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Hulu Desktop Comes to Linux
Hulu, a popular website which offers free, ad-supported TV shows (and a few movies) has ported their Hulu Desktop software to Linux. Hulu says that Hulu Desktop for Linux will work on Ubuntu 9.04 and Fedora, althoug it could almost certainly be run on other Linux distributions.
Hulu Desktop for Linux
Hulu Desktop is free and packages are provided for both 32-bit and 64-bit Ubuntu and Fedora.
Although there are still issues with the limited amount of content networks will allow Hulu to offer, Hulu has been gaining steadily in popularity.
Mark Shuttleworth has announced the codename and major goals of Ubuntu’s next LTS release: Lucid Lynx. First, a definition:
According to Wiktionary, “lucid” means:
- clear; easily understood
- mentally rational; sane
- bright, luminous, translucent or transparent
And according to Urban Dictionary it means:
The Lucid Lynx will be an LTS release, meaning that it will enjoy an extended period of support and several maintenence releases over its life. This also means that it will be relatively lean on new features. Don’t expect to see anything readically new in this release. Instead, expect more reliability, stability, and speed. At least that’s the idea.
Sometimes unsynced releases and other issues cause conflicts between stability and not going obsolete. For example, last LTS release (8.04 Hardy Heron), Firefox 3 was chosen over Firefox 2, even though Firefox 3 was still in beta at the time of 8.04’s release. These sorts of issues create tension between people who believe LTS releases should focus purely on stability and those who believe its better to sacrifice a little stability for some new features.
Hopefully, though, none of these issues will arise in 10.04, which is scheduled for release in April of 2010.
Canonical adds Premium Service Engineers to support options
Canonical has added another option to their ever-increasing list of enterprise support options. Businesses requiring frequent support may pay for access to a Premium Service Engineer, an Ubuntu expert who works with the company’s existing team to keep the company’s Ubuntu installations running smoothly.
Ubuntu Premium Service Engineers, as opposed to more traditional Ubuntu support plans, gives businesses a single person to contact, who will already know how the servers and desktops are set up in advance of any help being needed. This type of support does not come at a cheap price, though. The Register reports that access to an Ubuntu PSE will cost $50,000 per year, compared to only a few hundred for some of Canonical’s support offerings.
Still, PSEs offer an extremely valuable resource of businesses: a person with specific Ubuntu training. Most IT people are trained primarily in Windows, particularly when it comes to supporting desktops. Paying for a PSE basically givces you a staff member who has Ubuntu training. The only significant difference is that PSEs will not usually be on-site, preventing them from actively managing computers.
About a month ago, Canonical announced plans for an Ubuntu app store, codenamed AppCenter. As expected, the first version has shown up in the Karmic Koala daily builds, now under the name Ubuntu Software Store.
What is looks like now
The Ubuntu Software Store
The main view of the Software Store displays icons for each of the software categories, such as Internet, Office, System Tools, etc.
An application's page
Each application has its own page, much like Add/Remove, that displays a summary. An install button and a price (which is always free for now) is also displayed. On some applications, there is also a link to the application’s website. Eventually, you will be able to purchase commercial applications, as well as free ones.
Downloading...
When you install an application, a new section appears on the left. You can see how many applications are being installed and, by clicking on the tab, track their progress.
In the future…
If you’re not impressed with the Ubuntu Software Store, I don’t blame you. It’s really not much more than a new interface that does the same thing Add/Remove does. The exciting parts of the Software Store don’t really come until Ubuntu 10.04, when it will replace Add/Remove, Synaptic, Software Sources, and, possibly, Update Manager. Later you will be able to buy commercial applications in addition to the free ones already available. Over the next several releases, the Ubuntu Software Store could provide one of the first realistic ways for shareware developers to sell software for Linux and, at the same time, make it much easier for new users to understand the software installation process. For now, though, we’ll just have to wait and see.
Dell has been somewhat slow in adopt new versions of Ubuntu. Currently, most of Dell’s Ubuntu computers offer 8.04, which was the last long term support release. Dell has changed their minds, though, at least for netbooks, which will soon offer 9.04, the latest release.
Previously, Dell had said they planned to use only the LTS (long term support) releases, since they are supposed to be more stable and are updated and given support for a much longer period of time. It is not yet clear if the decision to upgrade all netbooks to 9.04, which is not an LTS release, will also apply to any other Ubuntu computers.
Dell’s policy on Ubuntu versions has been, and remains to be, confusing. The official word has been that they would stick to 8.04 until the next LTS arrived. The Inspiron 15n, though, currently ships with 8.10. Now it looks like some of the computers will ship with 9.04. In other words, Dell will be supporting three different versions of Ubuntu.
Google has announced a new programming language for Android-based phones called Simple. Simple is a BASIC-like language, meaning that it has very simple syntax.
The interesting thing about this announcement is that this is the first effort to make writing mobile applications really easy, even for programming novices. The Android app store already has a low barrier to entry in terms of cost, so that combined with an easy-to-use programming language, it could give Android a leg up with their application ecosystem, which is currently far smaller than Apple’s.
The example given in the Google blog post is an etch-a-sketch, writted in just 35 lines of code. Admittedly a simple etch-a-sketch is, well, simple, but 35 lines is practically a hello world program in some languages. (OK, not quite, but you get the point.)
It’s far to early to tell if anyone will be intersted by Simple or not, but if it catches on, some cool applications might come from people who would otherwise never have implemented their ideas.
Canonical Announces Inexpensive Phone Support
Canonical has announced consumer-oriented phone and email support for Ubuntu Desktop Edition. Ubuntu offered phone support before, however it was priced for enterprises managing large install bases. The new support plans are targeted at consumers and start at about $50 per year.
There are three tiers of this new support plan: starter, advanced, and professional. All three tiers offer support for installation and basic tasks, such as e-mail, web browsing, and OpenOffice. The advanced tier, which costs $115 per year ($65 more than starter) additionally offers support for Windows migration and a broader set of applications. Finally, the professional tier, which costs over $200 per year, adds support for topics such as virtualization and remote desktop.
These support offerings are most interesting for new Ubuntu users. The professional tier is probably unnecessary, however either starter or advanced support for a year (largely depending on how much migration suppor they need) would really get a new user going. Plus, compared to buying a copy of Windows, a year of support is still very cheap. Admittedly most people do not buy Windows alone, however you can usually save at least $50-$100 by getting a computer with Ubuntu rather than Windows.
This new support offering potentially offers a familiar bridge for new users. My only complaint is that the minimum support length is a year. many people may only need a few months of support, so a cheper and shorter option would be ideal.
Ubuntu Plans New System for Installing Applications
A Launchpad spec targeting Karmic Koala (the next release of Ubuntu) describes specifications for a unified application for installing software on Ubuntu. To be clear, everything will still be based on Apt, so this isn’t a significant backend change, but rather a focus on a better user layer.
In the short term, this new application, currently called AppCenter, will basically be a cleaner Add/Remove Programs with an update manager built in. Synaptic and the other software installation tools will still be avaliable in Karmic. In addition to the new software, though, Canonical will be promoting the use of apt:// links. Apt links have been around for some time, but are not heavily used. They allow you to click on a link in your browser and have a dialog box open, asking if you would like to install some package. For example, click here to install Epiphany.
Things start to get more interesting when you look a few releases forward. In Ubuntu 10.04 (Karmic+1), AppCenter will replace Synaptic and Update Manager. In 10.10, AppCenter gets really interesting. It is supposed to becomes a true “app store,” complete with reviews, ratings, and support for non-free (as in money and, most likely, freedom) software. In addition to all of this, there will be an easy way of adding third-party repositotires (other sources of software) to AppCenter, along with a system for marking trusted sources.
Beyond 10.10, the specifications are somewhat vague, but there may be support for downloading a package once and installing it on many computers easily, which is very important for enterprises Finally, they will “investigate” the possibility of including screensavers and/or Windows applications.
It’s safe to say that AppCenter will unify the software installation system in Ubuntu within the next two releases. It remains to be seen, though, if AppCenter will become a truly unified app store for Ubuntu. In order to pull this off, it is essential that all applications be able to easily get their latest version, no matter if it’s the first beta or version 12, into AppCenter.
If AppCenter becomes a marketplace for all applications, it will revolutionize application installation on computers. Yes, the idea may be inspired by the iPhone app store, but an app store on a tightly locked-down phone and an app store on computers are very different things.
Peek Developers Look To Community For A Linux Port
The Peek is an interesting idea. It’s a mobile device that’s about the size of a smartphone that has a full QWERTY keyboard plus wireless data connectivity. It’s not a phone, though, since it just gets email. No phone calls and no web surfing.
The Peek in Red
The basic version costs $20 and the Pronto (which also adds text messaging) costs $60. The Peek service is $20 a month.
It’s obviously a device full of potential: a cellular data connection, a keyboard, and a screen are enough to make any device interesting, especially if there isn’t a 2-year contract. The problem really lies in what CNet said about it:
“The Peek promises to be the mobile e-mail device for everyday people, but we just think the money is better spent on a multifunction handheld.”
In other words, just buy a smartphone.
Linux?
Peek has recently challenged readers of their company blog to port Linux onto the Peak. They’ve released some information about the Peek’s hardware and offered a consulting job to get whoever figures it out to tell them.
If they’re smart, though, they will not stop at that. Instead, they could release the code of the port and invite people to build whatever they want out of the Peek.
This would very quickly create a huge hacker community centered around the Peek, since, as I mentioned earlier, a full keyboard, a screen, and a cellular data connection is enough to tempt any hacker.
Peek could then just sit back and stop worrying about the software. When someone released some solid code that added cool functionality, they could refine it and stick it in the Peek.
This would create something like a zero-effort (on Peek’s part) app store and more (since hackers would have the opportunity to dig as deep into the code as they wanted). That might be just the right thing to convince people that the Peek isn’t just a one-function smartphone.
Smoother Transitions to Ubuntu With Virtual Machines and Wubi
No matter how simple you can make it, installaing a new OS will always be a daunting task for most computer users, especially on a machine they depend on every day. Even an experienced user can mess up and knock out a partition by accident.
Assuming that not everyone has that geeky neighbor who goes door to door installing Linux on people’s computers, there has to be a better way.
Why the Live CD is not a better way
The Live CD is an incredible innovation. In addition to being invaluble to fixing problems, it lets a new user see what they are jumping into before they take the plunge. It doesn’t, however, offer the user any opportunity to test it in a more real-world situation. Because a Live CD can’t save anything back to the disc, it’s really not useful for anything more than half of an hour of playing around.
No, not the Live USB either
Well, then, how about a Live USB memory stick? After all, it’s just a Live CD with a USB plug and the ability to save files, right? Yes, but, despite the price of USB memory sticks, most people don’t have spare ones laying around that are large enough to fit an entire OS plus files. Additionally, not all motherboards support booting from USB devices (although this issue is rapidly disappearing).
VirtualBox
For a long time, virtual machines really didn’t work very well, either, due to their poor graphics support. Now, though, since VirtualBox 3.0 supports at least simple 3D graphics, David Siegel (creator of GNOME Do) is proposing the creation of a single installer that sets up a customized version of VirtualBox with an Ubuntu image loaded up. This allows the user to save changes, doesn’t require any special hardware, and is a very familiar process for almost all computer users.
Wubi
Finally, we have Wubi, which allows you to do a pseudo-install. It looks just like a dual-boot setup, but it’s really simple to set up (just like installing a program) and writes all changes to the existing Windows partition.
Putting it together
Separately, these are all good ways of trying Ubuntu out, but together as a process they are an absolutely killer feature. Eventually, I hope that a new Ubuntu user will be able to install Ubuntu as a virtual machine, then upgrade that to a Wubi install, and finally to a real install, all without having to copy their files over once.
It’s less important exactly what methods of trying Ubuntu exist than how seamless the process of testing it out and then installing it can be made. Imagine a slider. You start at the “total beginner” end and slowly progress to the “I’m ready” end. As you get closer to the “I’m ready” end, your install of Ubuntu would be progressively more permenent. When you got all the way to the end, you would have a real instal of Ubuntu.