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Ubuntu on tablets

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Re: Ubuntu on tablets

#101

Post by Thrymr »

bitsoda wrote: post #42

I still don't understand the tablet form factor. I concluded that it's not for me some time ago, but am waiting for the general population to come around to one glaring flaw: you have to hold it. For me, it doesn't matter how light a tablet is. A five pound laptop will always feel lighter since it will effectively weigh nothing because it's always on some kind of platform during use, either my lap or a flat desk/tabl…

> one glaring flaw: you have to hold it.

That could also be said to be a flaw in books, but that's an interface that had some staying power. And most people probably use a tablet, like a book, setting on a surface or propped up on something.

Re: Ubuntu on tablets

#102

Post by aortega »

You need balls to take on Google, Apple and Microsoft tablets, being a small business that started giving away Linux CDs. And actually doing a very decent try at it.

Re: Ubuntu on tablets

#103

Post by [deleted] »

azakai wrote: post #75
untog wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why on earth would Nokia back this project? If they make a tablet it's going to be a Windows 8 device.

It would make sense for Nokia to not put all its eggs in one basket. Windows is not doing well on mobile devices, so Nokia investing in other options would be the safe thing to do.

[deleted]

Re: Ubuntu on tablets

#105

Post by davidweir »

azakai wrote: post #75
untog wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why on earth would Nokia back this project? If they make a tablet it's going to be a Windows 8 device.

It would make sense for Nokia to not put all its eggs in one basket. Windows is not doing well on mobile devices, so Nokia investing in other options would be the safe thing to do.

In a sense, not putting their eggs in one basket was their downfall: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/03/10/nokia_ui_saga/

Re: Ubuntu on tablets

#106

Post by aw3c2 »

clebio wrote: post #82

>> Your Ubuntu tablet has multiple secure user accounts... Thank goodness. The absence of this makes every tablet OS out there today pretty weak sauce. If I can't lock the screen, or inhibit another person in the house from opening my email, Dropbox folder, etc., let alone allow them to 'switch user', then no one else can borrow the device. An-ipad-per-child isn't terribly economical, in my book.

Android 4.2 has multiple user accounts.

Re: Ubuntu on tablets

#107

Post by andmarios »

fumar wrote: post #93
andmarios wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When it comes to notifications, easy sharing and usability features in general, it has them all and they are touch optimized. I guess you mean that it doesn't look like Android or iOS. This can be changed easily through a theme. Conveniently you can download new themes from the theme settings screen, you don't need extra software nor you have to search in random places. On the other hand, certain programs, like its t…

>I don't think there is a reason to hide that a tablet device is a computer in different form and when you need it, it can perform as thus Sort of like the Surface tablets...

Exactly! But the Surface family has imo 2 problems.

1. Windows applications doesn't run on ARM, so you can't run your desktop software.

2. Microsoft has to differentiate its products, to assign them to different target price groups and to make them distinctive from competitive products. Same goes for Apple and Android tablet makers of course. They accomplish this by limiting what you can do with your tablet. One may not let you open 2 apps aside, another may not let you have multitasking, all in the name of branding and price-features ratio. In the end you get something you have to adjust to, instead of something that adjusts to you.

Re: Ubuntu on tablets

#109

Post by kunai »

rufugee wrote: post #21

As much as it pains me to admit it, I'm now using Cinnamon as a desktop environment. I really, really wanted Unity to work, but I've had continued performance problems which make it ultimately unusable for me. I understand Ubuntu's need to turn a profit, but I really wish they'd focus on making Unity stable and performant before chasing down these other opportunities... Disclaimer: I run three monitors, so I'm probab…

I've tried Unity on 13.04; Canonical's make a lot of tweaks to the environment and it's much faster and the apps in the dock launch instantly on click.

Of course, I never use full desktop environments anyways; all of them are too big and resource-heavy, and their animations and cool whizzbangery always distracts me and interrupts my workflow. I only use WindowMaker now with GNUStep apps (with the exception of Firefox). It's old-school, but it works.

Re: Ubuntu on tablets

#110

Post by MatthewPhillips »

azakai wrote: post #94
sultezdukes wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And you think that Ubuntu on mobile devices is going to do any better? Nokia screwed up, but diverting resources to an even more miniscule market is even crazier.

It is not miniscule, it is 0% right now ;) But again, the question is of putting all the eggs in one basket or not. Ubuntu and other non-windows mobile OSes each have different approaches, hard to say which will succeed. It's foolish to bet on just one if you are as big as Nokia.

What I don't understand is why these late-comers continue to try and build their own self-contained ecosystem of apps. Microsoft with all its money still barely has a decent ecosystem and even that has a lot of holes. There's 0 chance that any other is going to be given the time of day. Blackberry hinging on Gingerbread apps is just silly.

Instead they should be betting on the web, completely. Ubuntu, being a traditional Linux distro, has a big library of desktop apps that can be cross-compiled in Emscripten, but instead they split their much smaller resources between several different options.

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