Ubuntu for smartphones aims to replace today's mobes, laptops

Canonicals top secret product.

Yes I would buy one, or, if one was available, replace my current ROM with and Ubuntu one.

As much as people slag Canonical and Ubuntu, they really are creating Free Software ecosystems on as many devices as they can, and that can only be good.

Slag? Canonical has made controversial decisions that make many of us question just how committed to FOSS they really are. I'm not ready to jump on the bandwagon and cheerlead this, nor am I ready to criticize it. My advice is to take a wait and see attitude and see if they can bring a good product to market. As always, I hope they succeed.

Shuttleworth in my view is flailing around looking for an angle. The mobile/tablet market is saturated with competing OSs at present and the key issue is the number of apps available under each. Android and Apple are roughly comparable while Windows is miles behind. Ubuntu will start with a huge disadvantage unless they can piggyback on Android in some way. All sounds pretty ill thought out to me.

I hope this works for Canonical but without some device already available to purchase pre-loaded with Ubuntu Phone OS this seems much like their previous announcements of Ubuntu for Android and Ubuntu for TV. If anyone in the Linux distro space could make this transition it would be Canonical, but I remain skeptical.

I find it funny that Canonical and GNOME seem to have the big mobile device strategies but it seems like KDE might actually beat them to the marketplace on the type of device those two are targeting.

@montezuma, it is already possible to run Android apps on Ubuntu Desktops

@caitlyn, not an unreasonable attitude either. For myself I find it quite exciting That so much of this is happening, it's a pity we aren't hearing the same from the KDE Plasma people.

Of course Tizen and Firefox OS will also appear on phones this year. Will any of these systems gain traction? It's hard to be sure. There are some interesting aspects to this, but I'm not convinced there is one big deal maker.

Quoting: For myself I find it quite exciting That so much of this is happening,...

Quoting:Of course Tizen and Firefox OS will also appear on phones this year

I don't hate or dislike Google, and I also like what is happening in having multiple OSes and disagree with those who think it is too late for another different OS. How else we get to choose the best of OSes as a result of competition and most importantly, prevent Google, or any other company from becoming a single mobile device OS monopoly.

Quoting:it's a pity we aren't hearing the same from the KDE Plasma people.

So do I like to hear about it, but here is the reason as outlined in AaronSeigo's blog a small update on Vivaldi

Quoting:I'm not going to say anything about the hardware we are looking at using. Last time that didn't turn out perfectly, so this time we'll wait a bit longer before sharing that information ... though I expect that when we start sending devices around to people for demos and engineering work that it will still come out. :P Anyways ... what a ride, but we aren't done yet.

I am not sure if this is the best strategy, but I always said, it might be much better approach to work on getting the software functional on existing hardware like Google Nexus or Samsung Galaxy and worry about own tailored hardware later.

@Fettoosh, I agree, just getting the software working on known good hardware would be much better than the way they are going.

@traceyanne

Yes you can run an emulator but the issue I have is why bother? I think it a better idea their idea a year or two ago namely a dock for android devices that converts them into a proper desktop running Ubuntu. I can see a use for that but running a full desktop system on a tablet seems like overkill. Thus the only argument I can see is more software choice on android devices to keep google honest.

@montezuma, sorry I meant on the Ubuntu for Android, so I see no reason why Ubuntu for phones could not also run Google apps, as it uses the same drivers.

Quoting:I can see a use for that but running a full desktop system on a tablet seems like overkill.

@montezuma,

It might be an overkill to some, but others might find it quite handy and useful sometimes for their type of work.

Don't forget that desktop applications can be adapted to a touch interface and it is nice to have availability to accommodate for many different work needs and requirements.

Instead of carrying a dockable phone, those who have succumbed to the Google can resurrect our environment at any computer with a browser. Google Docs/Drive is h#ll for software and web development, but can you make a business selling phones to developers?

@Steven

Well I can really only speak for myself. I would definitely consider a tablet/desktop combo for most of my compute needs. Google docs is a bit too restrictive for me. I find I need the huge Ubuntu/Debian software repos in order to have maximum flexibility. The software range to me is what it is all about. A good linux distro offers a fantastically flexible array of desktop software. Android offers the same thing for a tablet. Hooking the two up I reckon could well have a lot of takers particularly given Android's massive user base (60% market share on phones).

For myself, I agree. I'm leaning toward networked/synced filesystems accessible through desktop client apps. Google Apps is no fun to code on, that's for sure.