Do we need Ubuntu on a tablet? [LWN.net]

Do we need Ubuntu on a tablet?

Posted Nov 29, 2012 13:59 UTC (Thu) by NAR (subscriber, #1313)
Parent article: Ubuntu on the Nexus 7

I might be old fashioned or fat fingered or just plain clumsy, but after some experience with a qwerty keyboard on a phone and with the iPhone on-screen keyboard my opinion is that these are totally useless for productive work. Writing a 140 character text message with text prediction is OK, but typing anything longer is painfully slow. So I don't really get why would it be useful to get all Ubuntu packages on a tablet when the software in these packages was designed for mouse and keyboard interaction and as such, would be useless on a touchscreen interface.

Of course, with a real keyboard the tablet could be used for work too, but in that case it would be not that much lighter or smaller than a notebook. So the use case I can imagine is that at work (or home) people plug the tablet into the docking station and use it like a computer, then when they commute between work and home, use the tablet for browsing. I'm not that convinced that pros of the "desktop application on tablet" over "app on a smartphone" would cancel the cons of the tablet size (and weight) over the smartphone. A smartphone still fits into a pocket, but a tablet requires a backpack...

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Do we need Ubuntu on a tablet?

Posted Nov 29, 2012 14:16 UTC (Thu) by dlang (guest, #313) [Link] (2 responses)

there is a huge difference between using a qwerty keyboard on a 4" screen and using the same keyboard on a 10" screen.

I've seen a lot of people with ipads typing away happily (and rapidly) on their on-screen keyboards making notes in meetings over the years. personally, I'll bring along a fold-up keyboard for any serious note taking, but I'm the type who uses the old IBM clicky keybards when possible.

Do we need Ubuntu on a tablet?

Posted Nov 29, 2012 18:26 UTC (Thu) by zlynx (guest, #2285) [Link] (1 responses)

I love large clicky keyboards myself, but yes, it is perfectly possible to type 40 wpm on an iPad onscreen keyboard when it is laid out sideways. It's easier to type on than most netbooks.

Do we need Ubuntu on a tablet?

Posted Dec 6, 2012 14:26 UTC (Thu) by redden0t8 (guest, #72783) [Link]

Exactly. Another thing to remember is the iPad's aspect ratio is less long-and-narrow, so you loose less of the screen to the keyboard in landscape mode. I wish more Android makers would do the same...