Ubuntu Linux smarthphone coming this year?

[superboyac]

http://www.crn.com/news/mobility/240145445/ubuntu-linux-smartphone-coming-this-year.htm

Could this be as exciting as it sounds?  Please!

[f0dder]

I really don't see the need, business case, user interest (apart from a few hardcore geeks), or anything else, really.

Android is already running a linux kernel, and android apps can include native code. I don't really see why you'd want something that's probably closer to a normal distro on neither phones (perhaps on tablets, but even there I'm not convinced). If it runs traditional linux applications with no sandboxing, it's going to be a security nightmare, and if it adds sandboxing it'll be duplicating android functionality.

So, what's the deal? Sell it to me.

[KynloStephen66515]

Ubuntu Linux smarthphone coming this year?

Smarthphone?

[superboyac]

Ubuntu Linux smarthphone coming this year?

Smarthphone?

yeth!!

[superboyac]

I really don't see the need, business case, user interest (apart from a few hardcore geeks), or anything else, really.

Android is already running a linux kernel, and android apps can include native code. I don't really see why you'd want something that's probably closer to a normal distro on neither phones (perhaps on tablets, but even there I'm not convinced). If it runs traditional linux applications with no sandboxing, it's going to be a security nightmare, and if it adds sandboxing it'll be duplicating android functionality.

So, what's the deal? Sell it to me.

Anything to make it more hacker friendly.  anything to divorce the marriage between phone models and carrier.  more choices, more software/apps, more options.  ability for smaller companies to build their own cellphones, and not just the huge brands like apple, ms, samsung, htc.  how about a ubuntu phone made by kingston, that i take to at&t and activate.  stuff like that.

[mahesh2k]

More open devices the better. Helps keep people away from brand frustration and monopoly. KDE tablet is coming too.

[f0dder]

OK, so I'm pessimistic and it might very well turn out that I'm wrong, but...

"Anything to make it more hacker friendly." - in which way isn't Android hacker-friendly? Sure, individual manufacturer "value" addons might not be open, but core Android is, and there's several custom ROMs. As for being fully open, I kinda doubt that's going to happen, because of patents as well as security issues (radio/baseband code).

"anything to divorce the marriage between phone models and carrier" - I somehow doubt Canonical is going to change that... they're at least partly in it for the money.

"more choices, more software/apps, more options" - more software? Android is already open to write for, for anybody who cares, without any fees to Google. If you think you're going to be able to take any old linux program and run on an Ubuntu smartphone, I think you're going to be surprised... most of the so-called "portable" software is really only "portable to (most) normal linux distros", not something as different as a smartphone, and there's so much crap out there which has a hard time running on anything but x86 (even x64). And even if the code is portable, have fun running something designed for X11 and desktop resolutions on a smartphone screen

Oh, and as if current smartphone OSes weren't bloated enough, I really don't like thinking about how bad a "normal" linux distro would be on such a device. And if it isn't somewhat more "normal" (and clunky) than an Android based device, what's the use then, apart from duplicating Android functionality?

"ability for smaller companies to build their own cellphones, and not just the huge brands like apple, ms, samsung, htc." - we'll see about that, but I somehow doubt it. You need some muscle to be able to withstand litigation from the big'uns. And even ignoring patent trolling, putting a phone together is no easy task.

"how about a ubuntu phone made by kingston, that i take to at&t and activate." - OK, you want phone and carrier to be separated, that's something that calls for regulation.

[Renegade]

Decoupling the device, software (OS), carrier, and app distribution (app stores) is an absolute win for the consumer, and a loss for the carriers, device manufacturers, and proprietary OSes because then they have to compete harder for consumer dollars. Even for the Blackberry model of secure communications, an open system would create new opportunities for secure communications providers and secure storage providers.

Every open device that hits the market chips away at the closed and proprietary models where freedom is at their discretion.

While Canonical may be profit motivated, it's still a move in the right direction.

Anyways, I'm hopeful that this will all turn out well for people. I suppose that means I hope that it turns out badly for those with vested interests in restricting the markets.

"how about a ubuntu phone made by kingston, that i take to at&t and activate." - OK, you want phone and carrier to be separated, that's something that calls for regulation.

I don't know why laws would be needed. It only takes 1 upstart to set the dominoes in motion, and if they weren't set in motion, you could basically be guaranteed that there was an illegal cartel behind the scenes rigging the market. But, it's not like those kinds of investigations are ever pursued - as long as you're a big company, you can do whatever you want with impunity. e.g. HSBC. (Too many examples there.)

[Edvard]

My only wish for Android is if I could get root without having to have a custom rom.  DAMN annoying when I can't do a fool task like changing the fecking DNS without rooting it.  Bleah.

[40hz]

Telecommunications and the radio spectrum are highly regulated in most parts of the world - both under local law and international treaty.

So while you can easily build any hardware device you like, there's no guarantee it will ever be allowed to access the telcom grid or legally use the airwaves. Because in such a highly regulated environment, all unrestricted devices (and most real innovations) are viewed as potential threats to the stability and security of the network. So a completely open and unlocked smartphone is the last thing that government regulators and telco network security departments want to see come onto the market. Or even be allowed.

And like the TV ad (Verizon?) says: a phone is only as good as the network it's on. Or more correctly: is allowed on.

And with all the patent trolling, vendor lock-in, and infighting going on in the smartphone market, I don't see any of the real players (AT&T, Verizon, Metro Mobile, Sprint, et al.) looking to add to their line of sanctioned smartphones.

To be frank, Canonical is completely out of its league here. And probably more than a little guilty of falling for the "better mousetrap" fallacy.

Exciting? Yes! But as my niece says : This is so not gonna happen.

[superboyac]

Telecommunications and the radio spectrum are highly regulated in most parts of the world - both under local law and international treaty.

So while you can easily build any hardware device you like, there's no guarantee it will ever be allowed to access the telcom grid or legally use the airwaves. Because in such a highly regulated environment, all unrestricted devices (and most real innovations) are viewed as potential threats to the stability and security of the network. So a completely open and unlocked smartphone is the last thing that government regulators and telco network security departments want to see come onto the market. Or even be allowed.

And like the TV ad (Verizon?) says: a phone is only as good as the network it's on. Or more correctly: is allowed on.

And with all the patent trolling, vendor lock-in, and infighting going on in the smartphone market, I don't see any of the real players (AT&T, Verizon, Metro Mobile, Sprint, et al.) looking to add to their line of sanctioned smartphones.

To be frank, Canonical is completely out of its league here. And probably more than a little guilty of falling for the "better mousetrap" fallacy.

Exciting? Yes! But as my niece says : This is so not gonna happen.

ah...screw it all.  i honestly don't even care anymore.

i'm just going to go back to working on cartoons and ignoring the world.

[Edvard]

Cartoons? I LOVE cartoons!! 

[Deozaan]

My only wish for Android is if I could get root without having to have a custom rom.  DAMN annoying when I can't do a fool task like changing the fecking DNS without rooting it.  Bleah.

I don't need a custom ROM to get root on my Android device. Maybe you got the wrong device, one where the manufacturer/provider customized it with a bunch of crapware and locked it down. . .

[Edvard]

Acer Iconia Tab a210.  Any suggestions?

[40hz]

Telecommunications and the radio spectrum are highly regulated in most parts of the world - both under local law and international treaty.

So while you can easily build any hardware device you like, there's no guarantee it will ever be allowed to access the telcom grid or legally use the airwaves. Because in such a highly regulated environment, all unrestricted devices (and most real innovations) are viewed as potential threats to the stability and security of the network. So a completely open and unlocked smartphone is the last thing that government regulators and telco network security departments want to see come onto the market. Or even be allowed.

And like the TV ad (Verizon?) says: a phone is only as good as the network it's on. Or more correctly: is allowed on.

And with all the patent trolling, vendor lock-in, and infighting going on in the smartphone market, I don't see any of the real players (AT&T, Verizon, Metro Mobile, Sprint, et al.) looking to add to their line of sanctioned smartphones.

To be frank, Canonical is completely out of its league here. And probably more than a little guilty of falling for the "better mousetrap" fallacy.

Exciting? Yes! But as my niece says : This is so not gonna happen.

ah...screw it all.  i honestly don't even care anymore.

i'm just going to go back to working on cartoons and ignoring the world.

A capital idea. I'm doing much the same these days - except with music and guitar design.

Seriously though, it is interesting. But with all the powerful commercial and political interests arrayed against it, I don't give anything "open" in the smartphone universe much hope. It's not a battle that "open" can win.

[40hz]

Cartoons? I LOVE cartoons!! 

Me too.

[superboyac]

Cartoons? I LOVE cartoons!! 

Me too.

If I ever am able to pull this off...it will be a dream come true for me.

[Edvard]

A capital idea. I'm doing much the same these days - except with music and guitar design.

Guitars? I LOVE guitars!!  
(we've spoke of this before, though, haven't we?)

[Renegade]

God plays a 6-string! I think his current favourite is a Gibson Les Paul at the moment. But who knows? Could be a scalloped Fender.  

[40hz]

God plays a 6-string! I think his current favourite is a Gibson Les Paul at the moment. But who knows? Could be a scalloped Fender.  

My personal "deity" alternates between her 50th Anniversary Strat, her G&L Classic Bluesboy and her newest crush - an Epi Ultra-339. She owns a vintage Les Paul Custom too. But that's out on "indefinite loan" to our pro-musician godson.

[40hz]

A capital idea. I'm doing much the same these days - except with music and guitar design.

Guitars? I LOVE guitars!!  
(we've spoke of this before, though, haven't we?)

Yes. We have.

[xtabber]

It makes a good deal of sense for Linux distros to develop smartphone versions.

When you buy a new smartphone, the only thing that happens to your old one is that the phone service is de-activated by your carrier.  The device remains perfectly usable in every other way. It just becomes WiFi only.

Most smartphones are purchased on a 2-year contract, and the big surge in Android phones began 2-3 years ago, which means that we are starting to see a large number of advanced mobile computing devices sitting around, no longer being used as phones, but available for anything else.

Android runs a Linux kernel and the Ubuntu smartphone Linux supposedly uses existing Android device drivers.  I'd guess that within a few years, there will be quite a few Linux distros available for Android devices, and Linux developers porting their software to the platform.

[Edvard]

Now that I'd actually like to see... just as Linux is being touted as a way to "revitalize" older computers and hardware no longer usable by modern versions of windows, we could see older phones being re-purposed as the small-form wifi-capable computing devices they really are at heart.  Who knows, with a Ubuntu phone and home-brew gsm networks, something just might click.

[40hz]

I'd rather they put their efforts into a genuine open tablet PC and forget about the smartphone idea entirely.

A well executed tablet is something they could pull off very easily by doing little more than building the fully featured and powerful unwalled and unrestricted tablet everybody has been asking for. (And mostly in vain. )  Breaking onto the phone market is an altogether different battle. And I still think they're out of their league with that.

Linux works best when you follow your own 'weird' and do what you think is best for your intended audience. You can't really do that in a heavily regulated area such as telecommunications. There are far too many sweetheart deals and regulatory carve-outs to  be innovative and genuinely customer-oriented.

Just my tuppence anyway.

[superboyac]

God plays a 6-string! I think his current favourite is a Gibson Les Paul at the moment. But who knows? Could be a scalloped Fender.  

My personal "deity" alternates between her 50th Anniversary Strat, her G&L Classic Bluesboy and her newest crush - an Epi Ultra-339. She owns a vintage Les Paul Custom too. But that's out on "indefinite loan" to our pro-musician godson.

whoa!  you just raised the bar for godfathers!  shoot...i hope my nieces don't get into music now!  j/k...what am i saying?!!