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Posts in 2008 February
Ubuntu Brainstorm: The Perfect Combination of Open-Source and Democracy
Today Ubuntu announced something that I have thought they should do for a while and it is called Ubuntu Brainstorm. Brainstorm is essentially Dell’s IdeaStorm for Ubuntu. If you are not familiar with how IdeaStorm works, the basic idea is that customers/users submit ideas and other customers/users comment on them and vote them up or down. IdeaStorm has been sucessful in bringing a number of changes to Dell products, including adding Ubuntu as a pre-installed option, so if it worked that well for a big company, chances are it will work even better for an open-source project.
While open-source is always about the users contributing to the project, there has never been a great way for an average, non-technical user to share their ideas with the community, until now. Brainstorm will hopefully become a place where Ubuntu developers can see what users want and work to implement those features. I could go on to talk about how great this idea is for a long time, but instead I am going to talk about two features of Brainstorm that can help make it not just another way of gathering feedback, but the central place for feedback and new ideas.
First is the ability to “attach” a forum thread, Bugzilla bug, or Launchpad blueprint that is related to the same idea. This makes Brainstorm a place for all the information about a particular feature to be collected and also makes it easy to migrate future features that were being discussed elsewhere into Brainstorm.
The second feature is the ability to add a button to a website that promotes a particular idea. For example, if I think a particular idea is good and I want to promote it on my site, I can put something like this up:
How can this help make Brainstorm the central place for new ideas? This allows people to tie other discussion or talk about a feature back to Brainstorm.
Because of this easy way of connecting Brainstorm to other resources and of connecting other resources to Brainstorm, Brainstorm really has a chance to become the perfect central site for charting future directions for Ubuntu. Sure you could do all this manually, but these features just make it easier and smoother.
Microsoft Sucks Up to the EU, EU Gives Microsoft a $1.35 Billion Fine to Suck On
Earlier this week Microsoft promised to be friendlier towards open-source software in what was basically an attempt to suck up to the EU, however, in a recent development, it turns out that the EU was not done bashing Microsoft over the head for all the stuff they did in the past. To resolve this situation, the EU has issued a big fat bill for $1.35 billion (many times more than previous fines) to cover all the stuff they never got a chance to investigate. With this settled, the EU will be able to focus on investigating Microsoft for whatever they think of next.
OK, the EU is not really just giving Microsoft a bill for all the stuff they never got to investigate, but, according to Reuters, they did just fine Microsoft a record amount just days after Microsoft issued a press release presumably intended to suck up to the EU. The Reuters article says the real reason for the fine is ”using high prices to discourage software competition.” Although I cannot claim to understand it entirely, I gather this specific case has to do with not making interoperability information avaliable enough or cheap enough and thus discoraging competition. Of course it could just be the EU wants their money before Microsoft goes broke buying Yahoo.
Canonical is showing off their new Ubuntu Mobile, a version of Ubuntu designed for UMPCs. The first stable release is expected at the same time as Hardy Heron and I could not make the beta work, so I have not tried it out, but from the information on the Ubuntu website, I think this has a good chance of being the iPhone of UMPC operating systems. (In a good way, I mean. iPhone minus being completely locked down and closed-source.)
What I mean by that is that Ubuntu Mobile has what looks like a very pretty, impressive, and intuitive interface, similar to the iPhone. Additionally, another goal is to make Ubuntu Mobile customizable so each OEM can put their own interface on it if they want to suit the goals of their particular device. (More info.) As a demonstration of how this slick interface might help Ubuntu Mobile and the UMPCs that use it out, imagine this: A non-tech savvy user walks into a store and ends up looking at the UMPCs. Assuming all the hardware is the same, the customer will see three choices. First he will see an Eee PC-like interface. It works, but it is not the prettiest thing ever. Than he sees a Vista desktop compressed onto a small screen. It looks familiar, but not particularly easy to use on such a small device. Finally he sees Ubuntu Mobile. It looks slick and easy to use. In other words, faced against an Eee PC-like interface and Vista, Ubuntu Mobile is the clear winner in looks and apparent ease of use.
Of course, that assumes that all the hardware is the same, so I guess we need some prettier Linux UMPC hardware… (Image)
Below are some screenshots from the Ubuntu website:
It seems as though every single week a new inexpensive UMPC that runs Linux comes out and this week is no exception. Although it has not been officially announced, CLUMPC is reporting that HP is set to announce a new UMPC with a choice of either Vista ($650) or Linux ($500) and a fairly high resolution 8.9″ screen. Right now this is technically a rumor so the specs may not be just right, but both UMPC Portal and Engadget seem to think it is real. As I said before, there seems to be a new UMPC every week, but I have a feeling this is going to be a more important UMPC than some of the others we have been seeing. Here are my reasons:
- This UMPC could finally bring Linux into real, physical stores. Companies like Dell don’t have much of an in store presence, but HP does. This bodes well for Linux getting noticed by consumers.
- HP is the number one seller of computers. That means that now the top two computer manufacturers, Dell and HP, are selling Linux. Also, HP has a much larger share of the consumer market than Dell, so an HP machine will get noticed by consumers to a much greater extent than Dell’s current offerings.
- There seem to be two classes of UMPCs, the super cheap $400 ones and the super expensive $2000 ones, but this UMPC is more in the middle. It is still cheap at $500 for the Linux version, but it looks like it will have some more premium features, such as a larger high resolution screen and an almost full keyboard.
- This UMPC will let us see if consumers choose the Linux version or pay the extra $150 for Vista, assuming both get equal promotion.
Overall I think this is going to be a very interesting UMPC to watch.
A Simple Feature of Ubuntu 8.04 That Could Be So Important
Imagine trying to expose a large number of people (people you might not know personally) to Ubuntu all at once. The logical thing to do is, of course, give them a CD. So what are they going to do with that CD? Well, almost no matter what you say or do, many of them will put the CD in the drive on their Windows computer and see what happens. When they put the CD for the current Ubuntu in, a screen will come up with an Ubuntu logo, a screenshot, and a sentence of text that says to reboot your computer to try it out without changing anything. So what next? One of two things happens. Some people will just close the window and throw out the CD and others will try rebooting. Those people that do reboot will experience Ubuntu, but it will be a slow Ubuntu where you can’t save anything to your hard drive. In other words, if you sent a current Ubuntu CD to 100 random people, you would be lucky to end up with one of them installing it.
With the upcoming release of Ubuntu, 8.04, all that (or some of it) will change. Starting with Alpha 5, this is what you will see when you put the CD in your Windows PC. “Install inside Windows” is a much friendlier option than restart your computer to try it out and installing a program is something that most Windows users can do without help. (FYI this feature makes use of Wubi, a program that lets you install Ubuntu automatically from Windows without partitioning.) While you will never get 100 out of 100 people to install it, with Ubuntu 8.04 it will certainly be a lot more likely for you to get, say, 10 or 20 out of 100.
This seemingly small feature of Ubuntu 8.04 could, in fact, make a surprising difference in how fast Ubuntu spreads.
In a previous article I looked at some existing Linux compatibility sites and concluded that all of them failed to meet my “Checklist for the Perfect Site” not because of the information on them, but because of an inadequate ability to search through the information. What most of the existing sites excel at is locating information for a specific product, but what if you want to know what is the most compatible product? Two of the three sites I looked at do that, but only one of them does both searching for a specific product and searching for the best product. It gets even worse if you want to search by the features. None of the sites I found can do that. So what if you want to find a printer that prints in color and costs less than $100? You’re out of luck.
Based on this, here are the three ways I previously concluded a perfect site must be able to search:
- By specific product names – This is the most obvious and is done well by most site. This would be useful to someone who is having trouble with a particular product or is looking at buying a specific product.
- By best compatibility – This is done by some sites, but not all. Although searching by the specific product is good if you already know what you want to buy, if you don’t yet know what you want to get, finding the device with the best compatibility could help you decide.
- By the features of each product – This is where every site I looked at fails. This feature comes in use when you want something specific, but don’t know exactly what product to buy. For example, suppose I wanted a black and white laser printer that had wireless networking. I could search for every single printer that fit those criteria or I could look at all the compatible printers and check each for the features I wanted, but both those approaches would take forever.
(If you can think of other useful searches, please leave a comment.)
Only one of the sites I looked at could do two of these and none could do all of them.
Clearly there is a need for a better Linux compatibility site, but what would this site be exactly?
Based on my previous findings, there is no need to collect new information, so a perfect site would be something like a search engine for the existing sites, but it would also have to have some basic information in its own database to enable flexible searching.
The sites database would have to include an entry for each product with the features and price of the product, a yes, no, or maybe ranking on the Linux compatibility of the product, and links to sites with more information on how well the product works with Linux. If all this information were made searchable, you would have a very useful Linux compatibility site.
The remaining question is how to get the information into this database and how to technically implement the site, but I will save that for a later article. Again, if you have suggestions, feel free to leave a comment.
EU Not Impressed By Microsoft's Words, Wants Action
The EU seems to think Red Hat got it right on Microsoft’s press release (which was about interoperability, read more here) yesterday. According to Linux Insider, the EU has said that, while they would appreciate “any move towards genuine interoperability,” they have seen similar statements from Microsoft in the past and they will not be impressed until Microsoft really does something. Additionally, the EU stated that Microsoft’s recent action “does not relate to the question of whether or not Microsoft has been complying with EU antitrust rules in this area in the past.”
That is a lot of bad news for Microsoft, which was presumably hoping to get the EU off their backs with their recent press release. It looks like the EU will not go easy on Microsoft in their current investigations no matter what and unless Microsoft really does what they said they would, it looks like the EU will continue to keep the pressure on Microsoft.
The real question now is what Microsoft will do next. There are basically two options for Microsoft, really do what they said or deal with the EU in some other way. Or else they could just send some expensive laptops the way of the EU courts… 
Microsoft Pledges to be Open-Source Friendly, Red Hat is Skeptical
Earlier today Microsoft announced plans to increase interoperability and be more friendly to open-source software, but, as Red Hat points out, it is just a press release and does not guarantee that everything they say will happen will happen soon, or ever. After years of pressure from the European Union (EU), Microsoft has announced that they will not sue non-commercial open-source developers, make efforts to improve interoperability, and publish APIs for many of their products meaning, for example, that plugins for additional formats in Office could be added.
All of this sounds great, but as Red Hat’s responce to Microsoft’s statement points out, “we’ve heard similar announcements before, almost always strategically timed for other effect. Red Hat regards this most recent announcement with a healthy dose of skepticism.” Although I would like to think Microsoft was truly planning on being more friendly to open-source software, I just cannot help thinking that Red Hat is right. Until Microsoft really does what they say they will do, it is just a publicity stunt to get the EU off their backs. I just hope they really do follow through.
Ubuntu Intrepid Ibex Goals Include Better Wireless Support
Although Ubuntu Hardy Heron is still not expected for around two more months, Mark Shuttleworth has already announced the name and the basic goals of the version of Ubuntu after Hardy – Intrepid Ibex. The goals outlined so far are very broad and it will still be a long time before a full feature list will be worked out, but it is still interesting to get an idea of where Intrepid Ibex will be going.
The main focus of the announcement was on enabling better support for internet access wherever you are through “a variety of wireless technologies.” Here is a quote from the announcement:
“A particular focus for us will be pervasive internet access, the
ability to tap into bandwidth whenever and wherever you happen to
be. No longer will you need to be a tethered, domesticated animal -
you’ll be able to roam (and goats do roam!) the wild lands and
access the web through a variety of wireless technologies. We want
you to be able to move from the office, to the train, and home,
staying connected all the way.”
As the world is clearly moving in the direction of wireless internet (WiFi, 3G, WiMAX, whatever), it is good to see that Ubuntu will move in that direction too, particularly since connecting wirelessly with Ubuntu (and Linux in general) can be frustrating. This may also help Ubuntu play a bigger role in ultra-mobile devices, which is important since the market for these seems to be rapidly expanding.
Why Attracting More Users to Linux Matters
Many decisions and opinions in the Linux world are justified by the idea that the decision will help attract new users to Linux, but why should anyone care at all if other people use Linux? KillaGeorge recently posed the question directly in response to a recent post, titled “A Simple Feature of Ubuntu 8.04 That Could Be So Important:”
The main reason for wanting more users to switch to Linux is that the more people use an operating system, the better it will be supported by hardware and software companies and, in the case of open-source software, there will also be more people to develop the operating system. In fact, a good example of this showed up earlier today.
With AMD open-sourcing their graphics drivers, many people are looking to nVidia to see if they will follow suit. Earlier today, an open letter to nVidia was posted that has already received 547 signatures at this time, yet even if this number grows to 1,000 or more, nVidia may still never respond. With Linux’s current market share, nVidia can continue to ignore people for as long as they want. That does not mean they will, but even if nVidia listens, they are only one of many companies that do not have open-source drivers or do not have Linux drivers at all. If Linux had a larger market share, companies would finally have to pay attention to the Linux world and release drivers for Linux.
Unfortunately, the issue is not as simple as more users being better. If Linux ever achieved a large market share, it would become the target of viruses, much like Windows is now. The question is how to find the perfect balance, so that Linux is widely supported, but not the target of viruses and spyware. Right now, Windows is obviously far over that perfect marketshare and Linux is way under. The closest may be the Mac, since most companies do support OS X, but, so far, there are no viruses for OS X in the wild. If you think I am advocating everyone switch to OS X, however, you are wrong. Apple has no intention of stopping their growth. Any day now the viruses will start to come for the Mac and each day it just gets more and more likely.
Hopefully this will not happen to Linux, but it seems hard to escape. Once an operating system gains enough momentum to make it to a significant market share, it is unlikely to stop and no matter what you tell me about the security of Linux, someone will find a way around that security. Perhaps Linux will really find a way to avoid this … I hope it does.
Update: A lot of people seem to be making the same point: Linux is fundamentally more secure than Windows and thus would never get viruses like Windows does. First, I agree Linux is more secure. Second, if anyone ever makes a desktop operating system that both does something useful and is completely immune to viruses, spyware, hackers, etc. I will be very, very surprised. In other words, I don’t believe Linux, or any desktop OS, is completely immune to malicious code.