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The Case for Ubuntu Phone

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Re: The Case for Ubuntu Phone

#31

Post by tornadoboy55 »

throwanem wrote: post #26
sverige wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just went through this research again for the first time in five or six years. One of the most frustrating things about US carriers is that they force manufacturers to limit their offerings in this market. For example, dual SIM card phones are not offered on any phones built for the US market, since carriers make a lot of their money from financing new phones. There are also phones with three and four SIM cards made…

Are Apple and Samsung phones cheaper in Europe?

I hope that's a rhetorical question.. pretty much every company loves to shaft Europe on price, even with taxes considered. Although Australia has it even worse!

Re: The Case for Ubuntu Phone

#32

Post by akjainaj »

>Another good answer is all the benefits of Free Software, but many of those are benefits the general public doesn’t yet realize they need.

So if they don't agree those benefits are needed, it's because they are wrong/inexperienced/misled/stupid/...?

You think people should care about privacy and "openness of the software", whatever that is (most people can't code, so they rightfully don't care about the availability of the source code of the OS or apps).

What most people (including myself) care about, instead, is ease of use and reliability. You'll never catch up with the ease of use and reliability of iOS (not even Android can, and then not even Microsoft could catch up with Android), that's why Firefox OS failed and your mobile OS will fail as well.

Re: The Case for Ubuntu Phone

#33

Post by mtgx »

> The biggest strength and weakness of Ubuntu Phone is that it’s a device without an intrinsic set of services. If you buy an Android device you get Google Services. If you buy an iPhone you get Apple services.

I think what you may get with a "popular" mainstream Ubuntu phone platform will be a lot worse - like Canonical allowing companies to install their own services/crapware, but worse than it already is for Android phones.

Re: The Case for Ubuntu Phone

#34

Post by 3arn0wl »

mamon wrote: post #17

I would like to try Ubuntu Phone but I cannot find it anywhere. Canonical's page says that all devices are out of stock, various online stores say exactly the same thing, and all the devices that are listed as compatibile (Nexus 5 for instance) are two generations old and also hard to come by. The only option I haven't tried is buying used phone on eBay, because they usually come in pretty bad shape so I want brand n…

If you'd really like to try Ubuntu, your best option for now might be to get hold of a cheap, second hand Nexus. Ubuntu are about to change the OS to 64bit Core and Snap, and there's not much on the market yet that can run it. They are going to keep supporting the current system for a while longer though.

Re: The Case for Ubuntu Phone

#35

Post by Brakenshire »

akjainaj wrote: post #32

>Another good answer is all the benefits of Free Software, but many of those are benefits the general public doesn’t yet realize they need. So if they don't agree those benefits are needed, it's because they are wrong/inexperienced/misled/stupid/...? You think people should care about privacy and "openness of the software", whatever that is (most people can't code, so they rightfully don't care about the availability…

> You think people should care about privacy and "openness of the software", whatever that is (most people can't code, so they rightfully don't care about the availability of the source code of the OS or apps). What most people (including myself) care about, instead, is ease of use and reliability.

If you talk to inexperienced computer users, probably the most common complaint you will get is that software they are using is being changed underneath them, after they have got used to it. You could turn around your argument 180 degrees, and still be equally valid in saying that it the walled garden 'we will do what is best for you' attitude is actually about saying that users "don't agree those benefits are needed, because they are wrong/inexperienced/misled/stupid/...?"

Re: The Case for Ubuntu Phone

#36

Post by [deleted] »

giancarlostoro wrote: post #15
rcarmo wrote: post #10

I applaud the OP's bravery, but after a long, long time in the telco business and having seen many attempts from multiple platforms towards gaining a foothold (Symbian, Maemo, LiMo - including Vodafone's own version - Bada, etc.), I have to point out that Ubuntu Phone, despite the vision and values behind it, is at a massively overwhelming disadvantage in terms of both telco appeal (what I and my former colleagues st…

I think the biggest thing that could probably help the Ubuntu Phone is an approachable development environment. If the road to developing apps for a phone is short enough, that people on their weekend make apps for it, it will expand rapidly with apps. This requires great tooling, and documentation. Potentially even adoption of a programming language that either comes with a powerful SDK or is tailored from the groun…

[deleted]

Re: The Case for Ubuntu Phone

#37

Post by Brakenshire »

oelmekki wrote: post #29

The paragraph focused on carriers in this article makes me wonder : can ubuntu mobile guarantee OEM won't install any uninstallable apps as well? I only buy nexus phones precisely because I don't want the carriers and OEM stuff, they always have been a bad experience for me. I can see how "build your own bundle" is a selling point for carriers, but it's hardly one for users. That being said, I'm excited to see a true…

> The paragraph focused on carriers in this article makes me wonder : can ubuntu mobile guarantee OEM won't install any uninstallable apps as well?

It looks like he's saying that Ubuntu gives carriers more flexibility to bundle in alternative apps and services, as you say it would be interesting to know whether Ubuntu will agree to carriers making those services uninstallable. My guess is Ubuntu do not have the clout to stop that, and still get sold through that channel. I would say there will always be a distinction between phones you buy directly and those bundled with contracts. The latter will always involve that kind of influence from the carriers. One compromise could be it comes locked down, but includes some non-obvious but relatively easy way to root the system, and open it up completely.

Re: The Case for Ubuntu Phone

#38

Post by akjainaj »

Brakenshire wrote: post #35
akjainaj wrote: post #32

>Another good answer is all the benefits of Free Software, but many of those are benefits the general public doesn’t yet realize they need. So if they don't agree those benefits are needed, it's because they are wrong/inexperienced/misled/stupid/...? You think people should care about privacy and "openness of the software", whatever that is (most people can't code, so they rightfully don't care about the availability…

> You think people should care about privacy and "openness of the software", whatever that is (most people can't code, so they rightfully don't care about the availability of the source code of the OS or apps). What most people (including myself) care about, instead, is ease of use and reliability. If you talk to inexperienced computer users, probably the most common complaint you will get is that software they are u…

>If you talk to inexperienced computer users, probably the most common complaint you will get is that software they are using is being changed underneath them, after they have got used to it.

Open source projects do that all the time too. Think of GNOME 2 -> 3, and compare it to iOS 6 -> 7.

>the walled garden 'we will do what is best for you' attitude

If we take Apple as an example, their attitude is "we will do what makes us sell more", which aligns with what users will want the software to do, otherwise they lose a sale. On the other hand since nobody uses Ubuntu Phone, Canonical will do whatever they want with it, knowing they'll get almost no complains. So which one serves the user better?

Re: The Case for Ubuntu Phone

#39

Post by soneil »

Freak_NL wrote: post #20
giancarlostoro wrote: post #13

I would love to have a Ubuntu Phone, but my carrier in the US probably doesn't support such phones yet as far as I'm aware. If they can sooner reach the multiple carriers in this side of the globe effectively (and hopefully not AT&T first, kind of sick of everyone going to them first) then that would help the ecosystem currently going on. I am not enjoying the options left. I loved Android at first because it is base…

> […] but my carrier in the US probably doesn't support such phones yet as far as I'm aware. Is there something specific about US carriers that prevents a phone running Ubuntu Touch from working? My experience in Europe is that my Ubuntu Touch phone (Meizu Pro 5) just works, because it supports all the necessary bands and SIM-cards. I don't think my carrier really cares what phone I use.

The US is still split between carriers using cdma, and gsm. So if the carrier is on cdma, SIM cards don't exist.

Re: The Case for Ubuntu Phone

#40

Post by FatalBaboon »

akjainaj wrote: post #38
Brakenshire wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You think people should care about privacy and "openness of the software", whatever that is (most people can't code, so they rightfully don't care about the availability of the source code of the OS or apps). What most people (including myself) care about, instead, is ease of use and reliability. If you talk to inexperienced computer users, probably the most common complaint you will get is that software they are u…

>If you talk to inexperienced computer users, probably the most common complaint you will get is that software they are using is being changed underneath them, after they have got used to it. Open source projects do that all the time too. Think of GNOME 2 -> 3, and compare it to iOS 6 -> 7. >the walled garden 'we will do what is best for you' attitude If we take Apple as an example, their attitude is "we will do what…

Yes, that is why Apple released the new MBP, with a touchbar perfectly aligned with what users desperately wanted.
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