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Ubuntu for Android

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Re: Ubuntu for Android

#61

Post by epscylonb »

bambax wrote: post #42
bguthrie wrote: post #17

This, or something like it, is the future: the computing device is portable, and adapts itself to the forms of input available. There's no reason why your display should have to be permanently attached to the device that drives it, and increasingly, it won't be. I don't know what the implications are for Ubuntu or Android. But genuine support for a first-class computing experience is one of the few things that would…

> This, or something like it, is the future: the computing device is portable, and adapts itself to the forms of input available Maybe it is, but it's not the future I'd like best. I would like to have a desktop in the cloud, and data in the cloud, and nothing in my pocket; nothing to lose or break or have to make sure it still has juice. When I get somewhere to work (a client's, a café, a friend's, etc.), I log in t…

If consumer networks were as reliable as roads and the electricity grid, why would I bother giving my data to someone so they can put it in a datacenter?.

The future I would like best is a device on the end of my home internet connection.

I could authenticate myself to other online services against it.

It could be a node in a social network (much like diaspora) where I can control all my own data.

It could have access to a NAS at home, allowing me to stream my favourite music and movies to wherever I happen to be.

In the future, with resilient enough networks, the datacenter will be distributed.

Re: Ubuntu for Android

#62

Post by glhaynes »

bguthrie wrote: post #17

This, or something like it, is the future: the computing device is portable, and adapts itself to the forms of input available. There's no reason why your display should have to be permanently attached to the device that drives it, and increasingly, it won't be. I don't know what the implications are for Ubuntu or Android. But genuine support for a first-class computing experience is one of the few things that would…

I don't see why this would be the future.

I'm going to want to carry a "phone" for sure. Most people who've ever had a smartphone expect to have one the rest of their life.

I'm also going to want (at least) a machine with a keyboard and bigger display than my phone.

Why in the future would I want to tie one to the other? I wouldn't want that today — my computer works just fine without having to do some weird sync/plug-in dance with my phone when I want to use it. Even if this was seamless and even if we ignore concerns like finite batteries, what would I have gained besides a single point of failure?

I of course would like pervasive data sync. But why would I want the hardware of my computer to rely on the hardware of my phone?

Re: Ubuntu for Android

#63

Post by spiralpolitik »

Its the obvious extension of the current model. Kudos to Canonical for giving it a go.

I was expecting Apple or MS to move in this direction and I seem to recall a POC/patent application/Mock up from a few years back showing an iMac with a removable iPhone/iPod as the home directory. Maybe I'm misremembering.

Re: Ubuntu for Android

#64

Post by freehunter »

bambax wrote: post #42
bguthrie wrote: post #17

This, or something like it, is the future: the computing device is portable, and adapts itself to the forms of input available. There's no reason why your display should have to be permanently attached to the device that drives it, and increasingly, it won't be. I don't know what the implications are for Ubuntu or Android. But genuine support for a first-class computing experience is one of the few things that would…

> This, or something like it, is the future: the computing device is portable, and adapts itself to the forms of input available Maybe it is, but it's not the future I'd like best. I would like to have a desktop in the cloud, and data in the cloud, and nothing in my pocket; nothing to lose or break or have to make sure it still has juice. When I get somewhere to work (a client's, a café, a friend's, etc.), I log in t…

Why not carry the dumb terminal in your pocket and drop it into a monitor and charging station at a client's, a cafe, a friend's, etc? That way you have local access to things that should be local (I don't always have Internet access on my phone here in Michigan, but I still want to listen to music), but cloud access as well? Phones are pretty well tied to the Internet these days anyway.

These two futures don't have to be mutually exclusive, and I'd argue we'll see them both on the same device at the same time.

Re: Ubuntu for Android

#65

Post by readme »

strags wrote: post #12

I know it's immature of me to note this, but what's up with the logo to the left of "Ready to talk?". Is it just me, or is it faintly reminiscent of... well, something else?

I didn't notice it until you pointed it out.. That makes this the second time I've thought of it today.

Re: Ubuntu for Android

#66

Post by krakensden »

cpeterso wrote: post #47
bguthrie wrote: post #17

This, or something like it, is the future: the computing device is portable, and adapts itself to the forms of input available. There's no reason why your display should have to be permanently attached to the device that drives it, and increasingly, it won't be. I don't know what the implications are for Ubuntu or Android. But genuine support for a first-class computing experience is one of the few things that would…

Desktop PCs will always outperform portable devices. I think future docking stations will include both a big display and a big processor. When you dock your phone, your phone's apps will be running on the dock's fast processor while accessing your personal data off the phone. When you undock your phone, your running apps will seamlessly migrate to the phone's processor(s). This will be extremely asymmetric multiproce…

That's too complicated a solution. Linux has had excellent boot time detection of hardware for years now- dock your phone in the desktop chassis, hit reboot, the OS gets loaded from the phone's storage and runs on the tower's CPU and GPU.

Re: Ubuntu for Android

#67

Post by benologist »

nextparadigms wrote: post #5
dave1010uk wrote: post #2

Not 100% sure but I think this is a chroot. From the features page [0]: Ubuntu and Android share the same kernel. When docked, the Ubuntu OS boots and runs concurrently with Android. This allows both mobile and desktop functionality to co-exist in different runtimes. [0] http://www.ubuntu.com/devices/android/features-and-specs

It looks great, but I still think Google needs to make it so when docked like this, what you see on the PC screen is the "tablet UI" of Android. It makes more sense, and you don't even have to waste resources running 2 OS's on a mobile processor.

If they did that all that happens is you're stuck with a crap tablet os and apps, the goal is a full-fledged workstation you can work on without compromise.

Re: Ubuntu for Android

#68

Post by scotu »

glhaynes wrote: post #62
bguthrie wrote: post #17

This, or something like it, is the future: the computing device is portable, and adapts itself to the forms of input available. There's no reason why your display should have to be permanently attached to the device that drives it, and increasingly, it won't be. I don't know what the implications are for Ubuntu or Android. But genuine support for a first-class computing experience is one of the few things that would…

I don't see why this would be the future. I'm going to want to carry a "phone" for sure. Most people who've ever had a smartphone expect to have one the rest of their life. I'm also going to want (at least) a machine with a keyboard and bigger display than my phone. Why in the future would I want to tie one to the other? I wouldn't want that today — my computer works just fine without having to do some weird sync/plu…

So you are willing to commit to cloud-only, controlled by a random corp and subject to network availability but you are not going to trust the hardware you can carry in your pocket?

Notice that no one is saying that a secondary cloud-tier is excluded from this vision...

Re: Ubuntu for Android

#69

Post by bryanlarsen »

Lewisham wrote: post #53
hollerith wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't get it: what advantage do they have over Apple here?

Because Apple had said multiple times that they fundamentally don't believe in a one device world. Tablets are tablets, desktops are desktops. Mixing the two bastardizes both. Microsoft doesn't agree, and Win8 is a hybrid that supports both interactions. Ubuntu is showing it will do the same. Personally, I think Apple are seriously short-sighted in their approach. The other possibility I they are being very long sigh…

The rumour is that Microsoft Office is going to be released for the iPad in a few weeks.

Re: Ubuntu for Android

#70

Post by keithpeter »

sl4yerr wrote: post #3

Does anyone have any real-world experience with this? It looks amazing, but I'd like to hear from someone who's lived with it (if you're out there)...

http://forums.theregister.co.uk/post/1322323

This chap is trying his own home rolled version.

I'm just wondering how fiddly the wiring would get when you decide to go desktop on another monitor somewhere.

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