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Ubuntu Edge

indiegogo.com

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Re: Ubuntu Edge

#41

Post by shmerl »

kklimonda wrote: post #38
shmerl wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not exciting then. More interesting would be to crowdfund glibc drivers.

Maybe [1], but then Canonical is aiming at getting Ubuntu into as many phones as possible, and it working with the Android stack is helping in achieving this goal. [1] On the other hand what would be a benefit of investing into getting drivers work with glibc, other than running your classic Linux distribution?

On the other hand what would be a benefit of investing into getting drivers work with glibc

To run without any translation layers and bionic quirks. That's the main benefit. When the system is using glibc (like Sailfish and Ubuntu do), and drivers aren't, the only way is to translate it like libhybris does. It's a crutch at best and not ideal. It can perform well, but it's still not direct.

Re: Ubuntu Edge

#42

Post by rlpb »

RockyMcNuts wrote: post #19
aroman wrote: post #15

I really really hope I'm wrong (because I really believe in Ubuntu's vision), but what I'm gathering from this is that Canonical really has no idea how to make money.

I'm gathering that the handset makers and carriers and VCs laughed them out of the office, so they had to go this route. I would have expected to read something like, the phone is an enhanced version of x/y/z with these features, we got a great deal from (manufacturer), but we need 50,000 pre-orders to proceed.

> I'm gathering that the handset makers and carriers and VCs laughed them out of the office, so they had to go this route.

From the FAQ:

"If we don’t reach our target then we will focus only on commercially available handsets and there will not be an Ubuntu Edge."

I don't think this supports your assumption.

Re: Ubuntu Edge

#43

Post by cs702 »

The $32 million fundraising goal might seem overly ambitious, but it's actually more realistic than it appears at first glance, because at $600+ per unit the campaign needs only around 50,000 buyers worldwide to be successful -- or a bit over 2% of Ubuntu's enthusiastic user base, which was estimated to be greater than 20 million in 2011.[1]

PS. I just ordered one, as I LOVE the idea of an unlocked phone designed and built from the ground up by Canonical specifically for Ubuntu users, with minimal interference from wireless carriers.

--

Update: When I posted this comment, the total raised was under $50,000. Less than an hour later, it had risen to over half a million dollars.

--

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu_(operating_system)#Inst...

Re: Ubuntu Edge

#44

Post by xanderstrike »

Zigurd wrote: post #26

I would like to like this, but there are some red flags: It seems like they are engineering their own high-end hardware. Are there really no off-the-shelf platforms for this? No ODMs from which they could order 10k units, including the GPU driver license? Supposing they could get 10k units for $500 each, that means they could ask for $1M or $2m and be far more certain of hitting their goal. Why not do that? It seems…

This was my thinking. The whole time through that video I was wondering why they don't just buy a couple thousand Nexus 4s to load up with their custom build and re-sell. If they're planning to put Ubuntu on other manufacturers hardware, the official Google supported phone sounds like a pretty good place to start, and the speed at which those phones sell would be a great way to test the interest in their new platform. Hell, I'd buy it even at a $100 markup ($400), I'd buy it with little hesitation just to get some hands on time with the OS.

Impulse buying a $600 handset that won't arrive for a year (if they hit deadlines, which doesn't happen), is asking for far too much trust.

Putting it on Surface RT hardware would be a dream. I don't like Unity for my desktop, but if I was looking for a 10" tablet I'd be all over it.

Re: Ubuntu Edge

#45

Post by oblique63 »

Zigurd wrote: post #26

I would like to like this, but there are some red flags: It seems like they are engineering their own high-end hardware. Are there really no off-the-shelf platforms for this? No ODMs from which they could order 10k units, including the GPU driver license? Supposing they could get 10k units for $500 each, that means they could ask for $1M or $2m and be far more certain of hitting their goal. Why not do that? It seems…

> Are there really no off-the-shelf platforms for this?

From what I gather, it seems the entire purpose of this 'edge' project is a hardware one, not a software one. They're trying to gather the 'latest and greatest' hardware and make a phone out of it, which would by definition, not be found in an existing handset. I'm sure they'll try to push for their mobile os regardless of whether this fails or not, as it seems almost orthogonal to their mobile os efforts. Once they evaluate how feasible this 'cutting edge' handset idea is, I'm sure they'll continue to find devices to slap ubuntu touch on. But if they've had this 'premium phone' idea kicking around for a while, why not? This isn't an either/or scenario.

Re: Ubuntu Edge

#47

Post by Apocryphon »

shmerl wrote: post #28
RockyMcNuts wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm gathering that the handset makers and carriers and VCs laughed them out of the office, so they had to go this route. I would have expected to read something like, the phone is an enhanced version of x/y/z with these features, we got a great deal from (manufacturer), but we need 50,000 pre-orders to proceed.

I guess they just didn't find investors. Jolla managed to do it because they have expertise and accumulated knowledge in the field. Canonical don't have that.

Any idea how Firefox OS was able to do it? Maybe because Mozilla is more established as a corporation in addition to being a nonprofit?

Re: Ubuntu Edge

#48

Post by keithpeter »

ealexhudson wrote: post #40
reactor wrote: post #32

Reached 100+ K in an hour!!!

They have to average $42K an hour for the next month for this to work. That realistically means they need to pull in a few million in the first few days.

I wonder how many of us are going to watch the site for a few days, track the average hourly funding rate, then decide if we want to commit based on the likelihood of the round being successful? Sort of Victor Vroom outcome motivation.

Re: Ubuntu Edge

#49

Post by rlpb »

sublimit wrote: post #12

Haha oh wow. They're charging hundreds of dollars to add a free OS into a smartphone. And they expect to get 32 million just for the promise. Someone lock these people up before they do some real damage.

It looks like the money is for building the hardware too, not just the software.

Re: Ubuntu Edge

#50

Post by freehunter »

sciurus wrote: post #4

"If we don’t reach our target then we will focus only on commercially available handsets and there will not be an Ubuntu Edge." That makes so much more sense to me that I'm having a hard time understanding why Canonical would even attempt to design and manufacture their own handset.

For the same reason Microsoft made the Surface and Google has the Nexus devices. "This is how it's done" sets a very strong precedence for OEMs to follow. Canonical can set the bar high right off the bat to avoid being like the first few years of Android phones.
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