I think TAL has a good point that there's an opportunity here that could take root if given more support from the back-end. Over the last week we've all seen the active response from users too which is an even better indication that this distro could be worth focusing on by both the community and Canonical.
Its great to hear that Canonical are putting weight behind it then. Thanks for the feedback from Emmet. As a further encouragement to Canonical and the community I want to say that I am personally getting queries from OEMs and manufacturers about what I think of Linux on netbooks and UMPCs. They are worried about the user experience and (possibly unfounded) reports of higher return rates for Linux-based netbooks. OEMs want a solution and they want a well-recognised solution but if there's a risk of it damaging their brand, they wont take it. It's here that I see Canonical playing the main role. You are obviously talkingn to OEMs directly in the b/g but how about tempting other OEMs and developers via high quality branded blogs and not via IRC (Please, IRC is great but users, OEMs, ISVs, resellers jsut dont have the time to participate. ) or mailing lists. Canonical also need to do marketing. Now. Not when Ubuntu Mobile is launched. Its almost funny that this distro was announced on a personal blog until you realise what potential we're talking about here. Ubuntu Mobile seems to be taking root. ISVs and community members need reasons to join now. Canonical need to provide the feedback that gives them confidence that this project will go forward with aggression, good end-user focus and with long-term goals to become the de-facto choice on netbooks and medium sized touchscreen devices. I have a to-do to write another Ubuntu Mobile article soon bul will probably fire a few questions to Canonical PR before I do that. I'll try and tie it in with the first release at end of October with a new video. I'll also be campaigning for Poulsbo/SCH/GMA500 support for the next release as I know some OEMs that are looking for a solution here. (Some faith in Ubuntu-MID appears to have been lost through the delays with the Gigabyte M528/Compal JAX10 device.) Good luck to all for Intrepid release. Steve On Sat, Sep 27, 2008 at 7:25 PM, Emmet Hikory <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Tal Beno wrote: > > I wish to comment please on Steve's original mail as well as on the > overall > > reply that Steve got from Mr. Emmet Hikory. > > Although I've been replying to a number of these mails, it's not > that I'm someone particularly special when it comes to Ubuntu Mobile: > I'm just a user who was unsatisfied with both Ubuntu MID and Ubuntu > Desktop on my Kohjinsha SR. Oliver credits me with some help with the > installer, but that truly belongs to the many contributors to the > installer technologies used, some originating in Ubuntu, and some in > Debian. I may be an Ubuntu Developer, but that's just because I've > been an Ubuntu user and contributor for long enough that someone > granted me upload rights (I have not checked to see if any of my > patches are in Ubuntu Mobile). Nothing I'm saying represents anything > other than my opinion, and shouldn't be taken as a statement of policy > of any sort. > > > But as many analysts are claiming the Linux landscape is way too > fractured > > in general and on the mobile front, so to make this one stand out of the > > crowd and give MS a real fight (as with the desktop edition) Canonical > can't > > throw it on the community as a prime resource, at least not at this > stage. > > I beg to argue that this is all a big waste of time if you don't intend > > realizing the huge potential you have in your hands, and invest much more > > resources on its success. The community will follow only when seeing your > > own initial commitment ... > > I take great issue with this assertion. Ubuntu is developed by a > large and diverse community, and that Ubuntu Mobile is developed > entirely within and as part of Ubuntu is surely a good means by which > to ensure that the work done includes the work of the largest number > of interested parties. While is it certainly true that Canonical > offers significant support to Ubuntu, including almost all of the > infrastructure and funding for a number of the developers (I believe > it to be over 10%, including more than a third of the most active > developers, although I could be mistaken), for which much appreciation > is deserved, it is not the case that Ubuntu Mobile is something which > Canonical is "throwing on the community", nor is it the case that > Ubuntu Mobile being community created and community supported > necessarily means that nobody associated with Canonical will be > involved in that community. > > While Oliver has created the initial preview image for Ubuntu > Mobile, the idea originates from the UDS held in Prague, has been > discussed in the #ubuntu-mobile channel in freenode for some time, and > relies heavily on the work of the entire Ubuntu community in order to > function as well as it does. The Ubuntu Mobile community is expected > to support this new flavour (as is true for the community surrounding > any Ubuntu flavour), and that community consists of interested people > from many sources, including Canonical. If there are no interested > individuals, then there is no community, and there is no point in > having such a flavour of Ubuntu. I know I'm interested, and judging > from the mail here, the comments to Oliver's blog entry, and the > comments to Steve's article, I'm fairly certain I'm not alone. > There's no reason we can't make Ubuntu Mobile great, but it's not > right to frame this as a competition between corporate entities, or to > try to fit some analyst's model: the key idea is to make something > that we want to use, and to seek out any resources we need to make it > as good as it can be. > > -- > Emmet HIKORY > > -- > Ubuntu-mobile mailing list > [email protected] > Modify settings or unsubscribe at: > https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-mobile > -- Steve 'Chippy' Paine Promoting mobile computing devices to over 220,000 people per month through UMPCPortal.com
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