Ubuntu Powered Tablet Spotted! 169
dkd903 writes "The year 2010 had been all buzz with tablets and a similar trend is expected during the year 2011 too. We have already seen a lot of Android powered tablets. But how does a tablet powered by Ubuntu sound? A Chinese manufacturer TENQ has launched a tablet called P07. The device is said to be running Ubuntu 10.10 Netbook Edition and the boot time reported to be almost instant."
Year of the Linux Tablet (Score:2, Funny)
Surely 2011 will be the Year of the Linux Tablet now?
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Any tablet running Android.
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No, 2011 will finally be the year of the Linux Desktop. But entire world and dog will fail to notice because they got rid of their desktop and will be playing with their Apple/Microsoft Tablets.
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If it were ubuntu the snooty reply would be "It has been on MY tablet since 2004!"
Re:Obligatory snooty reply (Score:4, Interesting)
I've got Ubuntu 10.10 on my Thinkpad X200 Tablet. It works pretty well, but not everything works perfectly. I've had every version of Ubuntu on it since 9.04, and some of the earlier ones actually seemed to work a little better. There are still a few kinks, though. Thankfully, sites like ThinkWiki [thinkwiki.org] exist to help with some of the problems.
I'm still having a few issues, though, such as the fingerprint scanner not working or when rotating the screen, the touch sensor doesn't translate its coordinates properly (so left-right becomes up-down when the screen is rotated 90 degrees). The mute button doesn't work properly either, but other than that it runs pretty well.
Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)
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You make some good points, but in all honesty Jobs did not "take BSD and build an empire with it". It's a common misconception that OS X is based entirely on BSD code, when in truth it makes use of a lot of open source from a variety of projects, and crucially it contains a great deal of closed source code (including tons from Next). Otherwise, I fully agree with what you're saying.
The simple fact is, designing a solid, working desktop requires clout and very good people working outside of the code on thing
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I don't want any flavor of tablet, I wish people would stop trying to sell me one.
I don't want Breck shampoo. I wish people would stop trying to sell me some.
See how stupid it sounds?
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I don't want any flavor of tablet, I wish people would stop trying to sell me one.
Not even strawberry?
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what's wrong with taking your medication?
The medication makes it hard to hear the voices... and the voices told me long ago not to trust anything or anyone that tries to quite the voices. This is confusing because The Great Weasel told me it was OK to take the medication as long as I wash it down with a bottle of vodka. When I told that to the people in white they moved me to the cloud room again...
Sigh (Score:2)
I guess the server's uptime is about the same as the tablet's boot-time once the /. crowd "spotted" the product.
Here's the text and Google Cache version (Score:5, Informative)
Google has a cached version: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:h8oRGG22slsJ:gadgetizor.com/the-tablet-season-brings-a-new-ubuntu-powered-tablet/6304/+http://gadgetizor.com/the-tablet-season-brings-a-new-ubuntu-powered-tablet/6304/&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a [googleusercontent.com]
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ROFLMDAO the image is the epitome of the Ubuntu install. Get it loaded up, try to play your music off your mp3 player while finishing it up and you get the damn codec error.
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Exactly what I was thinking. It may be a few more miles before this is an iPad killer.
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Yeah, I saw the pic and thought, "Of all the damn screenshots in all the world, why did they leak that one?"
It was the first one that didn't have a crash backtrace?
>:-)
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Yeah, when you install it yourself you get the option to install the codecs and flash etc with the OS installation, but on pre-installs you do not have that option.
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Leave it to OEMs to manage to create a lesser experience than you can get by just downloading the relevant Linux distribution yourself.
Re:Here's the text and Google Cache version (Score:4, Informative)
Well if you've been here a while as your UID says, you should know it's all about the patents. You check the button in the install process, Canoncial doesn't. With preinstalls it would be the OEM installing it for you, which makes the OEM a lawsuit target. At least in the US the MP3 patents are valid for at least 2 and possibly 7 more years if the submarine patents are recognized. Patents for MPEG2 that's required for DVD reading goes to 2023, H.264 to 2028. That's fine if you're called Linux Mint and doesn't have deep enough pockets that anybody will bother to sue you but if you're a big OEM they might. At least no OEM feels like taking that chance...
Canonical licensees codecs. (Score:2)
You check the button in the install process, Canoncial doesn't. With preinstalls it would be the OEM installing it for you, which makes the OEM a lawsuit target
Canonical licenses mp3 and H.264 for its OEM distributions:
Licensed Companies [mp3licensing.com], Licensees - PC Applications [mp3licensing.com]
AVC/H.264 Licensees [mpegla.com]
Walmart.com had 212 flavors of the Win 7 laptop and 95 Win 7 desktops on sale this holiday season - and all sold with licensed mp3 audio and DVD video play out of the box.
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You don't need to add another repository.
The first time you want to play an MP3 or view flash in your browser you are asked if you would want to install the relevant software.
It is really very simple.
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I don't think that's true. They don't preinstall it, but it's relatively trivial to add another repository and install them yourself. Anybody that's not capable of that with a bit of googling is probably not going to be happy with a Linux anything.
I don't have a problem googling on my desktop, but I seriously won't be happy about doing it on a tablet. Googling is not the same without a keyboard and mouse. Sure, it's possible, but not nearly as easy without the proper input devices and screen.
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I don't think that's true. They don't preinstall it, but it's relatively trivial to add another repository and install them yourself. Anybody that's not capable of that with a bit of googling is probably not going to be happy with a Linux anything.
I don't have a problem googling on my desktop, but I seriously won't be happy about doing it on a tablet. Googling is not the same without a keyboard and mouse. Sure, it's possible, but not nearly as easy without the proper input devices and screen.
It works well enough on my android phone and it would be easier on a tablet. Personally I would prefer SHR [shr-project.org] or android on a tablet instead of ubuntu.
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What this needs is an icon on the desktop titled "Activate Now". Running it then connects to the relevant repositories and installs all the codecs that typical users were accustomed to back in the Windows world. And during installation, various tip screens come up explaining in layman's terms the reasons why these were unable to be installed at the factory.
Remember, you may not be able to change the world, but you can at least make a dent.
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This should be trivial. The only problem with putting this on the desktop is that the current version of Unity that runs on Mutter does not support having desktop icons.
The next version will use Compiz and will support having an icon on the desktop.
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Your FUD is a couple of years out of date.
This problem actually applies much more to Apple products.
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Known anti-Apple troll. Leave it alone.
Re:Here's the text and Google Cache version (Score:4, Insightful)
That is the epitome of the USA "IP" laws. Because cooperation have lobbed your government so much that an idea (or an algorithm) can be patented you can't just take a free copy of Ubuntu and play your mp3 files on it. On the other hand you outsource your jobs and your production so fast to China and India that in a few years the "IP" is the only thing of value your country would have left. You government knows that, that's why there is so big push towards forcing all other countries adopt your idea of "IP" as well.
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ROFLMDAO the image is the epitome of the Ubuntu install. Get it loaded up, try to play your music off your mp3 player while finishing it up and you get the damn codec error.
Funny thing is that in my Ubuntu computers all the media formats I try always work. OTOH, I recently gave a coworker a copy of a film I enjoyed and he couldn't play it in his windows computer because it was a Matroska video.
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Flaws for me:
* no ARM processor
* fairly bulky looking frame around the device
* looks like standard LCD, bit of glare, not as good as Samsung AMOLED
Every Ubuntu user probably bought a Microsoft Windows PC and reformatted it, probably do the same with an Android tablet.
Phillip.
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That lack of an ARM processor is the killer for me.
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But... (Score:2)
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I'll ask the question: Does it run Lucid Puppy? I want an OS that fits in RAM (read: fast).
More info from the source (Score:2)
Not for the USA.... (Score:2)
It's right there on the website at the top...
FORBIDDEN!
Anyone can have a Ubuntu tablet right now. (Score:4, Insightful)
GO to ebay, search Tablet PC. Pick one.
Download Ubuntu 10.10
Install Ubuntu 10.10 on the tablet.
Magical poof happens with a bright brown genie appearing and angels singing.... you have a ubuntu tablet! Something that nobody ever though of....
Granted, Tablet PC's have been around for decades, and running Linux on them has been happening for decades.... Ignore that.
Fujitsu stylistic works great, plus I can use a stylus so I can use it as a writing tablet. Too bad there is not a OS replacement for MSFT One Note.
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GO to ebay, search Tablet PC. Pick one.
Download Ubuntu 10.10
Install Ubuntu 10.10 on the tablet.
Magical poof happens with a bright brown genie appearing and angels singing.... you have a ubuntu tablet! Something that nobody ever though of....
Granted, Tablet PC's have been around for decades, and running Linux on them has been happening for decades.... Ignore that.
Fujitsu stylistic works great, plus I can use a stylus so I can use it as a writing tablet. Too bad there is not a OS replacement for MSFT One Note.
The 'tablet' you describe is a notebook with a wacom tablet built in. It's not a tablet in the iPad sense.
I realize that sounds like typical Slashdot pedantry , but the points about 'not having to wait for it to boot' and the 'apps are actually designed to use it' are critical to making a 'tablet PC' take off. Microsoft missed the mark. I used to have a Tablet PC. The fact that it had XP's less-than-spectacular suspend mode is what kept it from being little more than a laptop to me.
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I dont have to wait for it to boot. It suspends and wakes nicely.
also the "wacom tablet" remark is way off. I CAN use my finger or a stylus. it's a resistive screen.
as for apps. I have far more apps available than the iPad. far FAR more.
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Granted, Tablet PC's have been around for decades, and running Linux on them has been happening for decades.... Ignore that.
You keep on using that word... I don't think it means what you think it means.
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Yeah, I've seen Ubuntu on a number of tablets for years now, and it's always someone installing it over something that's already there, but that' not really the point of this article, is it? It's that Ubuntu comes preinstalled, and fully supported. Now that's something different.
it's the software, stupid (Score:3)
the iPad is cool not because it can read email but the app store. all kinds of apps that do things that were unimagined a few years ago.
i'm looking at an ipad next year because there are apps for kids that even out the cost between buying crap like leapfrog. there are apps to get kids to learn to read
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Yeah, or you could just use a book and help your kid read instead of letting a computer do your job as a parent...
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Yeah, or you could just use a book and help your kid read instead of letting a computer do your job as a parent...
Or you could do both and give your kid practical experience in the modern age of technology.
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Ubuntu has had free software repositories built in for basically forever. Apple borrowed the idea of an "app-store" from linux.
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Ubuntu has an app store as well. There are educational games and educational stuff.
There's a 'flavour' of Ubuntu called "Edubuntu" which is designed for classrooms.
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Yes: "all sorts of stuff from the app store" that no one ever seems to mention when droning on how good the app store is.
Boot time? (Score:2)
boot time reported to be almost instant.
"Boot time"? On a tablet? Is this thing following the failed Windows Tablet paradigm rather than the iOS/Android model?
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My android phone takes many seconds to boot. What are you on about?
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My android phone takes many seconds to boot. What are you on about?
While the network connections can take time for a phone, the OS should be ready to go instantly. My iPod Touch is ready as soon as I hit the home button - I don't have to turn it off and then boot it in between uses. The only time it has to boot is when there's been a problem - and those are months apart. Boot time is basically irrelevant.
Isn't Android the same?
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Yes, Android is the same. However, comparing your iPod Touch to an Android phone isn't exactly accurate -- it would be more accurate to compare it to an iPhone, which has restarts that happen far more often than "months apart." It also takes a similiar amount of time to start up.
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I haven't restarted my iPhone since applying the last software update, over a month ago.
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That's your own personal experience. I know a few iPhone owners, ones who tinker with their phones (non-jailbraking) as much as I'm guessing an Android owner would, who restart their phones every few days, if not every day.
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I update the OS far more than that. I not running a vendor supplied OS.
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in layman terms that's called taking a nap. it is not booting.
and the iphone (or any phone, except may be dumbphones) takes forever to boot if you shut it down.
You're missing the point. If you just about never have to shut it down, the time it takes to start it back up is irrelevant.
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You have to restart for updates, which in my case is about every couple weeks.
Instantly ... well (Score:2)
The question is whether it will crash instantly after a kernel update (due to a GRUB issue). This will instantly please all users.
CC.
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Additionally, I had the pleasure to get a DWA-140 wireless adaptor to work in 10.04 (actually MINT 9; with a terratec cinergy T2 that worked for years still not performing).
To sum up: at the time, I am extremely pissed as I see that the quality of Ubuntu is rapidly degrading (bugs are not fixed, devices that worked cease to function with upgr
Already others on the market (Score:2)
Sharp introduced an Ubuntu tablet 6 months ago [armdevices.net], as part of their `Netwalker' line.
I think Always Innovating [alwaysinnovating.com] was supporting Ubuntu on their tablets before that.
Maybe there are others, also; still, each new one is nice to see.
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That's why Apple succeeds: it makes the things people WANT
Incomplete. Better put:
That's why Apple succeeds: it makes people WANT the things they make
Mom got an ipad from the oldest bro for Christmas. She doesn't want it. Doesn't even have the slightest idea what she'd so with such a thing, and upon learning that it costs $500 (she had estimated less than $100) she's fighting like hell to find a way to justify her son spending so much money on it.
This is the biggestscientific breakthrough of all (Score:2)
No more pollution, no more hunger, and no more wars.
The Ubuntu-powered Tablet shows off the first real-world application of Ubuntu power, which is the world's first free-as-in-beer AND free-as-in-freedom power source. No longer will we rely on arcane power storage devices such as Lithium-Polymer batteries, or dangerous power generation methods like coal-fired generators.
I, for one, welcome our new Ubuntu Overlords!
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Your sarcasm is old. And broken. Please get some new sarcasm. In the fresh, minty flavor!
Quite now other wise it could be (Score:2)
Forbidden by the powers that be...
You don't have permission to access /index.php on this server.
Additionally, a 403 Forbidden error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.
How do I feel? (Score:2, Interesting)
The article has apparently been slashdotted, so I can only guess how it's been implemented.
Please bear with me, I have to take a run-up to this.
I've used the Galaxy tablet, an iPad, and a tablet running Windows 7.
The iPad is very stable intuitive and usable. The Android tablet works much the same as the iPad with the additional features of a higher degree of customization, widgets, flash, and so forth.
The Windows 7 tablet sucks.
The main reason the Windows 7 tablet sucks is that the GUI doesn't s
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Thanks. So I could get a run-up on how Ubuntu tablets will work by looking at Unity on my current Ubuntu box when Unity becomes available. Thanks, will look into that. This really is exciting, but I'm trying not to get too worked up. Windows 7 Pro on the tablet my daughter got for Christmas was a crushing disappointment. I hope Ubuntu is better.
Synergy! (Score:2)
Why don't tablet makers that want to use a full desktop OS think about using it with Synergy (on sourceforge)???
It's a perfect complement.
If the tablet is running Win7 or x86 Linux, then when it's docked next to my monitor, it fires up synergy and the mouse and keyboard control it just like an extra screen. When I pull it off the cradle, Synergy shuts down, and now it's a distinct computer. If running Ubuntu, it can still run Windows apps via Wine (critical for how I want to use a tablet).
I don't know why
Just in time! (Score:2)
Like I hadn't seen enough "Ubuntu conquers the World!" news this month. I was pretty much saturated with that already after perusing the magazines at the local Borders and saw almost nothing but magazines containing DVDs of the newest Ubuntu distribution or some beta copy of it. I doubt I would have been surprised to find one stuck in the latest Tiger Beat or Cosmo.
Heh. Alpha user? Just kidding. (I guess I've spent way too much time at P00>>> prompts in recent months.)
Pigs in a Blanket (Score:2)
Yes, but does it play Angry Birds?
In True Chinese Dogma (Score:2)
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Re:Obligatory (Score:5, Funny)
1995: Year of the Linux server has arrived!
Linux people: Come on, year of the Linux desktop any time now!
2000: Year of the Linux wireless router has arrived!
Linux people: Come on, year of the Linux desktop any time now!
2008: Year of the open-source browser has arrived!
Linux people: Come on, year of the Linux desktop any time now!
2009: Year of the Linux smartphone has arrived!
Linux people: Come on, year of the Linux desktop any time now!
2011: Year of the Linux tablet and cloud desktop has arrived!
Linux people: Come on, year of the Linux desktop any time now!
2043: Year of the Linux mind-machine interface, interplanetary spaceship and household robot. The Windows source code has been wikileaked six times, and it is statistically impossible for Microsoft suing someone giving away their own fork of Windows to get a jury of people all 12 of which are willing to enforce copyright law, so Windows is de facto open source.
Linux people: No, all that is insignificant! Windows is still winning on the desktop! Come on, year of the Linux desktop already!
Re:Obligatory (Score:4, Insightful)
There will never be a "year of linux desktop" same as how there was never a "year of firefox web browser". You'll know it has happened when everyone has it.
Re:Obligatory (Score:4, Interesting)
The year of the Linux desktop could have been 2009 around the time of netbooks. However OEM's mucked it up by picking less than stellar variants of Linux and customers appeared only too happy to desert when Microsoft finally got their act together.
As a result, Linux netbook sales tanked and it's almost impossible to buy one in a major retail outlet these days as customers aren't interested.
I don't believe Linux will ever have such a good chance again and, personally, I blame this on the OEM's who could have escaped the grasp of Microsoft but, in their haste, failed to ensure that the customer experience was a good one.
No missed opportunities (Score:2)
I blame this on the OEM's who could have escaped the grasp of Microsoft but, in their haste, failed to ensure that the customer experience was a good one.
On the OEM side, the urgent need is to build a rapidly sale-able product. Microsoft is a good way to sell product for an OEM. Brands like Dell and HP sell lots of boxes with Windows on them. OEM's know this and tailor product accordingly. End users know Microsoft's Windows and are comfortable with it. Add to that the strong likelihood there are Marketi
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The year of the Linux desktop could have been 2009 around the time of netbooks. However OEM's mucked it up by picking less than stellar variants of Linux and customers appeared only too happy to desert when Microsoft finally got their act together
The Linux netbook was a bottom feeder.
The Atom netbook running XP had far more credible hardware specs - a bigger screen, a better keyboard, a more muscular CPU, more RAM, a bigger hard drive and so on.
It sold at a very competitive price.
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Yep. And that should happen next year.
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I would say there was a "Year of Firefox web browser" and it was 2005. From NetApplication's quarterly numbers [wikipedia.org] it went from 3.66% in 2004 Q4 to 9.00% in 2005 Q4. Of course it did hit 1.0 in november 2004 so it's not surprising it jumped, but really they did manage to make the 1.0 push matter.
Linux has never had a year with 150% growth or even anything close to it. At least on the web browsing desktop it's been very stable at around 1% for years now, some data even suggests it's regressing a bit after the ne
Re:Obligatory (Score:4, Interesting)
Linux on the desktop has missed it's chance, the PC desktop is no longer the bleeding edge of development (at least as far as media and community buzz is concerned) in the face of new platforms. Hardware gets faster but it isn't really needed. Windows 7 and Linux run pretty fast. I haven't updated my hardware since 2008 and would see no benefit. SSDs have come of age, so I picked one up. I essientially experience no delay for anything. I see little point in sinking my yearly $1500 into hardware update, and little advantage in speed brought in software updates. (All the lag from a bloated Windows install was due to disk footprint and usage - lots of random reads over a big install footprint. Linux would do the same if you really went nuts with it. This is totally gone with a SSD, your Windows install remains as fast as the day it was new)
People are less interested in their desktop computing experience and keeping it up to date. With less interest, any radical change in the way people do computing is going to be harder.
To me, Linux has missed it's chance. All these years we battled with crappy Windows XP and Vista, when it would have been nice to hand a live CD to someone and solve all their computer problems. Installing Linux would most often give you a new set of exciting and deliberately difficult problems to solve, which was great, if (to use an analogy) you'd prefer a tough rubix cube to having sex. Getting the best out of Linux as a desktop took time and effort, because it came pre-broken to some extent, it was fun for some torture for others who were no doubt looking to escape toture. Now you can have 100% functional Ubuntu in 20 minutes, when back in the day that was luck of the draw. It's actually rather boring having nothing to fix to be honest. But for many people, tinkering is not the point of technology, technology is a tool not a toy.
It's kind of like that now, you take a oldish computer, boot Ubuntu live, install, a few commands and it's a revived fully capable useful and fast machine. It's a free download and burn away, and there's tons of software available for free.
So why isn't it taking off? What's the problem? Well, we needed that about five years ago. Back then you were lucky if you could pull this off with linux, and then you'd have to do without flash, or properly working graphics drivers.
I had an epiphany when I wiped a old machine I'd installed Ubuntu 6.06 on and fogotten about, with Ubuntu 10.10. It was MUCH faster, and booted in 40 seconds to the desktop rather than more than a minute.
Problem is, Windows 7 was a leap ahead, I remember seeing Cannonical rush to make Ubuntu take less than a minute and a half to boot as soon as Windows 7 Beta's started showing massively improved boot performance.
Why couldn't that have been done sooner?
Why did it take until 2006 for compiz to go 1.0, when windows Vista? We saw 3D desktop effects demo'd by Microsoft in early longhorn in August 2003.
Theres not many more lines of code in a 2010 linux distro than a 2006, so why does it all run so much faster now on 2006 hardware? It's all been re-written ten times over in the process, re-written only to be incrementally better.
I guess there are lots of problems that can't be solved at a programmers desk, and decisions that can only be made from data gathered in a lab. Microsoft and Apple spend millions, billions even on R&D, labs, on UI studies etc for good reason.
Linux more than ever needs truly excellent UI design. Or it's just too late.
Android on the other hand is linux done really well.
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So when you used both the phrases 'obligatory' and 'sorry, it had to be done', you chose to ignore two big clues that it wasn't going to be funny?
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Were you promised flying cars last year?
Or were you promised them 50-60 years ago?
I'm pretty sure your analogy sucks.
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It will be the year of the Linux desktop when Duke Nukem Forever comes out. On Linux. With a chance to win a flying car for every copy you buy.
Re:Somewhat pointless, without a tablet UI (Score:4, Informative)
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Netbook edition wasn't designed for a big screen... it was designed for Netbooks.
I dunno, when I saw it originally I thought they designed it specifically for touchscreens - http://www.ubuntugeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/ubuntu_netbook_remix_beta.jpg [ubuntugeek.com]
Looks to be allright for a tablet.
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And here some up to date screenshots [google.com]
This is a good example, I guess, of how two people can look at the same thing and see two different things.
Consider this screen from that page: http://s0n1c2122.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/ubuntu_netbook_10-10.png [wordpress.com]
I can hardly read the icon text on my full-sized notebook at full resolution; the default font is unusable, and the white-on-beige color scheme just makes it worse. The toolbar icons are too small for me to reliably press just one, and my fingers, although pudgy, are not unusually so.
Re:And... (Score:4, Funny)
It was probably hosted on one of those Ubuntu-powered tablets.
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the form factor is the cool part. you can buy board game apps so your house is not a mess and you can take your games everywhere you go. you can lay an ipad flat on a table and play monopoly like with the board game version.
any product that just tries to be a lite version of a netbook will fail
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not too mention they are actually decent travel visual media consumption devices.
I don't currently own an iPad or similar, but i did get a chance to play around with one over the holidays, and it was actually nice for sitting in the "back of the bus" and watching a movie with headphones.
nicer screen than most built in vehicle dvd systems, bigger than using my cellphone.
and my kid thought it was nice to play simple little games on when he was bored.
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Perhaps there is a case with a hook.
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I'm just curious how people actually use it.
A guy I work with keeps his iPad right below the screen of his work computer. I uses it to browse the web. Our IT policies pretty much say you can be sacked on the spot for browsing a non-work web site on work equipment. Its a safe way to go because there is a separate project where people are developing for the iPad in the same office.
Other than that I find tablets and phones are great for displaying content such as plans and maps when flat on a table. Its a good replacement for a rolled up map or similar.
Re:Tablets Suck (Score:5, Insightful)
I disagree on a couple of points. Please bear with me while I set this up.
I carry a Droid X, and use Logmein Ignition to log into my main workstation to do the few operations I can't yet do on the phone itself. The only thing I really need is a slightly bigger screen. So yeah, the screen is too small.
My company issues ipads, and I find them very stable and usable. I've *never* thought "damn I need a keyboard for this" because the onscreen keyboard does what I need it to do. (And I'm a fast typist.) I've also never thought "damn, I need a bigger screen" because the screen is big enough and the GUI is designed so that things pop up when you need them and go away when you don't need them anymore.
The Samsung galaxy tablet has at least as good (in my opinion better) interface as the ipad, and it *will* fit in your pocket. It has significantly more screen real-estate than my Droid X but is almost as portable. Similar to the ipad, the virtual keyboard is good enough that I've not seriously considered getting an external keyboard for it.
So on issue 1, "it's too big or too small", it depends partly on what you're trying to do, but in general the best computer is the one you have with you, and I'm more likely to be carrying a 7 inch Android tablet than I will be lugging an ipad. And if I really needed the real estate of the ipad, I'd be tempted to lug a netbook instead, and have things like USB, external video, SDRAM slots, flash support, etc etc.
I think you see where this is going. Both iOS and Android have good enough virtual keyboard support (not just the keyboard itself, but positioning, operation, how it's called up and dismissed and stuff like that) that "where the heck is the keyboard" is pretty much a non-issue.
Now what of Ubuntu?
If Ubuntu is implemented on tablets of the size, weight, complexity and cost of laptop computers, with half-assed touch support that wasn't properly thought through, you *will* be in a position saying "this is too big for this job, too small for that one, too heavy to carry around in one hand, and where the heck is the keyboard??" To which I'd add the possibility that "Right click on this thing is a right pain in the ass". ...and the product will be a failure.
Want to see how to do it wrong? Look at current Windows 7 tablet support. Instead of coming up with a touch paradigm that works well, Microsoft has chosen to fake it by leveraging their existing Accessibility tools. It's a total fail -- clunky and annoying to use, with a half-assed keyboard and kludgy mouse gestures that make you wish you had a real keyboard and mouse, too big (to make room for the task bar, tray, start button, walking menus, lack of virtual desktop) to have any kind of portability advantage, too small to be a serious PC. Windows 7 tablet support is everything you were complaining about.
To be a serious contender, Ubuntu needs to be a *lot* better than that. But Apple and Google have demonstrated that it can be done.
I can tell you from experience that I can do probably 70% of the work I need to do on the iPad, and with Ignition I can get to my real PC and do the rest.
Hell, I can do about 50% of my work from my Droid X, and (with some difficulty) still log into my PC from the phone to do the stuff I can't do locally. If either the iPad or the Droid had USB support, I could leave my laptop at home on business trips.
Having used both, I estimate that I can do any part of my workflow on the 7" Galaxy tablet that I could do on the 9.7" iPad screen, and I'm more likely to have the smaller form factor on me.
And so, an Ubuntu tablet with USB host support, SD card reader, and a decent, usable GUI in a 7" form factor would be a godsend. It should also have an HDMI out like the Droid X so I can do presentations without having to lug a laptop.
In summary, the whole point of this exercise is to be able to do most of your work without having to lug around a backpack. Current hig
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