Submitted by “Intel have announced a new low-power processor and chipset
architecture which will be designed to allow full internet use on mobile Internet devices. To fulfil the aims of our mission and in response to the technical challenges that these devices pose, we are announcing the Ubuntu Mobile and Embedded project.”
Hmm, I don’t know what to make of this, professionally. The troll in me is screaming out “because Vista’s battery drain on a UMPC is highly questionable and unlikely to improve”.
You have to remember that this [announcement] is Intel, and not a PC manufacturer like Dell; so Intel’s interest is probably much more about what they can do for Linux power management / usage overall, and keeping costs down by avoiding a Microsoft monopoly on mobile equipment.
I think you are on the right track. It is definitely an Intel-swayed announcement — it could have been at Intel.com if I didn’t know better.
The reality for Microsoft is that Windows is only deeply dug into the PC market. Nobody needs Office 2007 on their UMPC or cell phone — free alternatives will do. So the mobile device market isn’t biased at all toward Microsoft.
The kicker is that the mobile hardware market is spawning in a world with mature free software. So the hardware guys are saying “why would we pay for software we can get for free?”
RIM uses its own proprietary OS. Nokia is all Symbian. If one day they needed more features, they sure wouldn’t go to Microsoft. They’d go to something like Linux.
I’m delighted to see Intel rolling up their sleeves and contributing significant resources to advancing the ultra-mobile capabilities of Linux. They realize the competitive advantage they get from driving the future of Linux development. Intel graphics products will receive a boost from their ability to support new functionality in Xorg before their competitors and their proprietary drivers. Intel will be the first to take advantage of the stream processing capabilities of modern graphics hardware on Linux. No longer is Intel constrained by the lumbering Windows platform. They can let their imaginations run wild, knowing that with Linux they have a platform that is open to embracing innovative hardware solutions. There is surely no entity in the computing industry that is happier to leave the WinTel legacy behind.
I am very much in favor of increased corporate involvement in Linux development. There is no downside, despite the uninformed ramblings you often read on blogs across the web. Keep those patches coming, voice your ideas for strategic partnerships, and consider how maintaining a presence in the Linux community can be an asset for your business. Linux is about working together to create solutions, and as we tackle more ambitious challenges, we need more resourceful partners. Intel has always been a top contributor to Linux and other free software projects, they employ several top Linux kernel hackers, and they are certainly among the greatest allies of the free software community.
So I guess this was the second announcement promised by Shuttleworth. First Dell, and now Intel. Not a peep from Sun. Not to worry. They’re more likely to pull directly from Debian anyway. Not a bad week for the Linux ecosystem. Two great partners announce two promising initiatives that aim to get Linux into the hands of more users. Another thick layer on the snowball and plenty of fresh powder ahead–we all know that for free software, the heaviest snowfall is during the northern summer. Onward we roll.
Since the launch of feisty fawn, Ubuntu scored two big hits in a row. It seems to become more and more the next platform of choice and free alternative to Microsoft. Once the ball gets rolling….
I agree, Ubuntu is heading in the right direction!
Yea. Right. And all PC game enthusiast should buy new XBOX console instead of Vista 😉
Yep. They certainly have a lot of momentum going their way. And, I’m glad for them. It’s my distro of choice. But, I’m confused about something. Here we have two home runs. But, just a couple of weeks ago, we have an article here on OSNews about an interview with Mark Shuttleworth where he says that Ubuntu is not ready for the desktop. And, while it is very close, I have to agree with him.
See: http://www.osnews.com/story.php/17714/Interview-Mark-Shuttleworth
He didn’t say Ubuntu was not ready for the desktop, he said “I don’t think it is really ready yet for mass consumer sales of Linux on desktop.”
The key words here are “mass consumer sales.” I think Ubuntu is ready for a lot of desktops, and that means *some* consumer sales (hence the deal with Dell, which hadn’t been announced at the time). Shuttleworth actually says this a couple of times in the interview.
What I get from Mark’s comment is that he is pushing to make an even better Ubuntu. This is a good attitude, and ensures that the Ubuntu devs don’t sleep on their laurels. Consider that, by the time the Dellbuntu PCs are available, they will likely be running Gutsy Gibbon, which will undoubtedly be an improvement on Feisty Fawn.
That said, this is somewhat unrelated to the current topic, which is about Ultra-Mobile PCs. I think the Intel announcement is very good for Ubuntu, but since this deals mostly with lightweight embedded devices, it won’t have as much impact on Desktop Linux as the Dell announcement.
This is pretty good news, as I for one would find a Ubuntu UMPC to be pretty useful.Ubuntu has really been steaming ahead lately, and hopefully it’ll continue forward that way.
Interesting to see this after seeing a similar move from GNOME guys… It let me thinking that it has planned some time from now… that is very good! I hope MAEMO’s team has a good place in this development… =]
( More info about GNOME mobile: http://www.gnome.org/mobile/ )
Edited 2007-05-06 16:56
well, it’s not similar… it’s the same technology, read here
http://www.ubuntu.com/employment#UMDEV
Ubuntu hiring guys whom into GNOME Mobile and Embedded initiative
More people are choosing software freedom instead of software totalitarianism.
Whilst I understand the sentiment, I have to disagree with your logic. There are not more people currently using closed systems than those using open ones. This is just simple fact.
What I assume you mean, is that ‘more people [than last year] are making the active choice to use open systems instead of closed ones, compared to the non-choice of getting a computer with Windows Vista preloaded’.
My sentiment, is that we all should be careful of getting ourselves lost in an unrealistic reality distortion regarding Linux. Linux is great, but don’t make a mountain out of a molehill in one short statement.
What I hope from this announcement is improved Linux power management (it doesn’t seem much better, if any, than Windows XP, and doesn’t yet equal OS X). – Improvement of this, will yield better Linux acceptance by people currently using closed systems, and thus shorten the barrier to making the active choice to choose open systems over closed ones.
So the results, are not going to be so totally “libre vs. totalitarianism” as you paint it. Simply, informed people making informed decisions. There is no evil in using a closed system, just a particular inconvenience. Please bear that in mind Linux advocates, thanks.
“My sentiment, is that we all should be careful of getting ourselves lost in an unrealistic reality distortion regarding Linux. Linux is great, but don’t make a mountain out of a molehill in one short statement.”
I think it is unrealistic to expect MS to be able to maintain their marketshare with Vista. Dell and Toshiba will be selling Linux computers soon, and other OEMs will likely follow their lead. People are finally getting a choice.
“What I hope from this announcement is improved Linux power management (it doesn’t seem much better, if any, than Windows XP, and doesn’t yet equal OS X). – Improvement of this, will yield better Linux acceptance by people currently using closed systems, and thus shorten the barrier to making the active choice to choose open systems over closed ones.”
Linux is getting better everyday, while Windows gets worse. Vista is a DOWNGRADE, and many people will be seeking quality, reasonably priced alternatives.
“There is no evil in using a closed system, just a particular inconvenience.”
That depends on the company you get the sotware from. MS is a vile monopolist that abuses it’s customers. Closed sotware can be fine, if you get it from a REPUTABLE source.
I don’t understand how anything you said bears relevance to my comment. I did not place any anti vista remarks in my comment, besides potentially that Vista coming pre-loaded is a non-choice, but that would equally apply to any OS that was preloaded, and thus still a valid statement.
I don’t like Vista personally, but I am teaching myself to avoid going on a massive anti-Microsoft, off-topic diatribe. The article is about Intel cooperation with Ubuntu – stick to that please.
I think he was just saying that we are seeing a lot more announcements about choosing to use linux over proprietary software
Hopefully the next announcement will be “Canonical Announce Ubuntu Directory” (eg, an easily installable Active Directory/Novell eDirectory type affair).
Edited 2007-05-06 20:34
According to TG Daily, the UMPC platform is evolving to a less powerful concept, called MID (Mobile Internet Device), and clearly Vista is too resource-hungry for this kind of gadget. The power and customisability of Linux makes it a much better choice.
You can find the article here:
http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/31899/113/
Does it means profits for Canonical?
Canonical have a great product (Ubuntu), I wish they can get big profits to continue the work…
there is life outside the desktop, and a very lively ecosystem it is now, growing by the day.
Linux might be good enough for desktop use, but the majoriy player(s?) are deeply entrenched, and the advantages of Linux don’t seem to be enough in this arena.
However, the mobile and embedded market is exploding with new devices, and Linux is storming into this area! The Windows legacy is not an advantage here, but a dead weight, and Linux is so much more easily adaptable that there is no contest.
See how Intel has downright disregarded all Windows flavors for their future webpads, and gone directly to Linux — while Windows XP turned the UMPC a very expensive paperweight.
And how it is in the front line for its new low-cost portables for kids — because they turn out to be not so low cost once you add the memory and storage needed for Windows!
And how it will power the OLPC — no way you can tailor the hardware and user interface of a Windows PC that far.
And how Motorola has chosen it for their new smartphones AND FEATUREPHONES — Windows CE today needs hardware that is too expensive for a featurephone.
And how Sandisk has chosen it for their new pocket MP3 players.
And so on.
Away from the standard desktop we will triumph.
Motorola has been making Linux based phones for a few years now, unfortunately none of them have had any market penetration inside of the United States. There have been a few in Europe and mostly they are in Asian countries. Of course you can always order them on the Internet, but then you have to pay full price. I have yet to see a Linux based phone within the United States that Verizon or Cingular or T-Mobile, etc will sell with a plan.
I’m hoping Motorola will finally start pushing their Linux smart phones into the USA.
Then again I’ve noticed in Asian countries, that they have embraced Linux in a really big way. Probably a lot of which is due to some of them (China for example) would prefer anything that isn’t programmed by a company from the USA that they can’t get the source code (all of it) to.
Yea, but it seems that that was then. I believed Motorola have formally announced they are phasing out their proprietary featurefone OS and they are starting to move Linux into worldwide mainstream.
Look for the “Motorizr Z6”. It’s going to be a mainstream very featureful featurephone, mid to low price phone distributed worldwide, and it looks extremely attractive!
Look also for the “Motofone”, a very inexpensive phone (already on sale for 45€ unsubsidized) with very limited features and tremendous battery life, sporting Linux and an electronic paper display.
I think this points to the progress that Ubuntu has made. I haven’t liked Ubuntu much until this latest release (7.04). It just wasn’t very polished in areas that mattered to me. I would try it out occasionally hoping that it could live up to the hype, but I always ended up jumping ship for something different. Last year’s releases (6.06, 6.10) were fairly close to acceptable for me, but not quite there. I’m still not running Ubuntu as my main OS because I prefer KDE, and I don’t think the KDE-based variants are as good. I also don’t think Ubuntu itself is quite polished enough for me to want to give up some of the things I really like in KDE, but I have been inclined to recommend it to others for the first time. My mother is even using it and loves it.
Looking back, I can see how Ubuntu became popular even though I didn’t see a reason for its initial popularity. And, I can now see a very bright future for Ubuntu. Ubuntu seems to be integrating the best parts of OSS into one distribution in a way that few have been able to do in the past, and they’re doing it at a time when there is enough mature software to really make Linux shine. Best of all Ubuntu is making changes gradually enough that the good points tend to stay good, and it has the momentum and community support that with a bit more polishing I can see Ubuntu becoming the first distribution that I would actually call it the best Linux distribution available rather than just stating a preference for some other particular distribution.
Industry support like this from Intel and Dell should only help to push Ubuntu forward.
Is there any cooperation with via or epios team? at least it would be easy to implement at least epios improvement for via’s equipement if they do not want to deal with via itself. regarding that many UMPC and very-close-to-mobile devices is produced by via