

Bug 1,000,000 - benji-york
https://launchpad.net/bugs/1000000

======
Feoh
It's all about the apps, stupid.

While I applaud the EUbuntu project's goals and think they're very worthy
indeed, I also think they're deluding themselves if they are targeting the
Apple iPad as competition.

I realize that's likely to be an unpopular view here, because hating on Apple
is geekdom's new favorite past time, but to my mind it's fairly clear cut.

What's my point in all this? I think folks should focus on building great
educational apps, and the platform will follow.

~~~
sp332
They're not going up against the iPad directly, instead they're making a top-
to-bottom system that makes _more_ sense for schools than iPads do.
[http://jonathancarter.org/2012/05/10/edubuntu-preliminary-
pl...](http://jonathancarter.org/2012/05/10/edubuntu-preliminary-plans-
for-12-10/)

------
sp332
It's an excellent mirror of Bug #1 <https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/1>

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Apreche
Great, there are a million bugs now, but I've been waiting four years for a
fix on bug 227808.

<https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gvfs/+bug/227808>

------
diminish
"For every bug on Launchpad, 67 iPads are sold. " hillarious, I like the idea.

------
54mf
"Schools are spending way too much resources that they don't even have on
iPads that will soon be obsolete."

My God, the hubris. My fiancée works in education; I can say with absolutely
certainty that "root access" is the very last thing anyone in the education
system gives a shit about. They want stability, security, and longevity. The
original iPad is still going strong after 2 years; are there any Android
tablets released in 2010 that aren't obsolete?

Save the jabs for when after you've shipped on a tablet that can keep up.

~~~
sp332
Who said anything about root access? No one is arguing that schools should use
Ubuntu today instead of iPads. The whole point of the _bug_ is that Ubuntu
cannot compete with iPads, and this should be fixed.

~~~
54mf
The tablet they're targeting (re:
[http://jonathancarter.org/2012/05/10/edubuntu-preliminary-
pl...](http://jonathancarter.org/2012/05/10/edubuntu-preliminary-plans-
for-12-10/)) is the ZaTab. From their site
(<http://zareason.com/shop/zatab.html>):

"The only tablet on the market that doesn't violate the GPL! Yay! (You get the
source code with the machine, not months later, if at all.)"

"Some manufacturers consider "root" to be a four-letter-word. We don't. The
ZaTab is an open device. The bootloader is unlocked. Root access is
available."

A bit of a stretch, perhaps, but I think the point is still valid: anyone
arguing Ubuntu is a better solution for educators than Apple is kidding
themselves. From the other linked post:

"Do the educators receive sufficient training on these tools? Who helps when
things go wrong?"

Are they seriously implying Ubuntu requires less training than an iOS product?

I get that the bug is based on improving so they _can_ compete with iPad,
which is why I think calling the iPad "soon...obsolete" when they have nothing
to offer that can compare is a little silly.

~~~
sp332
_"Do the educators receive sufficient training on these tools? Who helps when
things go wrong?"

Are they seriously implying Ubuntu requires less training than an iOS
product?_

Nope, it's just a rant against spending money on iPads. A few sentences later:

 _The students are making the case that money would be better spent upgrading
their current infrastructure, like upgrading all their machines to Windows 7
and deprecating all the old hardware that can’t run it. I agree with them, it
would indeed be an improvement on buying a bunch if iPads, and that investment
is likely to also last a lot longer than the iPads will._

