
Why Mark Shuttleworth thinks Ubuntu on phones will outclass Android - sk2code
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/01/why-mark-shuttleworth-thinks-ubuntu-on-phones-will-outclass-android/
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codeulike
Android (and I think iOS?) both reserve the right to purge paused apps from
memory if memory is needed (a paused app being an app that the user is not
currently looking at). This seems well suited to phones, but leads to a
totally different programming model whereby apps must be ready to persist
their state and be deflated/reinflated/stopped without warning.

Will Ubuntu for Phones struggle to make good use of the phone memory if it
doesn't use this technique? (I assume it just uses the desktop-PC model of 'a
thing is running until its stopped, page to disk if necessary?')

edit: also, as people have pointed out, there are battery life implications

~~~
CJefferson
While this is important for memory, it is also really important for battery
usage.

My experience with Android is that waking every second is enough to kill a
phone's battery noticeably faster. I suspect most existing linux apps and
frameworks are not good at saving CPU and battery enough to be on a phone. I
would be happy to be proved wrong.

~~~
Stratoscope
> While this is important for memory, it is also really important for memory
> usage.

I think you meant _battery_ usage.

(I'll delete this comment to reduce clutter after you edit...)

~~~
Stratoscope
Forgive the added clutter, but I came back to delete my comment as promised
and HN wouldn't let me. Ah well... :-)

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mseepgood
So, where did all the 20 million new Ubuntu PCs sold in 2012 go?
[http://www.zdnet.com/blog/open-source/20-million-new-
ubuntu-...](http://www.zdnet.com/blog/open-source/20-million-new-ubuntu-linux-
pcs-in-2012/10770)

How many Ubuntu TVs were sold?

This guy lives in a reality distortion field beyond belief.

~~~
rgbrenner
1\. In May of 2012 they announced 2011 numbers. So, it's about 3 days in to
2013... might want to give them a little more time.

2\. In 2011, they sold 8-10 million, and in May said they were on track to
reach 20 million in 2012. [http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2012/05/ubuntu-to-ship-
on-5-of-al...](http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2012/05/ubuntu-to-ship-on-5-of-all-
pcs-sold-next-year)

3\. In October of 2011, Dell started featuring Ubuntu in over 200 retail
stores in China. <http://blog.canonical.com/2011/10/27/retail-stores-in-
china/>

So it's entirely possible they could meet the 20m number.

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drcube
I'm not nearly as excited for dockable PC/phone hybrids as I am for a phone
running GNU free software.

In fact I'm already looking to replace my perfectly usable HTC phone for a
Nexus so I can install the image Ubuntu is supposed to release in a few weeks.

I stopped using Ubuntu on my laptop because there are better alternatives out
there. But I think Ubuntu can really shine as a mobile OS, and it will almost
certainly be better than Android or iOS for my purposes.

~~~
javert
_it will almost certainly be better than Android or iOS for my purposes_

Can you give specific examples? I'm genuinely curious.

~~~
drcube
For one thing, we've got Unix "apps" that have been maintained for 30 years,
like vim and emacs. So in my mind, the software ecosystem is much better, even
before launch.

Configurability is a huge plus for me. Could you imagine recompiling your
phone's kernel? Configuring your phone with dotfiles? Serving webpages and
email? Not everyone's cup of tea, and I hope there are more user-friendly
options available, but having that power is enticing.

I'm looking forward to better multitasking, and multiple user accounts. Also a
more open hardware ecosystem, such as USB and HDMI ports, docks, chargers, USB
keyboards, maybe a laptop "shell" I can insert my phone into?

If we look at the "dockable PC" side of things, the developer tools are
unparalleled.

And of course free software. CyanogenMod is pretty great already, and Busybox
too, but I think a GNU presence will only help. Maybe I drank too much of
RMS's koolaid.

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jonursenbach
Recompiling your phone's kernel is nice, but what happens when you fuck
something up and are unable to call 911?

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MrMember
I'm not saying it couldn't happen, but it seems unlikely. What are the odds
that I'd need to call 911 and:

1) I'm alone 2) I'm not near my car (I carry an old flip phone in the glove
compartment for emergencies) 3) I've messed up my phone sufficiently enough
that 911 doesn't work but most other things work fine

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benologist
I've been excited about this ever since they announced it a year ago, the
thought of having "just a phone" instead of a phone, laptop and tablet is so
awesome it's going to outclass _everything_.

The one thing I'm afraid of is how resource-intensive certain classes of
software are. I tried a netbook over a year ago and wouldn't want that kind of
performance except in emergencies, even today every single IDE I run is a slow
piece of crap on last year's maxed out macbook air.

~~~
TallGuyShort
If the resource requirements of your IDE are out-pacing high-end hardware
manufacturing, it sounds like you need a different IDE.

~~~
fierarul
My ideal IDE should need a whole datacenter and use AI to help me work better.

If your IDE isn't using your whole hardware, it's probably not doing enough.

~~~
bigdubs
Some IDE's are just better at doing similar things than others. VS2k10
intellisense is orders of magnitude faster/stable/* than implementations in
other IDE's.

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Inufu
> Canonical's secret sauce in selling carriers on Ubuntu might lie in helping
> them sell their own services to end users. Carriers "care about brand and we
> know how to accommodate that," Shuttleworth said. "They care about their own
> content and we've essentially put their content on an equal footing with
> content from the ecosystem. The handset manufacturer or operator that has
> music, films, or other types of content can promote their content to their
> users or other users directly in a way that doesn't feel like a bolt-on or a
> sideshow."

I do not want any content from my phone manufacturer, much less operator. From
experience, this is almost exclusively overpriced crap, useless apps or
branding.

~~~
taude
Shouldn't it be about what "the consumer" wants and not what "the carrier"
wants? I think Apple has this right.

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yardie
As long as we have some honest to god, native-C support I'll be pleasantly
pleased. I'd rather be an android consumer rather than an android programmer,
Dalvik just doesn't interest me at all.

~~~
javert
Why? Because you don't like having to program in Java (I'm with you there) or
for other reasons?

~~~
yardie
Java. I'm not passionate about it at all and if I can't find the motivation to
learn it then I'm not going to use it. The great thing about C is it's
practically universal.

And the fact that you had no UI library in the NDK (this might have changed
since 2.3) meant I was going nowhere with that on that front.

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jiggy2011
One of the biggest criticisms levelled at android has been that the UI feels a
little clunky and slow and that changes made by carriers and manufacturers
usually make the experience worse.

If they can make this phone feel like an iPhone in terms of smoothness and
keep a nice consistent feel then this might have a chance of being a premium
choice over android.

~~~
SG-
The Verge played with the Ubuntu phone and while it's a dev release at this
point, you can see from the video it's painfully slow on the latest hardware
for UI things:

[http://www.theverge.com/2013/1/2/3828266/ubuntu-phone-os-
han...](http://www.theverge.com/2013/1/2/3828266/ubuntu-phone-os-hands-on)

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oscargrouch
I Think if somebody can make a phone os better than android, and more
intuitive (easy for non-tech people).. not only that but have the capacity to
enchant the mobile hardware players(good lobby push)

Android can be beaten away.. but not the same can be said about to IOS.. its
all about brand.. its a tough fight..

But android market share, is not much about the consumers that want it because
they need..(theres no sentimental decision about it) its about the device
makers, making the decision for this share of the market..

if ubuntu can convince device makers to put that in their phones.. (with the
help of some good apps, so theres no cultural shock).. i think people will not
care much..

and for developer comunity, i think is better.. we need to get free from the
centralized app market model from apple.. whoever delivers that is my friend
:)

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codex
"Shuttleworth believes that Ubuntu will be more user-friendly for people who
barely know how to use a smartphone."

An experience that is more user friendly than iOS and more user friendly than
Windows Phone will be hard to do. Beating Android might be easier.
Furthermore, very few people with money haven't already used a smartphone, so
they'll be aiming for the market of people who have no money. Not exactly
lucrative, and Android has distinct advantages there. Android can be cheaper
than Ubuntu because they can monetize mobile advertising better.

In short, this effort will totally fail. There is no compelling reason to have
a 5th player in the smartphone market, and given Ubuntu's track record with
desktop UI, I don't think their effort in mobile will be terribly inspired.

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lnanek2
Too bad they aren't big like Microsoft, who can flat out pay people to port
apps and run constant developer events, etc.. Heck, even BlackBerry has been
constantly giving out phones and prizes and benefits to developers. Ubuntu
just doesn't have the infrastructure to get the apps on to the platform, and
the users want good apps. Even if you can port something from a Linux desktop
version easily, it's still going to lack software.

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dschiptsov
A system should have evolved, not being pushed.

Unity and accompanied py-qt based stuff is crap being pushed.

I don't see why to expect something different form a repetition of the same
"strategy" - pushing half-baking crap in a rush.

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vemv
Canonical should just do the world a favor and disappear.

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olleicua
I cannot wait for this!

