Ubuntu ported to the Nexus 7 • Hacker News Board

Re: Ubuntu ported to the Nexus 7

#21

Post by itry » Sat, Oct 20, 2012, 3:39 PM UTC

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 was an Ubuntu user for years. When tablets became famous, I was thinking: Wow, if I only could have Ubuntu on these devices. Then they lost me because of Unity. I tried several days, but it was simply not geared toward my workflow. Thank God I discovered Mint. Mint is awesome.

Then they introduced this new find-something-thing that sends everything you type to their servers. A privacy nightmare. And a usability nightmare. Thats just the wrong philosophy. So I also dont want them on my tablets.

Its surprising, how quick things can change. I was a huge Ubuntu supporter from 2005 to 2012. And now I warn people to not use it.

Re: Ubuntu ported to the Nexus 7

#22

Post by ovi256 » Sat, Oct 20, 2012, 4:09 PM UTC

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…

You mention HDMI out. $100 chinese tablets have it [1]. Arguably they don't have the same screen and quality battery as the Nexus 7.

1. http://www.ainolstore.com/ainol-novo-7-mars-cortex-a9-androi...

Re: Ubuntu ported to the Nexus 7

#23

Post by ConstantineXVI » Sat, Oct 20, 2012, 4:51 PM UTC

jiggy2011 wrote: post #14

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.

If someone "broke" WinRT enough to get it running on the N7, I'd be very surprised if it wouldn't also be possible to get a compiler going and build normal desktop apps. It's still capable of running at least a significant subset of "classic" Windows (at minimum, however much it takes for Office to run); so once it's been convinced to disregard security, it should theoretically be possible to get many other Windows apps compiled for and running on ARM as well.

That said, if you want to run desktop-style applications, you're far better off just buying one.

Re: Ubuntu ported to the Nexus 7

#24

Post by jiggy2011 » Sat, Oct 20, 2012, 4:51 PM UTC

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…

Unity is a long way from perfect on tablet or PC. Having said that the sidebar has grown on me. Since almost every monitor out there is 16:9; vertical space is precious and another 50 pixels gives me another 2-3 lines of code on the screen.

The best way to use the sidebar is to put your most commonly used program at the top and then launch them with Logo+.

If you spend some time setting up your shortcut keys you can actually use much of your system mouse free.

So I'm not really sure that it is targeted towards tablets. It could however be adapted to be tablet friendly a lot more easily than the MS Windows interface or older Window managers could be.

So rather than having this jarring difference between Metro and Desktop like you do in Windows 8 they could have a much more subtle transition of the same interface depending on whether a mouse/keyboard was plugged in or not.

Re: Ubuntu ported to the Nexus 7

#25

Post by achiang » Sat, Oct 20, 2012, 4:58 PM UTC

The people making comments about Unity on this device have some valid points, but are missing the forest for the trees. One of the major themes of 13.04 and the entire point of this demo is to fix the core of Ubuntu, as was referenced in Mark's blog:

"I think it’s time to look at the core of Ubuntu and review it through a mobile lens: let’s measure our core platform by mobile metrics, things like battery life, number of running processes, memory footprint, and polish the rough edges that we find when we do that."

Don't expect the Unity UI experience to be optimized for this device in the 13.04 time frame. That's not the goal.

Not speaking officially here, just trying to help people connect the dots of what Canonical have publicly revealed thus far.

Re: Ubuntu ported to the Nexus 7

#26

Post by andrewaylett » Sat, Oct 20, 2012, 5:06 PM UTC

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…

Not all PC users are annoyed by the side-bar -- I really like it, despite thinking I'd hate it when I first upgraded. I actually have my Windows 7 PC at work set up in a very similar way -- task bar at the side. In both, Win-[1-9] will switch to the respective application. Most applications I use are pinned, so I don't have to interact with either start panel very often.

My Unity task bar auto-hides, and with maximised windows losing their title bars and menus (until I disabled that feature as I like focus-follows-mouse) living in the panel, full-screen applications take up pretty much the whole screen.

Re: Ubuntu ported to the Nexus 7

#27

Post by jiggy2011 » Sat, Oct 20, 2012, 5:08 PM UTC

ConstantineXVI wrote: post #23

jiggy2011 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"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.

If someone "broke" WinRT enough to get it running on the N7, I'd be very surprised if it wouldn't also be possible to get a compiler going and build normal desktop apps. It's still capable of running at least a significant subset of "classic" Windows (at minimum, however much it takes for Office to run); so once it's been convinced to disregard security, it should theoretically be possible to get many other Windows a…

Assuming that you can get the source to these desktop applications and re-compile them for ARM. I also doubt that older Win32 libraries will be compatible with WinRT.

You would basically be getting WinRT "homebrew" like you do with some consoles, a cool hack but probably miserable for getting work done.

OTOH an ARM based ubuntu might be a usable dev system.

Re: Ubuntu ported to the Nexus 7

#28

Post by dysoco » Sat, Oct 20, 2012, 5:16 PM UTC

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 like the sidebar, just reduce the icon size to something normal and you have something similar to Windows 7's panel.

Re: Ubuntu ported to the Nexus 7

#29

Post by keithpeter » Sat, Oct 20, 2012, 5:42 PM UTC

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…

Yup, I saw the original article and thought 'good look with LibreOffice on that'

Then I checked the specifications of the tablet: headphone socket, built in microphone, and so I could get puredata running on it with (perhaps) jack audio.

That would open up the prospect of sound generation by touch. Puredata allows you to make your own interfaces so large buttons to hit.

Also http://dinisnoise.org/

I could almost justify a ton and a half in UK money for that alone.

What I'm saying here is that a cheap touch tablet is not for me a general purpose device, but could fulfill a specific purpose.

Re: Ubuntu ported to the Nexus 7

#30

Post by wazoox » Sat, Oct 20, 2012, 5:44 PM UTC

andrewaylett wrote: post #26

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…

Not all PC users are annoyed by the side-bar -- I really like it, despite thinking I'd hate it when I first upgraded. I actually have my Windows 7 PC at work set up in a very similar way -- task bar at the side. In both, Win-[1-9] will switch to the respective application. Most applications I use are pinned, so I don't have to interact with either start panel very often. My Unity task bar auto-hides, and with maximis…

What's so new with this side bar? It seems to me that I've been using my PC this way thanks to Windowmaker for the past 15 years already.