ubuntu | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net KitGuru.net - Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards Tue, 08 Aug 2023 10:14:26 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://www.kitguru.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/cropped-KITGURU-Light-Background-SQUARE2-32x32.png ubuntu | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net 32 32 Steam Deck adoption pushes Linux over Mac https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/matthew-wilson/steam-deck-adoption-pushes-linux-over-mac/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/matthew-wilson/steam-deck-adoption-pushes-linux-over-mac/#respond Mon, 07 Aug 2023 15:24:45 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=625663 It has been about a year and a half since the Steam Deck launched. The Linux-powered PC gaming handheld is consistently a top seller on Steam but until now, Windows and Mac remained as the two most-used operating systems amongst Steam gamers. Now, that has finally changed, with Linux overtaking Mac for the first time.  …

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It has been about a year and a half since the Steam Deck launched. The Linux-powered PC gaming handheld is consistently a top seller on Steam but until now, Windows and Mac remained as the two most-used operating systems amongst Steam gamers. Now, that has finally changed, with Linux overtaking Mac for the first time. 

According to the July 2023 Steam Hardware & Software survey, Linux is now used by 1.96 percent of users on Steam, a 0.52% gain, putting it ahead of Mac, which currently sits at 1.84 percent. Windows of course still dominates, with different versions of the OS accounting for 96.21 percent of all users.

Of all the versions of Linux in use, Arch Linux 64-bit is the most used on Steam. This is the distro that SteamOS is based on, so a good chunk of this recent adoption can be tied directly to Steam Deck sales.

We're still a long way from Linux becoming a dominant platform, but if Valve continues to make the Steam Deck, including upgraded versions in the future, then we may see this momentum continue.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: While there are more powerful PC gaming handhelds at this point, many of them are Windows-based and still need plenty of work on the user experience side of things. Meanwhile, the Steam Deck's Steam browser and general setup offers a better base level for users to jump in. For that reason, I expect the Steam Deck to continue to be the most popular of the handhelds. 

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Steam will ‘likely be able to continue’ to officially support Ubuntu https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/operating-systems/matthew-wilson/steam-will-likely-be-able-to-continue-to-officially-support-ubuntu/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/operating-systems/matthew-wilson/steam-will-likely-be-able-to-continue-to-officially-support-ubuntu/#respond Thu, 27 Jun 2019 09:00:29 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=416593 Earlier this week, Valve raised concerns around Ubuntu and Canonical’s plan to remove 32-bit software support. Valve said that it would need to drop support for the popular Linux distro if this happened and would need to begin recommending something else for users. Since then, Canonical has said that it will change plans and work …

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Earlier this week, Valve raised concerns around Ubuntu and Canonical’s plan to remove 32-bit software support. Valve said that it would need to drop support for the popular Linux distro if this happened and would need to begin recommending something else for users. Since then, Canonical has said that it will change plans and work to support certain 32-bit libraries based on community feedback, which means Valve will “likely be able to” continue supporting the OS.

In an update post on the Steam for Linux discussion board, Valve’s Pierre Loup provided some background on the situation and talked about why dropping 32-bit support would be an issue. While Steam itself could run in pure 64-bit environments, removing 32-bit support entirely would “leave the vast majority of the current Steam library inaccessible” without an additional compatibility layer. Valve has been investigating ways to avoid 32-bit system dependencies within Steam for a while now but if 19.10 released without any 32-bit compatibility, Valve would need to “fully complete such a system in the 19.10 release time frame” and would require “fundamental change in Steam’s runtime environment”. The end result would have been a confusing and messy experience for end users.

“There's a lot more to the technical and non-technical reasons behind our concerns, but the bottom line is that we would have had to drop what we're doing and scramble to support the new scheme in time for 19.10. We weren't confident we could do that without passing some of the churn to our users, and it would not solve the problems for third-party software outside of Steam upon which many of our users rely.”

Canonical will now be including “a selection of 32-bit libraries” with the next Ubuntu update. Valve is “still not particularly excited about the removal of any existing functionality” but does welcome the change in plan, as it will allow them to “continue to work towards improvements in the Steam distribution model without causing new headaches for users” and will likely be able to continue supporting Steam on Ubuntu moving forward.

In the meantime, Valve will be investigating ways to improve Linux compatibility with Steam and its massive library of games and will hopefully be able to work around 32-bit dependencies in the future as more software makers start to phase out support.

KitGuru Says: Steam has been recommending Ubuntu to those looking to move to Linux for some time now and has taken huge strides in improving game compatibility. Dropping 32-bit would have scrambled Valve’s Linux efforts somewhat, so it is good to see that a compromise was able to be made. Steam support on Ubuntu will continue and hopefully next time, there will be features in place to keep Steam games ticking on a pure 64-bit version of Linux.

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Valve is looking for a new Linux distro to support as Ubuntu plans to drop 32-bit https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/operating-systems/matthew-wilson/valve-is-looking-for-a-new-linux-distro-to-support-as-ubuntu-plans-to-drop-32-bit/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/operating-systems/matthew-wilson/valve-is-looking-for-a-new-linux-distro-to-support-as-ubuntu-plans-to-drop-32-bit/#respond Tue, 25 Jun 2019 08:21:43 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=416446 For a long time now, Valve has been a bastion for PC gaming on Linux. While news on SteamOS seems to have slowed down to a crawl, in the last year Valve has released Proton, a compatibility tool that allows thousands of games to run on Linux without official support for the developers. Unfortunately, Valve …

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For a long time now, Valve has been a bastion for PC gaming on Linux. While news on SteamOS seems to have slowed down to a crawl, in the last year Valve has released Proton, a compatibility tool that allows thousands of games to run on Linux without official support for the developers. Unfortunately, Valve is going to be dropping Steam support for one of the more popular Linux distros, as Ubuntu will no longer support 32-bit software.

Many games found on Steam were released in 32-bit, including Valve’s own classic titles. From version 19.10 onwards, Ubuntu will no longer support 32-bit software, which puts Valve in an awkward position. As a result, Valve will no longer be recommending Ubuntu to Steam users and will find a new distro to focus its efforts on.

Canonical Group, the company that develops Ubuntu, has seen the level of concern, particularly from the Linux gaming community. In a statement, the group said that it will “build selected 32-bit i386 packages” for Ubuntu’s next update and “will work with WINE, Ubuntu Studio and gaming communities to use container technology to address the ultimate end of life of 32-bit libraries”.

In the meantime, it looks like Valve will continue to be finding a new Linux distro to begin recommending to users for the long-term. Perhaps even SteamOS could see some form of a comeback.

KitGuru Says: Valve has been very focused on making Linux a better OS for gaming and with Ubuntu being the most popular distro, something like this could have an adverse effect. Hopefully everyone involved will be able to work things out, it does seem like the team behind Ubuntu is open to making some changes.

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Someone has managed to get an original Xbox emulator running on Nintendo Switch https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/matthew-wilson/someone-has-managed-to-get-an-original-xbox-emulator-running-on-nintendo-switch/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/matthew-wilson/someone-has-managed-to-get-an-original-xbox-emulator-running-on-nintendo-switch/#respond Tue, 07 May 2019 09:00:16 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=412435 Console modders and tinkerers have been working on finding exploits on the Nintendo Switch since the console first launched. An initial Switch browser flaw granted deeper access to the console immediately after launch and eventually, homebrew software was made possible. Now, we are starting to see some interesting results coming out of that, with one …

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Console modders and tinkerers have been working on finding exploits on the Nintendo Switch since the console first launched. An initial Switch browser flaw granted deeper access to the console immediately after launch and eventually, homebrew software was made possible. Now, we are starting to see some interesting results coming out of that, with one person getting an original Xbox emulator running on the Switch.

Voxel9 recently posted a YouTube video showing off a modded Nintendo Switch with Linux installed on it. From there, they were able to get the XQEMU original Xbox emulator running and loaded up games like Halo: Combat Evolved and Jet Set Radio Future.

Original Xbox emulators have always been tricky to get running smoothly and that is no different here, with frame rates for Halo and Jet Set Radio being very low and footage looking choppy. Still, this is another cool look at what people are able to do with the Switch and I imagine more emulators will start catering to the Switch over time, particularly since Nintendo has opted to not include Virtual Console on the Switch for older games.

KitGuru Says: This has less to do with piracy and more to do with just seeing what the Switch is capable of when given the freedom to install whatever you want. It is a cool area to explore, although I imagine someone at Nintendo is scratching their heads right now trying to figure out a way to shut this down. How many of you own a Nintendo Switch? Have any of you played around with it at all by installing Linux or custom firmware? 

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Canonical drops Ubuntu phones, tablets. The future is in the Cloud https://www.kitguru.net/tech-news/paul-taylor/canonical-drops-ubuntu-phones-tablets-the-future-is-in-the-cloud/ https://www.kitguru.net/tech-news/paul-taylor/canonical-drops-ubuntu-phones-tablets-the-future-is-in-the-cloud/#comments Thu, 06 Apr 2017 19:34:26 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=329149 Mark Shuttleworth, CEO of Canonical, introspectively announced on the Ubuntu insights blog that his company is facing a change of direction, despite highlighting how great a quarter the company has just had. Six years after adopting Ubuntu Unity (not to be confused with the open-source graphics engine), the project that proposed a single graphical shell …

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Mark Shuttleworth, CEO of Canonical, introspectively announced on the Ubuntu insights blog that his company is facing a change of direction, despite highlighting how great a quarter the company has just had.

Six years after adopting Ubuntu Unity (not to be confused with the open-source graphics engine), the project that proposed a single graphical shell for all Ubuntu platforms – from smartphone to server – has come to an end. The company has announced it will be turning back the clock and reverting to GNOME starting April 2018 (Ubuntu 18.04 LTS). As of right now Unity (8) investment has stopped, with the company now refocusing on IoT, Desktop, Server and Cloud environments, more suited to Ubuntu’s user ecosystem and growth plan.

Where “phone & convergence” were the order of the day, Canonical will now refocus on IoT and Cloud. This could already be clearly felt at Mobile World Congress this year.

Apart from a sigh of relief by many GNOME fans and developers, Shuttleworth, in a very personal and quasi-apologetic tone for a CEO, underlined that the change in path is dictated by market forces and that he held Unity as a very personal project.

“This has been, personally, a very difficult decision, because of the force of my conviction in the convergence future, and my personal engagement with the people and the product, both of which are amazing. We feel like a family, but this choice is shaped by commercial constraints, and those two are hard to reconcile.”

KitGuru Says: Unity, despite its lengthy development, did not achieve the “convergence” it claimed – much like Microsoft’s Continuum has not taken off. Confronted with the reality of things, Ubuntu faced an uphill battle against iOS and Android in the smartphone/tablet arena, and with hints that Microsoft would soon be joining the fray with Windows on ARM, then the market was just too crowded. 

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Aquaris E4.5 will be the first Ubuntu phone to market https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/brendan-morgan/aquaris-e4-5-will-be-the-first-ubuntu-phone-to-market/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/brendan-morgan/aquaris-e4-5-will-be-the-first-ubuntu-phone-to-market/#comments Fri, 06 Feb 2015 19:48:52 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=234510 Spanish mobile phone manufacturer BQ will soon be selling the first Ubuntu smartphone on the market, the Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition. Almost the same as the regular Aquaris E4.5 that runs Android, the Ubuntu version of the phone will cost €170 (about $190), but in a strange move, at first it will only be available to buy in several flash …

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Spanish mobile phone manufacturer BQ will soon be selling the first Ubuntu smartphone on the market, the Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition. Almost the same as the regular Aquaris E4.5 that runs Android, the Ubuntu version of the phone will cost €170 (about $190), but in a strange move, at first it will only be available to buy in several flash sales over the next few weeks that will be announced on Twitter and Facebook by Canonical.

It is hardly a flagship phone, but the BQ device is packing a MediaTek Quad Core Cortex A7 processor running at up to 1.3 GHz, 1GB RAM, 8GB of on-board NAND storage, dual SIM support and a qHD 540×960 screen. This makes it decidedly average in a world full of similarly specd Android phones and because of this the operating system inside will really have to shine to make this worth a try.
Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition
Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu and the Ubuntu mobile OS have released a short video, giving an overview of how the OS works and you can see this below. One of the main features of the mobile OS are “Scopes”, which essentially seem to be customisable, categorized home pages, rather than just having rows and rows of apps à la iOS. Unfortunately there is no sign of one of the originally announced features, that let you connect your phone to your monitor and run desktop Ubuntu.[yframe url='https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TShKZLeZzWE']

Jane Silber, CEO of Canonical said “The launch of the first Ubuntu smartphones is a significant milestone.  The new experience we deliver for users, as well as the opportunities for differentiation for manufacturers and operators, are a compelling and much-needed change from what is available today.” But is a reasonably priced mid range phone with a totally new operating system really the “compelling and much-needed change” we need?

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: I cannot imagine this phone having much impact on the market at all and I'm pretty sure it will fall quite far from a “compelling and much-needed change” when I think most people are pretty happy with their mobile OS of choice these days. I imagine this will probably be in the same boat as Firefox OS.

Source: Ubuntu
Via: ArsTechnica

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Netflix finally works on Linux https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/matthew-wilson/netflix-finally-works-on-linux/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/matthew-wilson/netflix-finally-works-on-linux/#comments Mon, 13 Oct 2014 12:34:16 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=216311 Netflix streaming is finally working natively on Linux, without the need to trick the website in to thinking that you're actually running a different OS. Streaming via Google's Chrome browser is currently working on a few distros including Ubuntu, Fedora and the Ubuntu-based Mint. More distros are expected to be supported over time. Why will …

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Netflix streaming is finally working natively on Linux, without the need to trick the website in to thinking that you're actually running a different OS. Streaming via Google's Chrome browser is currently working on a few distros including Ubuntu, Fedora and the Ubuntu-based Mint. More distros are expected to be supported over time.

Why will Netflix only run in the Chrome browser? Because the whole thing apparently relies on the Network Security Services library, which is currently only available in the latest build of Chrome for Ubuntu. Other browsers are expected to follow suit but for now users are bound to Google's browser and a select few Linux Distros in order to get their streaming fix.

1279-netflix-netflix-logo

Chrome version 37 is available to all Ubuntu users with up to date installations of the distro, 12.04 LTS, 14.04 LTS or later. Since the launch of Netflix, Linux users have had to use user agent spoofing techniques in order to stream shows but that will soon be unnecessary for most distro users.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Overall support for Linux in all areas seems to be ramping up a little bit recently. Do any of you guys use Linux? Have you managed to get Netflix working on the OS in the past?

Source: Ubuntu Insights

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Nvidia ships Tegra K1. This time only to software developers https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/anton-shilov/nvidia-ships-tegra-k1-this-time-only-to-software-developers/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/anton-shilov/nvidia-ships-tegra-k1-this-time-only-to-software-developers/#respond Fri, 02 May 2014 09:27:25 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=190743 Nvidia Corp. on Thursday said that it had started volume shipments of its Jetson TK1 development kits, which are based on the company’s highly-anticipated Tegra K1 system-on-chip with four ARM Cortex-A15 cores, Nvidia Kepler-based graphics and a variety of other hardware. The development kit is aimed at designers of software for embedded applications. Nowadays programs …

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Nvidia Corp. on Thursday said that it had started volume shipments of its Jetson TK1 development kits, which are based on the company’s highly-anticipated Tegra K1 system-on-chip with four ARM Cortex-A15 cores, Nvidia Kepler-based graphics and a variety of other hardware. The development kit is aimed at designers of software for embedded applications.

Nowadays programs for mobile and embedded apps rely on general-purpose cores (e.g., ARMv7/ARMv8, Intel x86, AMD x86) when performing general-purpose computations. However, many PC applications these days perform highly-parallel GP computations on graphics processing units compatible with application programming interfaces like OpenCL. In the future it will be possible to use mobile GPUs (such as the Kepler core inside the Tegra K1) to perform general-purpose computations as well. The Jetson TK1 is aimed at developers of GPU-accelerated embedded applications, bringing significant parallel processing performance and exceptional power efficiency to embedded applications.

nvidia_tegra_k1_scheme

The Jetson TK1 development kit is a 5” wide by 5” long printed circuit board with a Tegra K1 application processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of on-board NAND flash storage and numerous peripherals and input/output ports. The Jetson K1 is capable of supporting multiple cameras through a variety of interfaces, including USB 3.0, Gigabit Ethernet, PCI Express x1 slot. In addition, the CSI 1×4 and 1×1 buses are available through the expansion port and can be used to feed camera images directly into the image signal processor (ISP) on Tegra K1 (bypassing memory), for direct image processing. Up to four cameras cab be used for various computer vision applications.

nvidia_jetson_tk1_devkit

The Jetson TK1 development kit runs Linux for Tegra (L4T), a modified Ubuntu 14.04 Linux distribution provided by Nvidia. The software package supplied with the devkit includes the board support package (BSP) and the software stack that includes CUDA 6 Toolkit, OpenGL 4.4 drivers and the Nvidia VisionWorks Toolkit.

Nvidia hopes that the kit will be used to develop robotics, medicine, security, automotive, and defense applications, among others. Theoretically, at least some GPU-accelerated PC apps could be ported to systems powered by Tegra K1.

Keeping in mind that the development kit is powered by proprietary software, it is hardly possible to create true commercial applications based solely on the Jetson TK1. However, the kit should be sufficient for various experiments.

The Jetson TK1 development kit is available via NewEgg and Microcenter for $192.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: The fact that Nvidia ships Tegra K1-based development kits via etailers means that the company has enough system-on-chips, which indicates that the mass production of the quad-core ARM Cortex-A15-based version of the SoC has been initiated and the chips are at Nvidia’s hands. Now, it remains to be seen when consumer devices featuring the new system-on-chips arrive to the market…

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Canonical CEO: Apple ‘snapped up’ all the sapphire screens! https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/apple/anton-shilov/canonical-ceo-apple-snapped-up-all-the-sapphire-screens/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/apple/anton-shilov/canonical-ceo-apple-snapped-up-all-the-sapphire-screens/#comments Thu, 20 Feb 2014 23:55:17 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=178331 Chief executive officer of Canonical, the maker of Ubuntu operating system, confirmed at a meeting that Apple had acquired boat load of sapphire glass made by GT Advanced. He complained that last year Canonical intended to use sapphire glass for one of the first premium Ubuntu-based smartphones called Edge, but now it is impossible. “Apple …

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Chief executive officer of Canonical, the maker of Ubuntu operating system, confirmed at a meeting that Apple had acquired boat load of sapphire glass made by GT Advanced. He complained that last year Canonical intended to use sapphire glass for one of the first premium Ubuntu-based smartphones called Edge, but now it is impossible.

“Apple just snapped up three years’ worth of the supply of sapphire screens from the company that we had engaged to make the screens for the Edge,” said Mark Shuttleworth, chief executive of Canonical, during a conference call, reports Cnet News.

In general, Mr. Shuttleworth confirmed Apple’s plans to widely use the sapphire crystal glass produced by GT Advanced later this year.

Earlier this month it was reported that GT advanced Technologies, a Mesa, Arizona-based company producing advanced materials and innovative crystal growth equipment for electronics, solar and LED industries, has either ordered or acquired a significant amount of equipment used to manufacture sapphire-crystal glass. The tools that are already installed and which will be installed later this year are expected to be capable of producing s many as 187 million to 210 million 5” display covers a year.

apple_iphone_5_1

It was also reported that Apple last year signed a deal with GT Advanced under which the latter will be unable to produce sapphire crystal glass for other makers of consumer electronics (CE). As a result, Apple will get an exclusive advantage over other makers of smartphones, provided that it uses the sapphire covers for its iPhone devices. As a consequence, Canonical will be unable to use the crystal glass for the Edge smartphone.

At present Apple uses artificial sapphire-crystal glass for its touch ID fingerprint scanners and iSight cameras on its iPhone smartphones. The sapphire-crystal class has been used for decades for various consumer and industrial devices, including watches, luxurious mobile phones and multiple other types of products. Sapphire glass is considerably more rugged than traditional glass and is even tougher than Corning’s Gorilla Glass substrates. Regrettably, up to recently sapphire glass was much more expensive. According to analyst Matt Margolis, GT Advanced has managed to reduce the cost of their sapphire cover screens from $13 – $18 each to around $3 – $5 per screen (Gorilla Glass costs around $3).

KitGuru Says: We can now be completely confident that Apple will use the sapphire glass in large quantities. The only thing that remains to be unconfirmed is whether the glass will be used for the iPhone or something else.

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Bq and Meizu to release smartphones based on Ubuntu https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/anton-shilov/bq-and-meizu-to-release-smartphones-based-on-ubuntu/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/anton-shilov/bq-and-meizu-to-release-smartphones-based-on-ubuntu/#comments Thu, 20 Feb 2014 21:28:03 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=178250 Canonical, the developer of Ubuntu Linux operating system and mobile platform, has announced that Bq and Meizu, handset vendors from Spain and China, will use Ubuntu for their upcoming smartphones. The devices will be available later this year and at present not a lot of information is known about them. The main idea behind Canonical’s …

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Canonical, the developer of Ubuntu Linux operating system and mobile platform, has announced that Bq and Meizu, handset vendors from Spain and China, will use Ubuntu for their upcoming smartphones. The devices will be available later this year and at present not a lot of information is known about them.

The main idea behind Canonical’s Ubuntu platform is to provide unified experience across the whole continuum of devices: from TVs to PCs, to tablets, to smartphones. The icon-based graphics user interface looks consistent on all types of computing devices, but can be customized by manufacturers and operators to better suite the needs of their customers. According to Ubuntu, a common UI toolkit gives devices their own unique footprint and without fragmenting the platform.

canonical_ubuntu_devices

Canonical first introduced its Ubuntu Touch version of its OS for mobile devices early in 2013. According to Wikipedia, the GUI of the operating system is very similar to Apple iOS and Google Android, but has a number of differences: from the Welcome screen, the user could swipe to any of the four directions: up for notifications, left for the app menu, swipe from the right to launch the previous app, and swipe from the bottom to display the operations menu. According to reports, Ubuntu for tablets worked “fine” on the first-gen Google Nexus 7 (Nvidia Tegra 3 with four ARM Cortex-A9) and Google Nexus 10 (Samsung Exynos 5250 with two ARM Cortex-A15). The Ubuntu operating system for smartphones can be downloaded from the company’s web-site.

canonical_ubuntu_smartphones_1

Nothing particular is known about smartphones from Bq and Meizu, which will be available globally from online stores. The only thing that Canonical has revealed so far is that development programmes had begun with the partners to provide smartphones “with a superior user experience on mid to high end hardware for consumers around the world”.
“Ubuntu’s intuitive and visually stunning user interface aligns with our own ethos of producing simple, innovative mobile experiences,” said Li Nan, Meizu’s vice president of sales and marketing. “This partnership gives us an opportunity to develop a truly different and compelling offering that will support our strategy to deliver devices to both China as well as internationally.”

Carriers and industry players that Canonical has engaged with have also shown their support for Ubuntu and an alternative operating system for the mobile market. To date, Ubuntu’s carrier advisory group has 16 members including Vodafone, EE, T-Mobile USA, Three Group, Deutsche Telekom, Verizon, Telstra and Portugal Telecom. Canonical is also working with a breadth of ISV partners, including The Weather Channel, GrooveShark, Evernote and more, to bring applications and services to Ubuntu.

KitGuru Says: While the support for Ubuntu mobile OS seems to be growing, it should be noted that many big companies support virtually all market players who have any chance to become popular even on niche markets. Actual plans of hardware makers show different picture: Ubuntu will only be used by Bq and Meizu, which barely have any significant market share. None of the network carriers have adopted Ubuntu for custom smartphones which could be made by contract manufacturers. Moreover, there are no TVs or tablets based on Ubuntu, whereas laptops featuring the OS are rare. Without a family of devices on the market, Ubuntu OS just becomes considerably less competitive compared to Apple iOS/Mac OS X, Google Android/ChromeOS and Microsoft Windows.

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Sol solar powered Ubuntu laptop coming this year https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/laptops/jon-martindale/sol-solar-powered-ubuntu-laptop-coming-this-year/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/laptops/jon-martindale/sol-solar-powered-ubuntu-laptop-coming-this-year/#respond Tue, 17 Sep 2013 10:30:34 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=152803 While companies like Intel might be hammering away at improving the efficiency of components while maintaining performance, we're not quite at a stage yet where mobile electronics like laptops are able to sustain their operating life between charges much over 10 hours, if that. However, that doesn't matter so much if you can charge it …

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While companies like Intel might be hammering away at improving the efficiency of components while maintaining performance, we're not quite at a stage yet where mobile electronics like laptops are able to sustain their operating life between charges much over 10 hours, if that. However, that doesn't matter so much if you can charge it wherever you are, freely, thanks to the power of the sun.

Enter Sol, the Ubuntu powered, economical and somewhat powerful laptop, that comes packing giant solar panels, letting you charge up while using it, at no cost to you whatsoever and with no reliance on a power socket. Of course, you'll need a bit of direct sunlight to be getting on with – so this isn't the ideal basement computer solution – but it's perfect for taking places where you'll be far from power.

sol
You'll need some space, but there's a lot of it on top of a mountain

Internally, those solar rays will be powering an Intel Atom D2500 running at 1.86GHz, an onboard Intel GMA3600 (this isn't going to play any GPU hungry modern games, but older ones should be doable at low resolutions), a 320GB Seagate HDD and 2-4GB of DDR3 memory. Externally, the Sol features a 13.3″ LCD screen running at 1366 x 768, a 3MP camera, built in speakers are microphone running off of the Realtek ALC661 HD audio chip, three USB 2.0 slots and a card reader.

It also supports 3G and 5G connections, can hook up to to b/g/n wireless signals, identify its location using GPS or hook up to other devices over bluetooth.

There's even five different colours to choose from:

colours
Which would you go for?

On top of its affordable $350 (£220) asking price, the Sol comes with the Ubuntu Linux distro loaded as standard, so you don't even need to pay for an operating system. While this might not be ideal for everyone, it keeps costs down and functionality high.

There is a more expensive version, which depending on where you are could be between $50 and $100 more. It's known as the Sol Marine and along with the solar panels and all other standard features, it adds water proofing, making it submersible. Both models however aren't available yet, being listed on the official site as “coming soon.” We're assured however, that they will be buyable by the end of the year.

KitGuru Says: An impressive piece of kit. The solar panels look fairly large when folded out, but this isn't the kind of notebook you'll be whipping out in the office. This is for sending emails while on top of a mountain.

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Ubuntu forums are attacked, down for now https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/ubuntu-forums-are-attacked-down-for-now/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/ubuntu-forums-are-attacked-down-for-now/#respond Tue, 23 Jul 2013 10:07:25 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=143594 The official Ubuntu forums have been down for a few days now, with the homepage simply showing a notice that they've been deliberately taken down to deal with a security issue. But worse than that, passwords, usernames and  email addresses have all been stolen. “There has been a security breach on the Ubuntu Forums. The …

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The official Ubuntu forums have been down for a few days now, with the homepage simply showing a notice that they've been deliberately taken down to deal with a security issue. But worse than that, passwords, usernames and  email addresses have all been stolen.

“There has been a security breach on the Ubuntu Forums. The Canonical IS team is working hard as we speak to restore normal operations. This page will be updated with progress reports,” reads the top notice on the site. Underneath however, is the bad news: all personal information from people's accounts has been stolen. The good news however, is that the passwords were not stored in plain text, but in salted hashes.

Despite this, it's probably a good idea to change your password when the forums come back and anywhere else where you might have used the same one.
ubuntu

The only other information on the page currently, is a progress report, breaking down what's happened and the current situation on the site's return. The first defacement was noticed on the 20th of this month, leading to the take down of the forums later that day. As it stands, the team behind the running of the forums is reinstalling everything to clean out any backdoors, though no posts or private messages will be lost as part of the revamp.

No time frame is given for the site's return, but anyone wanting to discuss Ubuntu in the mean time, is being directed to the subreddit.

KitGuru Says: Change your passwords people. In situations like this, always be changing

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China loves Linux https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/operating-systems/jon-martindale/china-loves-linux/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/operating-systems/jon-martindale/china-loves-linux/#comments Mon, 25 Mar 2013 11:49:36 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=129339 While you would think that China, with its restrictive web and seeming dislike of personal freedoms, would be all about locked down operating systems, it's not. In fact, it's such a fan of Linux, that the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, is teaming up with British firm Canonical, to develop a version of …

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While you would think that China, with its restrictive web and seeming dislike of personal freedoms, would be all about locked down operating systems, it's not. In fact, it's such a fan of Linux, that the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, is teaming up with British firm Canonical, to develop a version of Linux, specifically for China.

Known as Kylin, the distro will support Chinese characters and will link up with Chinese web services, for banking, music streaming and local mapping. It's suggested by Wired that Kylin will be launched in April this year.

Red Flag
Red Flag Linux's logo looks very patriotic

There are several reasons that China is gaga for Linux though. It's had an open source “Software Promotion Union” since 2004, which has Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth as an advisor of the group, as well as Tim Yeaton, CEO of open source management at Black Duck Software.

Of course China has had its own version of Linux known as “Red Flag” since 2011 and has been promoting open source software as part of government operations for quite a few years, but Kylin could take it to a new level.

Perhaps with its love of copying, Chinese authorities simply prefer something they can use freely without Microsoft attempting to stick its nose in – and without paying large licensing fees.

KitGuru Says: Anything that advances open software usage within China has got to be a good thing. While a lot of the country's citizens know how to get around government surveillance and blockages, the more open source is promoted, it feels like China itself is becoming more open – something that can only be good for the East/West global economic rivalry that's been brewing for the past decade or two.

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Ubuntu to replace Firefox with Chrome https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/operating-systems/raymond-daily/ubuntu-to-replace-firefox-with-chrome/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/operating-systems/raymond-daily/ubuntu-to-replace-firefox-with-chrome/#respond Tue, 14 Jun 2011 08:42:56 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=49201 Firefox has long been the browser of choice for Ubuntu, but Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth told Network World that he is a big fan of Google's Chrome. The interesting news is that Canonical may replace Firefox with Chrome as the default browser in the operating system. The indication was that it may already have replaced …

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Firefox has long been the browser of choice for Ubuntu, but Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth told Network World that he is a big fan of Google's Chrome. The interesting news is that Canonical may replace Firefox with Chrome as the default browser in the operating system.

The indication was that it may already have replaced Firefox in the current release, but the company decided to stick with Firefox in 11.10. Chrome wont replace Firefox in 12.04 either, due out in April 2012 because that is the long term support version meaning that nothing major is replaced.

He added that Chrome is improving thanks to Google's focus on the Chrome operating system, which is having the knock on effect of enhancing the code for the Linux version of Chrome browser. Many say that Chrome actually is the best browser for Linux and that the version for this platform is better than the Windows version.

If Firefox was to be replaced as the default browser it would be a good moral boost for the team behind the Chrome browser and could improve the market percentages over the coming years, always a key focus for the companies involved.

KitGuru says: Chrome or Firefox, what do you think?

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Dell ditch online Ubuntu sales https://www.kitguru.net/desktop-pc/zardon/dell-ditch-online-ubuntu-sales/ https://www.kitguru.net/desktop-pc/zardon/dell-ditch-online-ubuntu-sales/#comments Mon, 26 Jul 2010 15:10:16 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=9399 Dell have stopped selling laptop and desktop machines with Ubuntu preinstalled, but they say they aren't ditching the OS completely as its going to be offered via phone sales. Dell spoke to PC Pro, and a spokesman said “we are currently making some changes to our Ubuntu pages, and as a result, they [the systems] …

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Dell have stopped selling laptop and desktop machines with Ubuntu preinstalled, but they say they aren't ditching the OS completely as its going to be offered via phone sales.

Dell spoke to PC Pro, and a spokesman said “we are currently making some changes to our Ubuntu pages, and as a result, they [the systems] are available through our phone-based sales only.” He also followed up with “the reason why they're not on our main pages is because Ubuntu systems are primarily targeted towards advanced users and enthusiasts, and the vast majority of consumers purchase PCs with Microsoft Windows pre-installed.”

PCMag have an interesting take on this story and they say that Dell have stated that users who ‘do not plan to use Microsoft Windows are moreinterested in open source programming'. Which seems like a rather foolish statement to make especially as there are around 12 million people worldwide running the operating system already.

KitGuru says: Dell making a good move or a bad move? Have you tried Ubuntu, rate it?

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