Ubuntu makes mainsteam news?

[rectec794613]

Hello, community. I just checked out Google's search trends for "Ubuntu." I found the latest spike, at point "F", is a CBS news report by Chenda Ngak. The article talks about how Canonical plans to have Ubuntu on mobile devices by 2014. The funny thing about it is around 90% of the article is the author attempting to explain what Ubuntu and Linux are. This is the way it must be, however, since Ubuntu is still not yet a household name. The author incorrectly refers to Linux as an OS, after she explains what OS stands for. It seems as though she just got word of Ubuntu, though I cannot blame her. There are two comments, one asking about gaming on Linux, and the other explaining Mint and an answer to the previous comment. It's a start, but I still think Ubuntu has a way to go in the mainstream. What are your thoughts on this?

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501465_162-20128004-501465/ubuntu-coming-to-smartphones-tablets-and-tvs/

[kurt18947]

I think desktop Linux/Ubuntu will get mainstream media coverage when Linux companies -- Red Hat, Canonical, et al spend Microsoft/Apple sized $$ on advertising. In other words, I'm not holding my breath. That's also why I don't count heavily on [ABC,CBS,NBC] for real news. If I want the latest Lindsey Lohan 'news', yup.

[whatthefunk]

If Ubuntu is going to spend resources trying to target the TV OS market, which Im guessing consists of about three people worldwide, it will be a long, LONG time before we see any major media breakthroughs.

[forrestcupp]

To most people who know about Linux, the generic term "Linux" is an OS. Sure, we know that the correct term for the OS is supposed to be GNU/Linux and that technically Linux is a kernel. But if someone tells me they use Linux, the kernel isn't necessarily the first thing that comes to mind. So if someone describes Linux as an OS, I'm not going to jump on them because a lot more people understand what an OS is than what a kernel is, and everyone knows that "Linux" has become a generic term for the whole system that is based on Linux.

But I think that if Canonical puts out a mobile version of Ubuntu, it is way too late, and even in that market, it won't have a snowball's chance in hell of becoming mainstream. If Microsoft is having trouble getting their Windows 7 Mobile to become mainstream because of the already dominated market, there's no way Ubuntu is going to make it.

[rectec794613]

To most people who know about Linux, the generic term "Linux" is an OS. Sure, we know that the correct term for the OS is supposed to be GNU/Linux and that technically Linux is a kernel. But if someone tells me they use Linux, the kernel isn't necessarily the first thing that comes to mind. So if someone describes Linux as an OS, I'm not going to jump on them because a lot more people understand what an OS is than what a kernel is, and everyone knows that "Linux" has become a generic term for the whole system that is based on Linux.

But I think that if Canonical puts out a mobile version of Ubuntu, it is way too late, and even in that market, it won't have a snowball's chance in hell of becoming mainstream. If Microsoft is having trouble getting their Windows 7 Mobile to become mainstream because of the already dominated market, there's no way Ubuntu is going to make it.

Yeah I understand the usage of 'Linux' as a catch-all term for a Linux distro. I just don't want people going around using the wrong terms. We can just as easily call them Linux distributions/distros.Know what I mean?

I just wanted to discuss Ubuntu's mainstream status and the news report.

[Grenage]

But I think that if Canonical puts out a mobile version of Ubuntu, it is way too late, and even in that market, it won't have a snowball's chance in hell of becoming mainstream. If Microsoft is having trouble getting their Windows 7 Mobile to become mainstream because of the already dominated market, there's no way Ubuntu is going to make it.

I would echo these sentiments; with Android and Apple around, why even bother?

[BrokenKingpin]

I think it is fine to refer to Linux as an OS, it just makes it easier for non-technical people to understand what it is (at least initially).

For people promoting Ubuntu specifically, I wonder if even trying to explain that it is Linux based is necessary. It is probably easier to just explain that Ubuntu is a free, full features OS like Win 7.

[forrestcupp]

I think it is fine to refer to Linux as an OS, it just makes it easier for non-technical people to understand what it is (at least initially).

For people promoting Ubuntu specifically, I wonder if even trying to explain that it is Linux based is necessary. It is probably easier to just explain that Ubuntu is a free, full features OS like Win 7.

I agree on both points. There are actually more people than you think that have heard of Linux, but they don't have any idea what the heck a distro is until they get involved.

And about the Ubuntu thing, people don't seem to feel like they have to explain that MacOS X has a BSD base. The only difference is that the word "Linux" can let people know that Ubuntu is at least somewhat compatible with other Linux-based OSs. But again, why would anyone need to know that until they're ready to try it out. And even then, most casual computer users don't even need or care to know that.

For Ubuntu to become more mainstream will have to mean that there will be a high percentage of casual computer users that won't give a rat's behind about the underlying technology and correct terminology. They'll just want to use their computers to check their emails and Facebook updates, and to pay their bills online while playing Aisle Riot Solitaire.

[jjex22]

To be honest, I think this just affects linux's reputation in a negative way, after all;


Founder of Canonical (http://www.canonical.com/) Mark Shuttleworth announced today that Ubuntu is slated

Genious I know, But in all seriousness I'm a little puzzled by this article, it feels it necessary to explain that Ubuntu or linux in general is an operating system like winows?! but assumes that readers with that level of knowledge understand the concept of open source.... If they did they'd probably have less malware on their windows machine as they would be searching for "open source *program*" instead of "free *program*" on google ;)

I think that this article is a bit representative of the way not to go - it lists the main advantage of Linux based OS's as being free of malware - this would be a foolish way to attempt to lure people in as it's a disaster waiting to happen - let's get everyone on linux, disabling their security and installing anything - no no no!

OSX is now popular enough to be attracting the attention of malware writers, and wikipedia lists 5 trojans, 30 virus and 12 worms for linux - this will grow exponentially with popularity. I really don't want this to become a security debate and get bumped to recurring, but I think we all know what I mean.

Any OS will have malware written for it, when it becomes popular enough to warent someone's time, or at the least the cross platform programs you use (firefox, chrome, vlc) become just as targetable as they become popular. Then there's the fact that identity theft generally has little to do with your OS, it's what you do online.

We need to sell linux in general in terms of it's own merit - the open source model, customisation, lack of corperate design - the buisness sponsered community development - there are many more of course - you may just really love KDE or Gnome.. or just the fact you can choose!

To answer the pole there's still a long way to go - to achieve mac and Windows scaled deployment full out of the box hardware support would have to become a 99% rule, you're not getting my parents faffing about with wireless drivers on a saturday afternoon to do the same things they could do before. However look how far this has come in just the last few years, and a s linux continues to grow more and more hardware vendors will start to write drivers themselves for linux.

We've come a long way in the last 2 decades and are getting closer and closer to true noob friendliness - the first time I ever tried linux was debian.. I think Potato - I never really got it working before I gave up; it was around the time of OS9 becomming OSX and someone told me osx was link linux - not back then! then I tried again about 4ish years ago and battled thru several problems nowadays I'm pretty much set - I generally only get broadcom issues on fresh installs -but that's just licencing!

Personally I can't see much against linux on portables - they're looking pretty set to become second only to laptops in popularity, and linux was the last of the big three to the OS game and it's done just fine... should be interesting to see what canonical come up with :)

[rectec794613]

Thanks for your thoughts, jjex22. I'm glad we're finally beginning to go in depth on this article. Indeed Windows is not something to compare to Linux. Although it can help beginners understand what an OS is by giving a common example. Very odd to mention open source when such a large majority of Windows user don't know what that is. Forgive me for making generalizations but one can only assume that those who use an OS that's entirely the opposite of open source that's full of proprietary software hasn't an idea of open source.

Linux malware is something that I've thought much about and debated a lot with myself. But the basic principle remains the same - more users=more targets=more malware. Please, please let's not let this turn into a security debate, but I believe The rising popularity of Ubuntu and Linux in general must be proportionate with increased safety awareness and attention to security, if Canonical wants Ubuntu to succeed. (Which I don't doubt.)
Not sure about Ubuntu on mobile platforms. I'm running Ubuntu with Unity on a 2.3GHz dual core machine, and it still can be slow at times. They put this on an 800MHz notebook (Vodaphone Webbook), and it runs choppy at best. 800MHz is the same speed as my phone, so I can't see having this OS on my phone. As of now. I gotta cut Canonical some slack, though. Ubuntu is not even close to ready yet. But I'm just Saiyan.

[DS McGuire]

I am in a 2 year ICT course and I am the only one who runs Ubuntu (or any form of Linux).
The constant hassle I get from the Window fanboys is a pain but I laughed so hard today that when working my mate had the blue screen of death and didn't save his work :L [We are using Intel I3's on windows 7].
But, to answer your poll; No, Ubuntu has a long way to go before it's really accepted by the mainstream media or general public for that matter.

Good question though :)

[rectec794613]

I am in a 2 year ICT course and I am the only one who runs Ubuntu (or any form of Linux).
The constant hassle I get from the Window fanboys is a pain but I laughed so hard today that when working my mate had the blue screen of death and didn't save his work :L [We are using Intel I3's on windows 7].
But, to answer your poll; No, Ubuntu has a long way to go before it's really accepted by the mainstream media or general public for that matter.

Good question though :)

XD that would've made my day. I get hassled by my friend and neighbor. Not really a noob, but not as interested in computers as I am. It's a bit funny. He uses Vista and criticizes me for using Ubuntu...wow. Little knowledge on what Ubuntu is and what it stands for, has no intention on trying it, etc. Odd, but we'll get to this another day maybe.

Ubuntu has taken a decent-sized chunk out of Window's market share. However, this is because most of those people are fed up with Windows and want something different. It'll be a while before we start seeing that many people going to Ubuntu simply because they want to, instead of going out of frustration. Do you agree?

[jjex22]

XD that would've made my day. I get hassled by my friend and neighbor. Not really a noob, but not as interested in computers as I am. It's a bit funny. He uses Vista and criticizes me for using Ubuntu...wow. Little knowledge on what Ubuntu is and what it stands for, has no intention on trying it, etc. Odd, but we'll get to this another day maybe.

Ubuntu has taken a decent-sized chunk out of Window's market share. However, this is because most of those people are fed up with Windows and want something different. It'll be a while before we start seeing that many people going to Ubuntu simply because they want to, instead of going out of frustration. Do you agree?

I definately think there's a strong element of this - I can only speak of the UK but when vista was out Dell were shipping Ubuntu as an installed option because Microsoft wouldn't let them re-open XP sales - this had a massive boom in the exposure of Linux and I was very sad when W7 came along and Dell dropped it - they may not have sold that many - but how much did it really cost to supply the drivers for their hardware?

I'm still pretty concerned about the effect that windows 8 secure boot will have. I think this has been a bit over hyped, as it's fairly obvious no motherboard manufacturer wants to be the only one selling boards that can't multi boot, and Dell and Hp have both confirmed that they intend to allow you to disable secure boot from the firmware (looks as though we're still in for bios not efi btw) so should be no cause for concern ... but you know how these things can go!

On the flip side, having been playing with win 8 I think we could get another vista moment - every single person of the generation above me that I've shown off the developer preview to has disliked it - the change is just too big for them, and I must admit, the muddle of pannel and desktop had me reaching for the sick bag.. but we'll see, maybe you'll be able to turn this panel business off too - panels are great on touch screens, and kind of annoying on large mouse interfaced displays... so could get some more converts once MS starts forcing it on new PC buyers.

In addition to what I said earlier, I'd like to add that forums such as this are a massive aid to expanding linux in themselves - just remembering tring to install debian Potato earlier reminded me of the problems I had - and the solution;

Read the handbook
Read it again
Joing the debian mailing list and post a question
Get told to read the handbook!
Start installation over
Ask on mailing list about clarification of point
Get told to read the ******* handbook!

ah those were the days.... admittedly linux free days for me... but days none the less!