http://www.ubuntu.com/products/mobile


It looks sweet, I want it for my n800, imo it would be better than maemo. Just saying.

There's been several threads already discussing Ubuntu mobile.

The consensus seems to be that it looks nice but isn't all that much to write home about. And Nokia is sponsoring a project to port it to the internet tablets so you'll get it eventually

I find this "it's not interesting, move along" attitude toward Ubuntu mobile pretty odd, frankly. Sure, not ready yet. But "not much to to write about"?

I don't mean to trash Nokia or OS2008 or anything, but personally I find the prospect of running Ubuntu on my tablet (this n810 or a later one) one day absolutely wonderful, and I don't see why we shouldn't be excited about it. Sure, it's not something that we'll be doing next week, but let's say next year this time or late 2009 -- if the tablets are compatible with Ubuntu then, do you really think Nokia's OS will be superior to the Ubuntu version then, if all these Ubuntu-running devices are released this year as we keep hearing and IF they actually gain some popularity? We're talking about an OS that's just recently been released...for devices that (as far as I know) have NOT been released yet. So it's in very, very early stages - yet you say "the consensus is" that we shouldn't be excited. Shouldn't we say "it's not really there yet, wait a while, at least until some devices are out" instead of "nah, it's nothign"? As tablet users we're told constantly to wait for the mighty Nokia to bring us Bluetooth stereo or agps or whatever, what is so different about giving Canonical a break and just seeing what their system will be like WHEN the devices it's been worked for are out? Let's just wait and see. Ubuntu did great on pretty much taking over the Desktop Linux front in rolling out one version after the other with continuous improvements. Sorry, Nokia, but the Diablo upgrade really doesn't compare to what Ubuntu's been achieving with their new versions =). Based on previous achievements (desktop linux), I would put my money on Ubuntu mobile delivering a very nice system -- eventually.

And since as you pointed out, Nokia is working with Canonical on a port. Why would Nokia do that if they didn't think Ubuntu Mobile / Mid version, whatever it's called, is worth the trouble down the road? We don't see Nokia sponsoring other projects working to bring other OS's for the Tablets, after all. To me, it's much more exciting to think about whether we get Ubuntu one day than whether the next Tablet will have the arrow keys on the sliding keyboard or by the screen.

These are pretty much my 3 biggest arguments against spending a lot of time and effort bothering to get Ubuntu Mobile working on the tablets:
1. Ubuntu is targeted at x86 CPUs. Yes, it can be ported, but upstream they will always be focusing on x86 first, leaving community members who are porting things in a constant state of playing catch-up.

2. Ubuntu Mobile is targeted at CPUs over 800MHz with 512MB of RAM minimum. The tablets have a 400MHz CPU with 128MB of RAM. It likely won't boot without swap. Performance is not going to be good. They have two app launchers. One is written in flash. One depends on hardware 3D acceleration.

3. The space requirements will probably make an SD card required equipment on the N800. If it's slimmed down small enough to fit on the 2GB in the N810 it will likely be with no space left over and/or reduced functionality.

Now this applies to the current ARM based tablets, but many people here are thinking the next tablet (or maybe the one after that) will have an x86 CPU and thus all of everyone's problems will be magically solved. Here is why I think the next tablet will have an ARM CPU. (As much as I can, I'm trying to pull my own personal bias out of this and hypothesize what I think Nokia *will* do, not what I think Nokia *should* do. Do not respond to this arguing why *you think* Nokia should put an x86 CPU in some hypothetical next generation tablet.) Why I think Nokia will use ARM (specifically TI OMAP) CPUs in future tablets, for at least the next two generations:
1. Hardware development experience: Nokia makes a range of phones based on TI OMAP system-on-chip designs. Expertise in developing the hardware behind the N95 (and other high-end S60 phones) translates really well towards making the tablet. They even get to re-use a lot of the accessory chips to handle charging and other system details. This saves time and money, while letting them get out a product of higher quality faster.

2. Software development experience: They already have a lot of time and money bound up in developing Maemo/OS200x for the tablets. A lot of it is actually pretty architecture independent, but a lot of the really tricky, clever, low level power management is likely rather specific to the system-on-chip they're using. which brings us to...

3. Battery life: Nokia's goal with the Internet Tablet experience seems to be "always on." With that in mind, the run time should be "as long as possible" with the radios off and at least a solid day with either bluetooth or wifi on the whole time. There isn't an Intel CPU/chipset combo that can deliver competitive power-usage to an ARM CPU at the same price. If Intel could do that, you would see *someone else* releasing an MID with a price close to the N810 and similar battery life. Instead we see MIDs starting with sub-4 hour runtimes and no "always on" mode. Let alone...

4. MIDs are starting at $750. Nokia started the N810 at $480. That's a not insignificant price discrepancy. (I'll admit, of all the categories this is most likely to change the fastest. Still, something to consider.)

5. The size: A system based around Intel's Atom will be bigger than the Nokia Internet Tablets. Much bigger. There's not really a clever way to get around this. The Atom is a CPU, the TI OMAP (and most ARMs) are a system-on-chip. The Atom needs more support chips. (I'm relatively sure that) the Atom dissipates more heat [citation needed]. And it just needs a bigger battery. This combined is going to push MIDs to bigger sizes than something based around an ARM system-on-chip solution.


So, what do I think people should spend their time on instead? There are two big areas going forward that I think make at least a little sense:
1. Getting Ubuntu Mobile apps repackaged and optimized for Maemo/OS2008. See something you like, give packaging a try! Ubuntu Mobile apps are largely written with a Hildon UI, just like OS2008 apps. I think the biggest win will be through cooperation between and sharing of applications between Ubuntu Mobile and OS2008. I have high hopes of this happening going forward!

2. If you're dead set on running a desktop Linux distro on the N8x0, take a look at N8x0 Debian. Ubuntu is like 90%+ the same as Debian. That 10% difference is the part you'll have to disable because it's taking up all 128MB of RAM and 384MB of swap on boot. See where I'm going here? What you gain from using Debian instead is the fact that Debian (unlike Ubuntu) has targeted a release at our processors. Like something from Ubuntu? Chances are you'll barely even need to change the packaging to get it working.

This is just my 2 cents, but I'd like to think that I do know something about the situation.

-John

And most important - Ubuntu mobile offers nothing more in terms of usability.

Johnx: as that was a response to my post, may I have the honor of granting you the "comprehensive post" award, please? =) Great post, thank you - that was very informative.

Ubuntu Mobile appealed to me ... until I found out it's the Vista of mobile operating systems

When you said this it made me pause for a second. i went back to recheck the sys requirements from an official source to be sure and couldn't really find one. O_o
i guess i can assume that the normal ubuntu requirements apply which makes it 384MB for the installer and 256MB once installed. The CPU req of course is much less firm i'm sure, it just depends how patient you are. it is however targeted at the intel atom aka silverthorne, which has a minimum speed of 800MHz. i didn't mean to mislead anyone and i'll update the my other post when i get back to my desktop.
-johnx

(posted from my n800. please forgive spelling and grammar. thanks.)

Last time I checked the development threads on the ubuntu mobile launchpad ubuntu mobile was built on top of maemo

Not to get into a distribution argument... i'm quite happy with maemo for what it is... and equally as glad that it's not Ubuntu... and that Nokia has generally done a great job with the IT's for what they are.

I had a sharp zaurus SL-5500 for a while, ran the stock ROM as well as a couple of OpenZaurus variants with QPE and GPE, and I appreciate when mobile devices don't try too hard to become a full-blown desktop.

I probably enjoy telling people that my n810 really doesn't suck... as I have seen some Nseries phones running Symbian that do suck quite a bit... and I love to tell people that the n810 doesn't run Symbian, and that I really am pleasantly surprised and happy with the n810.

Just fyi... i'm a Unix administrator by trade... time split between ~ 90% Solaris, 8% BSD, and 2% Linux, and I love Linux to death on my personal machines, but I've never been a fan of the consumer market (RedHat/Fedora, SuSE, Mandrake, Debian/Ubuntu, etc...). I prefer to run Slackware for my own sanity, without a bunch of 'conveniences' or 'utilities' that I really don't need to manage... or bog down my machines.