YEAH!

Yes if you are going to do something like this, you should BORROW SOMEONE ELSE's HARDWARE so you don't have to make your own.

You should KEEP THE ORIGINAL KERNEL, unmodified, so you don't reinvent it.

You should only use software that has already been run on other computers.

You should GIVE IT AWAY so nobody will complain about the high price.

WHAT WERE YOU SAYING AGAiN, MORON?

[frantaylor]

The nearsighted among us wonder why another smartphone OS.

Keep your eye on the puck!

Make a graph of phone processor power over time. Project this graph a couple of years into the future. That monotonically increasing function means that tomorrows phone has the processing power of today's laptop.

Given the state of affairs why cart around a whole laptop? You are carrying the best bits, the processors and the storage, in your pocket. You only need a big screen and a big keyboard when you sit at a desk. Pop your phone into a docking station and ta-da it's a desktop system.

HERE is where Ubuntu on your phone makes sense. You don't want to run android apps when you are sitting at your desk, you want ones that know you have a real keyboard and a real mouse and a big screen. So you want a DESKTOP ENVIRONMENT ON YOUR PHONE!!!

And even better your android apps are still right there and you can run them on your desktop, interspersed with your Ubuntu apps. Sure they won't be fun without a touch screen, but what IS going to solve THAT problem?

Better still: you are carrying around your desktop in your pocket so when you go to a hotel room or work or your friend's house, you still get the very same desktop you have at home.

Yes back in the 70's the chairman of DEC said that the world's market for computers was maybe 100 systems or so.

I look at comments that say "don't fix what isn't broken" and I see about the same amount of foresight. Ken Olsen could not imagine progress and these people cannot either.