Ubuntu 14.10 Is Now Open For Development

[johnc]

And which are those? Last time I checked Ubuntu absolutely dominated Linux desktop deployments in institutions and companies (where they use Linux), and in the cloud server market they are becoming bigger and bigger, and it is the largest Linux distribution out there, obviously they are doing something right and all those users dont seem to notice those show stopping bugs you talk about. Exaggeration much?

Here's one that has been known about for YEARS and has exactly 0% progress accomplished:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/lightdm/+bug/969489

I think you exaggerate Ubuntu's success.

[Cerberus]

Here's one that has been known about for YEARS and has exactly 0% progress accomplished:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/lightdm/+bug/969489

I think you exaggerate Ubuntu's success.

You came up with one bug that is not even a show stopper for people. And you claimed meteor in the earth type of bugs (plural). You will have to try harder. If I am exaggerating Ubuntu's success then you can surely provide data on some other distribution that achieved more overall success than Ubuntu.

[Anarchy]

I know I sound like a broken record but I really can not for the life of me see Canonical's mobile play. If a company like MS couldn't break into the market with the resources and marketing available to them, how will a company like Canonical?

People say, "Ohh, Ubuntu will target the low-end cheap crappy phone market!" Well, that doesn't exactly engender bragging rights for the OS, does it? Will developers be eager to write apps to target this low-end crappy phone market? And besides, we already have a free mobile OS for low-end crappy phones: it's called Android and it comes with the Google Play market. And we already have a "convergent" OS: it's called Windows 8. And it was universally scorned and hated (at least the "convergent" part was). And convergence is more about cloud solutions than the UI look. And Canonical is closing all of that infrastructure down.

Don't get me wrong, I don't see any issue with making an OS run on mobile devices. I think that's pretty cool. But to make it the fore-running goal of the software with no legitimate hope of success just comes off as a mix of vainglory and chasing the rainbow that is Apple's magical Steve Jobs cult.


Canonical says they want developers to make apps for their platform. They can not be bothered to fix the catastrophic, asteroid-into-the-earth-level bugs that affect their own OS and they want us to write apps for their platform?

It's not made for the developed western markets but for the developing third world markets, where they have a chance. There it all depends on how well they can dance with the network operators.

Last year, I was in Chile and compared to Europe I saw incredible numbers of dumbphones and ancient BlackBerries. I was feeling like a millionaire with my old Galaxy Nexus. I also noticed one more thing: the benefits that one gets from owning an Android or iOS smartphone there are almost completely nullified by the bad network quality and unavailable services, so for example, Google maps are almost useless there. The same goes for many other Google services that the first world countries enjoy. For example, watching youtube videos over 3G/4G is a definite no-no, in the capital of Chile, Santiago, most of the coverage is 2G with 3G in rich neighborhoods. On most networks even the unlimited data plans are in fact limited and are slow as hell. Let me remind you that this was in Chile, which is one of the most developed South American countries. In other countries it's even worse. Then there is Africa, where even 2G is a luxury.

Canonical has a real chance of succeeding in those markets. It all depends on how well they can do business with the network operators and hardware companies. Let's not forget that Nokia last year earned a lot of money from selling Asha phones. So, the possibilities are definitely here.

[johnc]

So the intention here is to make Ubuntu an OS for third-world countries that have 50-year old technology and dirt-poor markets?

[Anarchy]

So the intention here is to make Ubuntu an OS for third-world countries that have 50-year old technology and dirt-poor markets?

so what? money is money.

p.s. they want to make money in those markets, because the chances of success in the oversaturated western markets are tiny. Exactly that old technology is the great leveler for all companies there.

[johnc]

How are they going to get app developers for their platform if the target userbase is dirt-poor third-world markets? And then how are they going to make money on this venture?

Do they expect carriers to hand them over wheelbarrows full of money when Android is free?

[Anarchy]

How are they going to get app developers for their platform if the target userbase is dirt-poor third-world markets? And then how are they going to make money on this venture?

Do they expect carriers to hand them over wheelbarrows full of money when Android is free?

OMFG!!! WHAT IF AN ASTEROID HITS TOMORROW??? WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE!!! LET'S ALL COMMIT MASS SUICIDE RIGHT NOW!! ))


I didn't say that someone will set the red carpet for Canonical. I said that they have some chances of success there. Eventually, it's not my money, so I don't really care that much. When I invest all of my own fortune in Canonical's activities, then I will worry about all the details.

[johnc]

OMFG!!! WHAT IF AN ASTEROID HITS TOMORROW??? WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE!!! LET'S ALL COMMIT MASS SUICIDE RIGHT NOW!! ))


I didn't say that someone will set the red carpet for Canonical. I said that they have some chances of success there. Eventually, it's not my money, so I don't really care that much. When I invest all of my own fortune in Canonical's activities, then I will worry about all the details.

They have practically no chance of success, yet they're betting the farm on it.

If they were a hardware company, maybe the strategy makes some sense. As I said in my first post, I don't see how this works out for them at all, and it's the most reasonable position to take.

[johnc]

You came up with one bug that is not even a show stopper for people. And you claimed meteor in the earth type of bugs (plural). You will have to try harder. If I am exaggerating Ubuntu's success then you can surely provide data on some other distribution that achieved more overall success than Ubuntu.

I have no intention of going through LP and pulling out all of the idiotic usability bugs and regressions that for most people are a big deal, that Canonical refuses to fix. You can take the time yourself and peruse the bug reports since you seem to be ignorant of what's going on.

The bug I posted... 50% of the time I boot my machine I'm dumped to a console login and have to log in and start the DM to get a UI. Now if you don't think that's a "show stopper" for Ubuntu's target audience, then we just don't see eye to eye on standards. But I'll mention the obvious: this bug has been reported since 2011 (11.10) and Canonical hasn't done a damn thing to fix it. Nobody can recommend this distro to anybody but Linux enthusiasts as long as this idiocy persists.

It's going to be really awesome when you get an Ubuntu phone and half the time you turn it on you have to login to a console to get the UI started. That's not a show-stopper, though. No, not at all.

When the bug is fixed and the patch released, I'll cut Canonical some slack.

[Caledar]

They have practically no chance of success, yet they're betting the farm on it.

If they were a hardware company, maybe the strategy makes some sense. As I said in my first post, I don't see how this works out for them at all, and it's the most reasonable position to take.

If you were mark, what would you do? Just make a distro with paid support avaliable?