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Ubuntu on tablets

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Re: Ubuntu on tablets

#231

Post by rpgmaker »

vibrunazo wrote: post #227
mtgx wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, it's great for all the reasons you said and more. But I wouldn't say it's a big win for user rights yet . It might end up even more locked down by carriers and OEM's because it's open source (and of course because Canonical will allow that to happen to gain some market share): http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/19/4005514/ubuntu-phones-2014... Plus, don't forget all the deep Amazon integration, and who knows what el…

Usually I would agree. But as long as it's open source and you can install it yourself on any nexus device. Then you can solve that yourself.

That is no excuse. Using that logic why don't you modify android to behave like ubuntu phone does and be done with it? After all android is open source too.

Re: Ubuntu on tablets

#232

Post by dhruvmittal »

noahl wrote: post #163
WrkInProgress wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If they ape the Windows 8 snap view completely, it won't work in portrait. It will be interesting how they deal with installing phone apps on the tablet. They might just allow carte blanche or might require a developer to opt in to avoid issues with phone specific apps being unusable on the tablet.

What issues would they have with phone-specific apps, other than possibly lacking a microphone and cell plan? If their security model makes the developer list what sensitive APIs (like voice and location) they use, then they already have enough information to disable apps that depend on having a microphone. If you mean having apps work on bigger screens, it looks like side stage lets them keep phone apps at a reasona…

With Skype around, I'd imagine that microphones are actually pretty standard on tablets nowadays? And it's not terribly uncommon to see tablets with HPSA+ connections (or even LTE), right? Tablets and phones are rapidly becoming one in the same, just with different screen sizes.

Re: Ubuntu on tablets

#233

Post by tcdent »

stcredzero wrote: post #123
mtgx wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

2. The apps will remain compatible, just like on Android, but I fear they will give too much control over to carriers. From what I understand they want to give "total branding power" over a device to carriers. So we'll see how they go about that without pissing off the user. If it's subtle enough it might work. But I still hate the idea of giving even more power (again) to the carriers. The carriers should be powerle…

> The carriers should be powerless when it comes to the devices they sell. They should be no more than retailers. Who has ever heard of retailers messing with the products? No one, because that's a crazy idea. It's even a doofy idea for car dealers to tack their own logo plaques on the back of your car. Annoying.

One of the first things I do with a new car is get rid of the branded license plate frames. I seem to be a minority though, as most people either don't seem to care, or can't wield a screwdriver.

Re: Ubuntu on tablets

#234

Post by rattray »

I wonder how feasible it would be to build iOS and Android emulators for a linux tablet? Assuming people have tried for purposes of building/testing, but this seems a little different to me.

Being able to run all iOS and android apps on a single device would be pretty revolutionary.

Re: Ubuntu on tablets

#235

Post by jussij »

enjo wrote: post #132
davidweir wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

That's not about putting their eggs into separate baskets, it's about Nokia's shortcomings in terms of both management and engineering. I worked very closely with Nokia during that time period. As closely as one could work without being directly employed (we deployed a product directly to the S60 baseline). What happened at Nokia was the end result of years of engineering neglect. Symbian was a monster. It was poorly…

History has shown us that Nokia was always good at hardware and very bad at software.

I suspect they've learnt from that and now leave the software side to Microsoft, while leaving them free to focus once again on creating good hardware.

Re: Ubuntu on tablets

#236

Post by joycer »

mtgx wrote: post #184
emehrkay wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love the transformations that the OS goes through based on device, very much like responsive web design. My favorite feature is running phone apps on the side with the Windows8-like split view, great idea. I wonder how that translates to portrait.

I still think Samsung has the best idea for such multi-tasking with "Dual-View": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZ3krff1JCE&feature=yout... It's not limited to only one column, like in Ubuntu and Windows 8, it splits the apps even, so you can use them fully, and you can even expand or contract one over the other. I think that's a much better implementation. But Ubuntu's idea for using the phone apps on the side is n…

http://www.xkcd.com/934/

tooltip :: 'It's fun to watch browsers fumblingly recapitulate the history of window management. Someday we'll have xmonad as a Firefox extension.'

Re: Ubuntu on tablets

#237

Post by jussij »

azakai wrote: post #126
simonh wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's true up to a point, but even Nokia has limited resources and developing, launching and marketing a tablet computer at Nokia's scale is not cheap. So given that, if they were going to put some eggs in another basket, why would they choose Ubuntu over Android, which has an existing application base and at least some user awareness? It seems like we're at the same stage right now in the mobile OS world as we were…

> So given that, if they were going to put some eggs in another basket, why would they choose Ubuntu over Android, which has an existing application base and at least some user awareness? I agree, Android would be a better second bet. But they don't necessarily need to limit themselves to 2 - look at how many options Samsung is keeping open for example.

Except Samsung is drowning in profits, while Nokia is just drowning.

Re: Ubuntu on tablets

#238

Post by lukifer »

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…

I like to refer to my iPad as the "Codex of Infinite Pages". I interact with it more like a large book, rather than treating it like a computer.

That said, I think people trying to use tablets like baby laptops are a little nuts, but to each their own. :)

Re: Ubuntu on tablets

#239

Post by joycer »

When are we going to get the kind of options for window managers that we have on the desktop on our mobile devices?

I do want my phone to look like my computer but my computer looks very much different than Canonical's Unity.

Re: Ubuntu on tablets

#240

Post by vacri »

woah wrote: post #218
vacri wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is absolutely nothing of content in your comment, it's all empty hand-waving. Why not specify something as the parent comment asked? I mean, the GP said that cinnamon was too simple and immature, and when asked why, your response is that this design is, essentially, overly mature.

Not to be pedantic, but it looks to me like they are both talking about the same thing. The GP sounds like he is missing things in Cinnamon that are taken for granted in modern DE's, that it is simple and at the level that modern DE's were when they were less mature. One might say that Windows 98 is "less mature" than today's OS's, and if Cinnamon has features comparable to Windows 98, one might think of it being les…

I find that the Sun is not up to par with more modern stars, and the features it has are archaic and not in tune with the needs of today's users.

Oh, what, you want some examples of what I mean by that? Why? Can't you just accept it when I say that it's obsolete and we really should be looking for a new solution?

(I don't think you're being pedantic, just missing my point :)

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