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Ubuntu ported to the Nexus 7

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Re: Ubuntu ported to the Nexus 7

#11

Post by lloeki »

Breakthrough wrote: post #8
james-skemp wrote: post #3

For what it is, I personally think the Nexus 7's OS is perfect for the device. It's been years since I've played with Ubuntu, and this potential announcement probably isn't going to change that. And is Ubuntu now going into touch devices? Honest question: How is this different than throwing Windows onto something like this?

I love how you say "the Nexus 7's OS" when clearly, Android is used on a wide variety of devices (who calls the software on their phone the Droid Razr's OS or the Galaxy SII's OS? just saying...). Oh, and honest answer: It's a full-suited desktop OS, so you're right - it's not different than throwing Windows on it (aside from the obvious differences in the Windows/Linux software architecture and distribution models).…

I bet he meant the "Nexus 7's OS" as opposed to TouchWiz or Sense or whatever UI has been bolted on top of the Android innards.

> You still get all the benefits of a full desktop OS

like hunt-and-pecking in the smallish menus on a 7" screen? this is just ridiculous, and (given their UI plans) way too early to be useful.

Re: Ubuntu ported to the Nexus 7

#12

Post by Breakthrough »

lloeki wrote: post #11
Breakthrough wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love how you say "the Nexus 7's OS" when clearly, Android is used on a wide variety of devices (who calls the software on their phone the Droid Razr's OS or the Galaxy SII's OS? just saying...). Oh, and honest answer: It's a full-suited desktop OS, so you're right - it's not different than throwing Windows on it (aside from the obvious differences in the Windows/Linux software architecture and distribution models).…

I bet he meant the "Nexus 7's OS" as opposed to TouchWiz or Sense or whatever UI has been bolted on top of the Android innards. > You still get all the benefits of a full desktop OS like hunt-and-pecking in the smallish menus on a 7" screen? this is just ridiculous, and (given their UI plans) way too early to be useful.

"... as opposed to TouchWiz or Sense or whatever UI has been bolted on top of the Android innards."

Uh, what? This is a Google/ASUS device, you won't find any of that stuff here. I'm pretty sure the Nexus 7 is as close to AOSP as you can get...

Re: Ubuntu ported to the Nexus 7

#13

Post by maxaf »

james-skemp wrote: post #3

For what it is, I personally think the Nexus 7's OS is perfect for the device. It's been years since I've played with Ubuntu, and this potential announcement probably isn't going to change that. And is Ubuntu now going into touch devices? Honest question: How is this different than throwing Windows onto something like this?

If MS Surface hardware isn't complete garbage, I'd be much more excited to see Android running on it. In the same vein, wouldn't it be nice if we could run Android on a iPad 3?

Re: Ubuntu ported to the Nexus 7

#14

Post by jiggy2011 »

james-skemp wrote: post #3

For what it is, I personally think the Nexus 7's OS is perfect for the device. It's been years since I've played with Ubuntu, and this potential announcement probably isn't going to change that. And is Ubuntu now going into touch devices? Honest question: How is this different than throwing Windows onto something like this?

"Normal" Windows won't run on ARM afaik. So you'd be looking at running WinRT which is stripped down version of Windows that doesn't allow things like sideloading or desktop apps.

Ubuntu will be a better bet for people who want to run desktop type applications on their tablet. Quite how popular a use case that really is remains to be seen.

Re: Ubuntu ported to the Nexus 7

#16

Post by jiggy2011 »

densh wrote: post #4
mariusmg wrote: post #2

OK...but why ? It's not like Unity is a good fit for a 7" tablet.

Very simple use case: connect keyboard and mouse and you'll get portable linux workstation. It's a pity that there is no hdmi out but you shouldn't expect a lot from $200 tablet. As a bonus you'll have lots of open source packages (including various development tools) that will run just fine on this relatively powerful hardware. Most of the user-friendly ubuntu apps won't be usable without a mouse. There are also lot…

Any idea if this can be dual booted with Android/Ubuntu?

I've been wanting a lightweight notebook and a tablet computer for a while now and I'm on a limited budget. This could do that perfectly.

Re: Ubuntu ported to the Nexus 7

#17

Post by mtgx »

This is my problem with Ubuntu and Unity, and why I much prefer Linux Mint as a "Windows replacement" OS. They say they made that side bar to "work well with touchscreen devices, too", but as we can see Unity on a touchscreen devices offers a pretty poor experience, and the sidebar is just about the only thing that is meant for touchscreens in Ubuntu. The global menu and everything else is clearly meant for a PC and a mouse.

So why annoy the PC users with the sidebar, when it's not even that good of a UI for tablets? They're much better off designing a tablet-first UI for tablets, if they want to get into that, and stick with designing a well optimized PC UI for PC's.

I've never been a believer of one UI for all form factors and sizes, because you usually end up with the UI being optimized just for one form factor and size, and mediocre or downright terrible for others. You need to optimize the UI for its own form factor and size. It's the only way to make it work well.

Re: Ubuntu ported to the Nexus 7

#18

Post by napoleoncomplex »

Hopefully this means Ubuntu for Android[0] is getting ready for primetime. I'm stoked about the future with this. A phone which boots into Ubuntu when docked, and allows me to get rid of all other devices is the stuff of dreams for me.

[0]http://www.ubuntu.com/devices/android

Re: Ubuntu ported to the Nexus 7

#19

Post by bookwormAT »

Breakthrough wrote: post #8
james-skemp wrote: post #3

For what it is, I personally think the Nexus 7's OS is perfect for the device. It's been years since I've played with Ubuntu, and this potential announcement probably isn't going to change that. And is Ubuntu now going into touch devices? Honest question: How is this different than throwing Windows onto something like this?

I love how you say "the Nexus 7's OS" when clearly, Android is used on a wide variety of devices (who calls the software on their phone the Droid Razr's OS or the Galaxy SII's OS? just saying...). Oh, and honest answer: It's a full-suited desktop OS, so you're right - it's not different than throwing Windows on it (aside from the obvious differences in the Windows/Linux software architecture and distribution models).…

"who calls the software on their phone the Droid Razr's OS or the Galaxy SII's OS?"

I do. "operating system" is a very ambiguous term. Depending on who you ask, Linux, GNU, Gnome and Ubuntu are all called an "operating systems".

Android is not a operating system in the sense the term is used for Windows 7 or iOS. The comparable OS to those systems is what Samsung, HTC, Google etc. ship with their devices. Different operating systems based on a common platform.

Re: Ubuntu ported to the Nexus 7

#20

Post by levesque »

mtgx wrote: post #17

This is my problem with Ubuntu and Unity, and why I much prefer Linux Mint as a "Windows replacement" OS. They say they made that side bar to "work well with touchscreen devices, too", but as we can see Unity on a touchscreen devices offers a pretty poor experience, and the sidebar is just about the only thing that is meant for touchscreens in Ubuntu. The global menu and everything else is clearly meant for a PC and…

I'm going to argue that the real tablet UI elements developed by the guys at Canonical are the lenses (aka the dash), not the side menu. They are full screen, display large icons, allow you to implement a lot of features (e.g., see Music/video, Documents and Shopping lenses) while using the same UI.

The top bar is only important for its notification icons - the global menu is slowly going to fade out, replaced by in-app icons (see for example google chrome).

I agree with you that one UI for all form factors and sizes is probably a bad idea, but I think I see where they are going for tablets. I pretty much hate Unity for the desktop, but I think for tablets it will make sense.

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