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"The other problem is that while Canonical is pushing the build to hardware manufacturers and mobile carriers, it has no plans to release it to the general publ

by thechut 15y ago

"The other problem is that while Canonical is pushing the build to hardware manufacturers and mobile carriers, it has no plans to release it to the general public for independent development." It seems to crazy to me that Canonical is going to lock down this software and not let people try to install on their own devices for their own purposes. While I couldn't be more excited by the idea of this project, that article made me very concerned about the future of Canonical and where they are going as a company.

bryanlarsen 15y ago
Are they planning on locking it down after release? If so, they will really piss off the open source ecosystem. However, controlling the release of pre-alpha software that doesn't work very well on existing hardware seems like a very good idea to me.
- lambda 15y ago
  From http://www.ubuntu.com/devices/android/commercial-info http://www.ubuntu.com/devices/android/commercial-info: > Ubuntu for Android components produced by Canonical are generally licensed under the GPLv3 or LGPLv3. Alternative licensing is available on the proviso that Canonical retains discretionary rights to include work done in the public versions of Unity and Ubuntu. It sounds like this will be released as free software, and the GPLv3 pretty much forbids locking it down. I think that what they are saying in the article is that they won't be releasing the code until they have a hardware partner; so you can't download it now and try to hack it to work with CyanogenMod or something. But once they have a hardware partner, the code will all be released under the GPLv3.
  - thechut 15y ago
    Thanks for tracking that down. It's good to know that everything will still be released under GPLv3. I just hope that working with a hardware partner won't end up locking down something awesome to just a select few devices. Thanks again for the clarification though lambda.
  - salem 15y ago
    That understandable, but it's also a bit of a shame, since there's hardware out there that might be able to be hacked to run this already, the Motorola Atrix.
    - Tobu 15y ago
      Is it more important that it is available now, like Moblin and WebOS are, or that it continues being developed in the future? Edit: with a little work one might get a previous iteration of this running; https://lwn.net/Articles/482789/ https://lwn.net/Articles/482789/
    - joelhaasnoot 15y ago
      I think this is aimed at devices like the Motorola Atrix. Considering that device never went anywhere, they're likely looking for more manufacturers to create a device like that.
    - bryanlarsen 15y ago
      According to http://www.theverge.com/2012/2/21/2812424/ubuntu-for-android-hands-on http://www.theverge.com/2012/2/21/2812424/ubuntu-for-android... it sounds like there are a couple of large usability issues with the Atrix 2.
  - deleted 15y ago
    [deleted]
- slowpoke 15y ago
  >However, controlling the release of pre-alpha software that doesn't work very well on existing hardware seems like a very good idea to me. I disagree. Releasing as early and as often as possible, not matter the state of the project, is a fundamental basic of open source development. I somewhat trust Canonical to uphold the ideals of Free Software, even though I am severely disappointed in their products lately (the only thing they've done/announced recently that I thought is a really good idea was the HUD). I don't hold this against them for this reason, but I don't think it's a very good decision, either.
laconian 15y ago
It's insane. Talk about forgetting one's roots.
- freehunter 15y ago
  Let's wait until we hear some firm details before grabbing the pitchforks.
- rbanffy 15y ago
  It is. That's why they are not doing it: http://www.ubuntu.com/devices/android/commercial-info http://www.ubuntu.com/devices/android/commercial-info
fingerprinter 15y ago
This is basically FUD being spread (amazingly quickly as well). http://www.ubuntu.com/devices/android/commercial-info http://www.ubuntu.com/devices/android/commercial-info Ubuntu for Android licensing Ubuntu for Android components produced by Canonical are generally licensed under the GPLv3 or LGPLv3. Alternative licensing is available on the proviso that Canonical retains discretionary rights to include work done in the public versions of Unity and Ubuntu. Ubuntu is and will always be free and open source. The Ubuntu trademark might need to be licensed for manufacturers wanting to ship this with their phones, but that is well within Canonical's rights according to http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/selling.html http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/selling.html Bottom line, FUD. The source for Ubuntu TV is out there already. No reason to expect anything different here.

by thechut 15y ago

bryanlarsen 15y ago

Are they planning on locking it down after release? If so, they will really piss off the open source ecosystem. However, controlling the release of pre-alpha software that doesn't work very well on existing hardware seems like a very good idea to me.

lambda 15y ago
From http://www.ubuntu.com/devices/android/commercial-info http://www.ubuntu.com/devices/android/commercial-info: > Ubuntu for Android components produced by Canonical are generally licensed under the GPLv3 or LGPLv3. Alternative licensing is available on the proviso that Canonical retains discretionary rights to include work done in the public versions of Unity and Ubuntu. It sounds like this will be released as free software, and the GPLv3 pretty much forbids locking it down. I think that what they are saying in the article is that they won't be releasing the code until they have a hardware partner; so you can't download it now and try to hack it to work with CyanogenMod or something. But once they have a hardware partner, the code will all be released under the GPLv3.
- thechut 15y ago
  Thanks for tracking that down. It's good to know that everything will still be released under GPLv3. I just hope that working with a hardware partner won't end up locking down something awesome to just a select few devices. Thanks again for the clarification though lambda.
- salem 15y ago
  That understandable, but it's also a bit of a shame, since there's hardware out there that might be able to be hacked to run this already, the Motorola Atrix.
  - Tobu 15y ago
    Is it more important that it is available now, like Moblin and WebOS are, or that it continues being developed in the future? Edit: with a little work one might get a previous iteration of this running; https://lwn.net/Articles/482789/ https://lwn.net/Articles/482789/
  - joelhaasnoot 15y ago
    I think this is aimed at devices like the Motorola Atrix. Considering that device never went anywhere, they're likely looking for more manufacturers to create a device like that.
  - bryanlarsen 15y ago
    According to http://www.theverge.com/2012/2/21/2812424/ubuntu-for-android-hands-on http://www.theverge.com/2012/2/21/2812424/ubuntu-for-android... it sounds like there are a couple of large usability issues with the Atrix 2.
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
slowpoke 15y ago
>However, controlling the release of pre-alpha software that doesn't work very well on existing hardware seems like a very good idea to me. I disagree. Releasing as early and as often as possible, not matter the state of the project, is a fundamental basic of open source development. I somewhat trust Canonical to uphold the ideals of Free Software, even though I am severely disappointed in their products lately (the only thing they've done/announced recently that I thought is a really good idea was the HUD). I don't hold this against them for this reason, but I don't think it's a very good decision, either.

laconian 15y ago

It's insane. Talk about forgetting one's roots.

freehunter 15y ago
Let's wait until we hear some firm details before grabbing the pitchforks.
rbanffy 15y ago
It is. That's why they are not doing it: http://www.ubuntu.com/devices/android/commercial-info http://www.ubuntu.com/devices/android/commercial-info

fingerprinter 15y ago

This is basically FUD being spread (amazingly quickly as well). http://www.ubuntu.com/devices/android/commercial-info http://www.ubuntu.com/devices/android/commercial-info Ubuntu for Android licensing Ubuntu for Android components produced by Canonical are generally licensed under the GPLv3 or LGPLv3. Alternative licensing is available on the proviso that Canonical retains discretionary rights to include work done in the public versions of Unity and Ubuntu. Ubuntu is and will always be free and open source. The Ubuntu trademark might need to be licensed for manufacturers wanting to ship this with their phones, but that is well within Canonical's rights according to http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/selling.html http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/selling.html Bottom line, FUD. The source for Ubuntu TV is out there already. No reason to expect anything different here.