back to article Ubuntu Edge Linux mobe: 'Made you look,' crows Shuttleworth

Canonical's attempt to raise £20.5m ($32m) to create a Ubuntu Linux smartphone wasn't the failure it appeared to be: despite only managing two fifths of its fundraising target by its own deadline, the Edge handset project was a hugely successful advertisement for the Ubuntu distribution. That's, of course, according to …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Operation Extinguish

    Ubuntu Edge was a flop, rebranded as a ¨success¨. Just like MS claims Win8 is a success.

    Ubuntu will soon have its own, proprietary, package system. Meanwhile the rest of the community looks at uniting APT and RPM under a common umbrealla - i.e. working together.

    Ubuntu has it´s own (basically) proprietary UI (Unity). Meanwhile the two big guns (KDE and GNOME) continue to improve and the ankle biters (XFCE, MATE, Cinnamon etc) keep them in check.

    Ubuntu is getting its own (basically) proprietary display server (Mir). Meanwhile the community is developing Wayland (and Weston). This would be a perfect target for Intel, Nvidia and AMD - but now Canonical is poisoning that well by trying to double dev costs on GNU/Linux.

    In short, Canonical is doing everything within its power to fracture and destroy the GNU/Linux community.

    MS´s plan must be working our nicely, they have clearly shifted gears into Operation Extinguish and this funding disaster was clearly part of that. This is what happens when you let MS onto your board (just ask Nokia).

    Hopefully the greater GNU/Linux community can weather the coming storm.

    1. Steve Davies 3 Silver badge
      Linux

      Re: Operation Extinguish

      Quote

      In short, Canonical is doing everything within its power to fracture and destroy the GNU/Linux community.

      Nah,

      IMHO, Canonical is doing everything within its power to create an ecosystem that will enable them to charge lots of money for support.

      Have a system that is many ways different from any other Linux could be a way to get lots of $$$££££ etc like RedHat does.

      Mr Shuttleworth's funding does have a limit.

    2. Colin Brett
      Joke

      Re: Operation Extinguish

      Errr ...

      "Ubuntu Edge was a flop, rebranded as a ¨success¨. Just like MS claims Win8 is a success."

      And ...

      "MS´s plan must be working our nicely, they have clearly shifted gears into Operation Extinguish and this funding disaster was clearly part of that."

      You are Eadon and I claim my five pounds!

      Colin

    3. Shagbag
      Thumb Up

      @OP

      Opinions are like assholes - everyone's got one.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Opinions are like assholes

        No the word is "arseholes". A person is an asshole .... well sometimes

    4. Luke McCarthy

      Re: Operation Extinguish

      Re: Unifying APT and RPM - citation? I haven't found anything suggesting this.

      Which former Microsoftie is at Ubuntu?

    5. Dylan Fahey
      FAIL

      Re: Operation Extinguish

      I could not agree more. Ubuntu has become a waste of time with a crap installer killing the user experience right off the bat. If you want someone to use your product, it has to install correctly and detect your keyboard correctly. WTF, really, I can't continue my Ubuntu install because it doesn't understand my keyboard? WTF?

      1. plrndl
        Joke

        Re: Operation Extinguish @ Dylan Fahey

        In the old days we used to get an error message: "keyboard error or keyboard not found. Press F1 to continue".

    6. threenine
      Mushroom

      Re: Operation Extinguish

      Personally, I think the campaign was much more of a success than you realise, and Mark Shuttleworth has every right to "rebrand" it as such.

      There are some key benefits realised from the campagin.

      1. Ubuntu & Linux gained more exposure outside of geekdom - Alot of people I know, who are not so tech savvy are now "familiar" with Linux and it's existence. For example, my wife who despite using a Linux based OS for months in her Kindle Fire HD, asked me whether she should get a laptop with Linux on it, she heard that apparently "abundle" is really good. (We also have 5 laptops in the house already running ubuntu!)

      2. Let manufacturers know that people are interested in more than just 4 OS's - i.e. Android, iOS, BB, Windows. Consumers have interest in other OS's this is good for competition and innovation.

      3. Provided an indicator of where tech should be going - I for one really liked the idea, that I could actually carry 1 device, that could do everything. Gone are the days of lugging my laptop bag with all my devices. i.e. Tablet, Laptop, Phone, MP3 player, etc. I can have jsut one phone and 1 charger!

      4. Highlighted the fact that there is an alternative path for innovation, instead of jsut waiting for a Steve Jobs type character to tell us what we need, rather the consumer can have a voice and an interest in innovation.

      If you really analyse the campaign, you'll see there are a whole lot more positives that can be taken from it, than the one negative point of not obtaining funding.

      I bet it won't be long before we actually see "Edge" make an appearance. I bet Shuttleworth is fielding calls from interested parties as we speak.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "what proportion of ordinary users would really gain from a Linux-based desktop OS?"

    ""what proportion of ordinary users would really gain from a Linux-based desktop OS on their mobile computing device (which might be a phone)?"

    You mean other than the many that have already realised that neither Google nor The Cloud are really actually reliable or trustworthy?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: "what proportion of ordinary users would really gain from a Linux-based desktop OS?"

      tho for me the really good part about it being able to boot ubuntu is that it might be worth attempting a slackware install on it.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Who needs another linux phone when we've already got iphones and android?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Everybody who doesn't want to be locked into a walled garden and who wants to control the data haemorrhaging from the most personal device that they have, for a start.

  4. TheProf
    Holmes

    Brave face

    "Garnered media attention.............."

    Just like the Hindenburg did.

  5. James 51

    Been there, done that

    The n900 could run a full lunix distribuation. Was slower than a snail in treacle but it could be done. Had a scart out and supported bluetooth keyboards and mice. If it had just been a bit faster with more RAM...

    1. Big-nosed Pengie

      Re: Been there, done that

      The N900 would have been Nokia's world beater if only they'd been smart enough to know what they had.

  6. Piro Silver badge

    re: Motorola comment

    I bet they're kicking themselves for abandoning Webtop - my RAZR MAXX HD doesn't have it - but yes, as noted, some -not quite current- Motorola phones have Webtop, a desktop Linux environment available when docked; which could be a laptop dock or a desktop one.

    Basically exactly what Ubuntu Edge is supposed to do.

  7. MrMur

    w

    I think the dual boot point is totally lost in the article.

    I read the dual boot aspect as...

    "Try Ubuntu as a phone platform and y'know what if you don't like it or no one does any apps for it, you have an awesome Android phone for not much money." Far less of a gamble for people than Ubuntu only.

  8. Irongut

    Slight problem

    "Garnered media attention across CNBC, Engadget, The Independent, TechCrunch, the BBC, T3, Stuff, The Verge, The Guardian, Wired, Pandodaily, Fast Company, Forbes, The Telegraph and more."

    Who will all slate the Ubuntu phone if it arrives next year because it doesn't do this hybrid thing that they are all now expecting.

    Shuttleworth and Canonical jumped the shark a few years ago. Ubuntu is in a steady decline and I don't think they have the ability to stop it.

    1. dogged
      Meh

      Re: Slight problem

      They'll all slate it anyway for not being an iPhone.

  9. Atonnis

    Ahahahah!

    So...it's a Linux distributor...that was hoping for MONEY from it's userbase...

    ....I think they might've missed the part where their userbase is famed for wanting free stuff, and that paying for applications makes you the slave of Satan-Steve and his Ballmerites.

    1. asdf

      Re: Ahahahah!

      Weak trolling even if you didn't go AC. Free as in free beer (things) and free as in free speech are quite different things and I think may well find many readers on here that use linux in production and do pay support to Red Hat or others. After all Red Hat's market cap today is not the same as it was 13 years ago which Microsoft can't claim.

      1. dogged
        WTF?

        Re: Ahahahah!

        Because idiot stockbrokers can always accurately value a company which is why (for example) asset-stripping has never existed.

  10. keithpeter Silver badge
    Windows

    Code talks

    Firefox OS cheap low end mobe on sale on Ebay, shipping, 'apps' are essentially Web pages with local storage, can be programmed in javascript/css/html. Targeted at 3rd world markets with large growth. I can afford the price of entry just to see what the fuss is about, if I get off my backside and hack up a maths teaching 'app' code can be repurposed for generic Web page.

    Ubuntu: limited phone image that can be installed on an increasing range of phones. Functionality increasing each release. No interest from hardware partners yet. Programmed in Vala(?) on top of C++ (not sure about that bit), so significant learning curve for hacking up teaching apps. Proprietary apps packaging that might involve dependencies on an SDK. Attempt at dual boot Android/Ubuntu device failed but registered significant interest, higher end 'designer' hardware. Price of entry well out of the 'I'll see what that is like' range.

    Much as I like Ubuntu, I think Canonical might be going down a bit of a rabbit hole. I hope to be proved wrong.

    The Tramp: I have to use windows at work but they pay me for it.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The "rich guy" asking for money on an fund-raising web platform may have turned some people off.

  12. Don Jefe
    Alert

    Goals & Jono Bacon

    The funding goal was way too low. Even if they would have hit their target they'd likely be out of cash before they fulfilled the initial orders. Manufacturing and delivering a physical product and not losing your ass in the process is a tough nut to crack, even for those who do it as their primary business.

    Maybe they had some leeway because the SMT gods always need fresh virgin sacrifices, but I doubt the discounts would have been deep enough to pull it off (without delivering a great big turd).

    Also, someone at El Reg should ping Mr. Jono Bacon and remind him The Register has had good coverage of this project from the start. In my own experience when I forward an El Reg story to someone I'm much more likely to get feedback from it as opposed to those other outlets that were named. People think I'm sending them something worth reading, and not just rejiggered press releases, and that's usually the case. Just sayin...

  13. Jay 2

    Whilst the idea of a handset you can plug into TV/monitor to be a fairly full-on Linux box is interesting, I'm not entirely sure that Ubuntu would be the best distro. Mainly as their recent actions seem to be very much "our way or the highway".

  14. HippyFreetard
    Linux

    Baboontu doesn't look good.

    I like Baboontu. I use it on my netbook. it's nice, and well designed (not quite to my taste, but I appreciate the effort) for what it is.

    But it's Shuttleworth's sideline. His little hobby that he has no faith in as a viable competitive operating system. Shuttleworth's attitude makes Ubuntu look like a crockpot of crap.

    I'm not a business analyst, but I don't see a lot of marketing happening for the OS itself. He could have made a cheap, nicely branded PC, laptop, and home cloud to put in Argos, Toys "Я" Us, and DVD's in Poundland, undercut the competition to gain market share, brand awareness, and demonstrate recession economics, all in time for Christmas. He could have gone all Apple and had a mighty Superbowl ad that had people talking for years, and not just the Baboontu fans.

    The fact that he didn't, and continues to not, makes it look like he doesn't even care about his own product. Tons of people run and use Baboontu, but Shuttleworth himself even said it wasn't good enough. There are technical and design problems, but I think it's fine. Shuttleworth doesn't, so it won't really take off.

    Why should anybody (except companies who want to get marketing points for backing this viral trainwreck publicly with no risk) want to invest in it, if Shuttleworth doesn't?

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