Ubuntu on Android, won’t work for me, 3 serious considerations!

Written by Ayesha .A on February 24, 2012. Posted in Android, News, Ubuntu

Ubuntu on Android! So you are guessing that your Android smartphone will have a dual boot or you will be able to boot Ubuntu on your Android phone? Certainly none of that is possible as yet. Ubuntu for Android is simply full-fledged Ubuntu hidden in your Android phone that that remains inoperative until docked. Once your smartphone is plugged into the dock connected to a moniter the OS (ubuntu) surfaces and starts making use of peripherals such as mouse and keyboard. All of that sounds interesting however neither it is new or useful. Let’s find how!

As you might already know that Motorola has already done the trick with its Atrix early last year, thus the idea to merge mobile and desktop computing is not new or unique to Ubuntu. However what makes the news noteworthy is the tight integration of two closely linked Oss, Android and Ubuntu, both sharing the same Linux Kernel and expectantly emerging ecosystem (that Apple has and Google doesn’t). This tight integration makes possible seamless transition between the two environments—Android on the go and Ubuntu on desktop. Ubuntu on Android means you will be able to use your phonebook, bookmarks, apps, office and 3G/4G connections of your phone on a bigger and better screen hence freeing yourself from the indication posed by small screen and virtual keyboard. Your phone will be your two-in-one device, phone on the go and desktop when docked. Apparently the mechanism looks promising; nevertheless does it bring any betterment to the life of an average user?
First consideration: The cost
Ubuntu on Android is only supported on very high end smartphones with minimum requirement as follows:

- Dual-core 1GHz CPU

- Video acceleration: shared kernel driver with associated X driver; Open GL, ES/EGL
- Storage: 2GB for OS disk image
- HDMI: video out with secondary frame buffer device
- USB host mode512 MB RAM

This of course means that this is not any ordinary smartphone, it is of supreme quality. And consequently this means that such a smartphone is also pretty heavy on your pocket and might be slightly heavier physically than super sleek phones. For this we can simply say that as technology advances we can hope better specs coming at low prices, however that does not seem to come very soon.
Second consideration: Usability
Canonical suggests that once your phone is plugged in Ubuntu starts to operate, getting input from a keyboard and mouse and sending display output to a monitor. The whole system makes a little sense to me. Lets analyze the problem in various scenarios.

Scenario 1: You reach a workplace you have a monitor, keyboard and a mouse (why on the earth such a place exist that has all of it but not a CPU?) They say “Why carry two devices, when you could carry only one” even in this particular scenario I am carrying a number of things with me. Lets count on, a (very)smartphone, a docking station and an HDMI out wire at least.
Scenario 2: You reach a workplace you have a monitor, keyboard and a mouse and a CPU, but I am adamant to use my smartphone’s hidden OS on the desktop to get completely synchronized feel.

So you have a CPU yet you decide to plug in your smartphone and pick your browsing just from the place you left when you were in your car. But, is your smartphone smarter than a CPU to even compete with its speed and performance? Probably no. Moreover if you have a CPU you have a whole new world of options! Have an internet connection? Well and good; not one? Tether your mobile. You don’t need synchronization from your phone, lets see how:

An all in one address book: An online/cloud-based address book will do your work.; one most of us already have
Web bookmarks: today, this is certainly not a problem. The simplest of all solutions in the new Chrome for Android that gets you synchronize tabs and bookmarks from all your devices. Further there are services like Instapaper and Readitlater that can provide webpages for offline viewing.
Messaging from desktop: number of apps does this for me, not to forget Texty.
Attend a call on desktop: do you mean an additional peripheral?
Share documents? Plenty of cloud based solutions out there. Drag your document to the cloud-storage app on phone and get it right on the desktop.

What I am gathering is that to actually make a full use of the mechanism you will need to carry a monitor and a handful of peripherals too! Only then you will actually make use of the hidden OS and enjoy completely mobile-desktop probably on your hut in the beech.
Third consideration: The battery Life
Yes one of the most important considerations is the battery Life of the smartphones. Unfortunately the Android phones is quiet notorious. Having a complete OS being driven by a smartphone will impose a serious question to phone’s battery life.

That is not to say that Ubuntu on Android is completely useless however it might not worth as much as you spend on it. Of course Ubuntu for Android can be preferable in a number of situations most obvious being a public computer. However, even having a smartphone with a desktop OS might not actually give you the speedy computation you are looking for away from home or workplace. Nevertheless the whole idea is promising and not to mention the on preview video Ubuntu was quiet fluid. So let’s have our fingers crossed until the end of 2012 when these high end phones are expected to reach consumers.

For questions please refer to our Q/A forum at : http://ask.unixmen.com

android

http://www.facebook.com/SZ83098 Peter Snizek

Nevertheless, it’s a kind of exciting to see Smartphones evolving into some sort of ultra portable future desktop/laptop computers. Imagine, you just bring in your Smartphone to work, connect it to the local network and start a Virtual Desktop client for accessing the company’s behind the firewall applications and network resources. I’m just waiting for flexible and foldable screens that you can carry in your pocket, unfold it and then have the data projected to this much larger screen ;-)
- Ayesha-ahmad
  
  Yes certainly, but its still a long way to go! :)
  - Revolutionarysoul
    
    such lack of imagination is mindnumbing.
  - Revolutionarysoul
    
    such lack of imagination is mindnumbing.
http://profiles.google.com/captainax Chris Toombs

Well, from the specs you listed it’s not going to take some super crazy hot new phone..the atrix has those specs right now..and it is free with a new contract..also battery life would not be an issue because if you have the power to turn on a monitor to plug your phone into odds are you’re going to have power for your dock
- zinovsky
  
  I see that most people when they comment, they don`t take in consideration how many people have the ability to buy an expensive smart phone, people in north america, europe, midle east yes, and the rest of the world? Many people using Linux especially Ubuntu are people in India, south america, africa … are using it in old hardware because it is just expensive to buy a new powerful PC with a win7….
  So if you and me can have an expensive smart phone, How many others they can`t?
  - http://twitter.com/MisanthropeBob Bob The Misanthrope
    
    It amazes me how short-sighted people are. “OMG it only runs on high end phones, poor pplz can’t afford it boohoo.” Give me a break… All technological advances begin in the 1st world, and then eventually filter down to the 3rd world.
    
    Today’s expensive quad core phone, is tomorrows budget phone. It does not take long for prices to drop on this stuff… Supply-demand economics and moore’s law will take care of the cost in short order. So cut the bleeding heart crap.
  - Andy
    
    You’ll also find that the type of person this is initially marketed to in third world countries already has a cellphone. A substantial proportion of internet access in these countries similarly is mobile. As the cost of these devices shrink, it becomes easier to have this setup as it starts to near the economic reach of more of the population.
    
    In response to the author, in the first world people are often upgrading their phone or computers every (or other) year. If you have literally one computer the cost of doing so decreases dramatically.
    
    I’m positive that this type of setup will be standard in five years, especially in homes and the emerging open style office.
cbstryker

Obviously this isn’t going to be standard starting tomorrow. You won’t be able to start a new job next week and expect to be able to use your phone as a desktop. This is emerging technology out doesn’t always take good right away. Look at tablets, they’ve existed for over a decade already, but no one cared or even knew about them until 2 years ago. So stating that this is a failed idea because Motorola tried a similar idea already is idiotic.

I’m not even going to bother rebutting any of the other arguments a the author lost any and all form of credibility the second he referred to a desktop computer as a “CPU”! Next he’s going to be talking about how much he likes the version of Linux that Microsoft has released and wonders why his wifi stops working when he leaves his house!
NOtATechiE

Hmmph.. are u being paid by some one?
The only limitation is the hardware, which in a few years will be up to the mark..How about in a few years your app is ran on the chip on your device, but all that paging file shit etc happening at the cloud – connected via a ultra fast wireless network, apps run on demand by downloading the data real time? So we may not need a bigger storage capacity on the devices other than an ultra fast processor and ultra fast wireless connectivity.
tracy anne

It doesn’t work for me because

I don’t like cloud based applications, for reliability and privacy reasons

***** An all in one address book: An online/cloud-based address book will do your work.; one most of us already have *****

which I don’t and won’t have, is out

***** Web bookmarks: today, this is certainly not a
problem. The simplest of all solutions in the new Chrome for Android
that gets you synchronize tabs and bookmarks from all your devices.
*****

Which I don’t and won’t use

***** Messaging from desktop: number of apps does this for me, *****

And me.

***** Attend a call on desktop: do you mean an additional peripheral? *****

Sounds like it

*****Share documents? Plenty of cloud based solutions
out there. Drag your document to the cloud-storage app on phone and get
it right on the desktop. *****

Did I say I don’t like cloud storage.

Actually I should amend that, I don’t like cloud storage where I don’t control it, think owncloud, or my own server, or strong encryption before uploading the data to someone else’s cloud, which none of the current cloud services, and especially not the highly integrated into google, google cloud gives me.

Pretty much if I can’t, or don’ty have the choice of using a document editing application of my choice, say LibreOffice, cloud based document storage is a non starter.

pretty much the lack of choice and flexibility in smart phone systems, I’ve useed both iPhone and Android based smart phones, is the reason I went back to a non smart phone…. I’m no worse off, and carry a netbook with a wireless dongle, and a phone around with me.
tracy anne

While I don’t like what’s available on the Android/Ubuntu combination, I think the idea is good, it will also be a winner, people like my daughter will use it. She’s already comforable with dualbooting into Windows or Android on her tablet, and she’s quite comfortable sharing her life on Facebook, so current cloud service privacy issues are not issues for her. This will give her all of what she currently has in a more accessible package.
Glococo

And the positive things ??
This article is viewed from Microsoft perspective :))))) Dont put rocks on the sidewalk,,, we will beat you.
daengbo

Ayesha,
I think you’ve missed the point.
1) The requirements for a phone were high at the beginning of 2011. By the middle of last year, high-end phones were dual-core, 1.5 GHz CPUs. In 2012, high-end phones have quad-core CPUs. The requirements for this are now satisfied by “free with contract” phones, which is almost as low as smartphones go.
2) The lack of a CPU at your work desk and your home is exactly the point of the device. You leave the docks and cables connected at each place. That’s what docks are for.
3) The device recharges when attached to the dock.
- cbstryker
  
  Please, for the love of God, don’t call a computer the “CPU”. It’s completely 100% incorrect (you realize that every phone, POS terminal, router, LCD, plasma TV, tablet, laptop, electronic billboard, server…. the list goes on… HAS a CPU and therefore a desktop computer is not itself a “CPU”, right?) and one of my top 5 personal pet peeves.
  
  I know I sound like a complete jerk, but it NEEEEEEEEDS to be said. Hearing someone call desktops a CPU is worse than ten thousand nails on ten thousand black boards for me. It’s like calling your car the “engine”. “I’m going to go drive my engine to work this morning.” See? It sounds outright stupid.
  - daengbo
    
    I guess you’re pretty young, then, right? In the 70s and 80s, CPU was the name for the “Central Processing Unit” — the big box with the flashing lights. So, from that standpoint, you’re wrong, and computer literacy books from that era would all disagree with you, labeling the box that way.
    - cbstryker
      
      Borne completely out of ignorance, a lack of understanding of how a computer’s inner components worked. Just as hundreds of years ago the Earth was a flat surface that you could fall off and you could find that knowledge in all of that era’s “literacy books”.
      
      http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/C/CPU.html
      http://vgstrategies.about.com/od/strategyglossary/g/CPU.htm
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_processing_unit
      
      It’s a misnomer now and was from the very beginning.
http://twitter.com/mattlezeay Matthew Yeazel

I think you missed who the target audience is for this type of device. This isn’t designed to overrule the current desktop situation in most offices. But, I can see where this would be great : Say a company has more than 3 or 4 offices, and employees tend to bounce between offices a lot. The company is probably already paying for a smartphone anyways since they are so mobile, so instead of providing desktops/laptops you give them this and then all you need is docks at each office. The user won’t leave their laptop sitting in the car (no chance of stolen laptops) or forget it at home or another office – because it’s their phone… You simplify the truly mobile worker to have one device to worry about, and that is it. That is the target audience, so #1 – cost not a problem since the user may already have a capable device, #2 usability is always on the other side of convenience/mobility and many users can and do make that trade off every day (think ultra mobile laptops which have smaller screens, missing hardware like DVD/CD drives, etc) so there are people already living that, and #3 really? battery life? Docks typically *require* external power to work, kind of like monitors…. so by using the dock you are charging the device, if you are concerned about while out and about, Ubuntu is not active while off the dock – and it shares the same kernel so most drain is going to be normal use of any smartphone anyways. That all being said, not everyone will use this, but I see if fitting into the market and replacing some very expensive solutions.
solly ntila

Honestly you are a liar, get your facts right b4 u can do this, 1.2.3.4. Battery life the ubuntu OS goes to hibernation when unplugged, no dude you being stupid cause android is for use on the go and ubuntu on the office I see it simple all the applications you mentioned are stand alone while is an OS, just typical of people who switch a computer only to search for viruses and do updates every day
aiphee

Well, i think that Ubuntu for Android is great, especially when you only need internet and emails.
Ad 1: Yes, its expensive, but not for long an canonial have an advantage now
Ad 2: Well, you dont need to install software synchronize anythk or so, it very easy to use
Ad 3: I supose that youll use it on docking station and that will take care of charging
Repairtec

Wow… Is this writer trolling? Smartphones double in processing power every year. What is high end right now will be a budget phone in 8 months. I currently carry my laptop and phone to work everyday. My laptop is mostly for email and web apps so an Ubuntu phone would totally work for me.
Yan Charette

Battery life? Dude Galaxy Nexus battery are 10 dollars here in Canada.
http://www.battery-sale.co.uk/ Zhuliqimaymay

Store Dell
Studio 1555 battery in a clean, dry, cool place away from
heat and metal objects. Do not modify or disassemble the Li-ion Dell Studio
1555 laptop battery. Don’t place Dell Studio 1555 laptop battery in laptop for
a long period of time if the laptop is not being used.

http://www.notebookbatteryretail.com/dell-studio-1555-battery.htm

Type: Li-ion

Cells: 9-cell

Voltage:
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Capacity: 7800mAh

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568.15g

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Color:
Black

SKU: DE083K
http://www.battery-sale.co.uk/ Zhuliqimaymay

Store Dell
Studio 1555 battery in a clean, dry, cool place away from
heat and metal objects. Do not modify or disassemble the Li-ion Dell Studio
1555 laptop battery. Don’t place Dell Studio 1555 laptop battery in laptop for
a long period of time if the laptop is not being used.

http://www.notebookbatteryretail.com/dell-studio-1555-battery.htm

Type: Li-ion

Cells: 9-cell

Voltage:
11.1V

Capacity: 7800mAh

Weight:
568.15g

Dimension: 284.6 x 48.3 x 37.7mm

Color:
Black

SKU: DE083K
john doe

the write is certainly torlling, and here is why.

1- Computing power is no issue even now, most new phones are over 1GHz anyways.

2- his office-work scenario is crazy. I go to my office, i have an office PC, but i dont want to mix my personal stuff with my companies business PC, the security department is scanning every single thing going in and out, why would i want to put my personal emails to my various girlfriends in their hands? thats just crazy. if i have the opportunity i will certainly plugin my phone to the monitor and use it as a PC.

3- when the phone is docked in, i dont see why battery would even come into play. ITS PLUGGED IN dude!

jacky can

May 22, 2013 | #

You can actually unzip your secret archive by leaving out the -t option, instead using:

unzip newPhoto.jpg

DragonFartOutLoud

it went to china.

great review! i’ve been using it as my main OS since Beta 1 release. its been a awesome ride so far :)

jet li

i try the method, and i unzip the image contain zip secret, i dont find the file that i was hide, where it go? and how to open it? :s

zinovsky

Yes, it is possible using Steganography, we will post another quick howto do that in the next few days

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