Joli OS – Your new personal cloud desktop

Joli OS is an Ubuntu-based Linux distribution for netbooks. It is geared towards extreme user-friendliness so that any computer user can install it with just one click. Besides the standard ISO image, the distribution is also provided as a Windows executable file which can resize an existing Windows partition and install Joli OS as an alternative operating system. Other Joli OS features include heavy orientation towards web application and services, online backup option, web-based software installation interface, inclusion of proprietary hardware drivers and non-free media codecs, and extensive social networking features.

CloudShare’s free product has been used in many ways — but we wanted to see if we could access it via iPad. (We know iPhone works, and of course an actual computer works). We can. Come get your own free Personal Cloud Computer (PC2) at cloudshare.com/pro

Ubuntu Linux heads to the clouds

The first Ubuntu circle of friends logo.

Last week, Ubuntu Linux’s parent company Canonical CEO Jane Silber announced at the OpenStack cloud software conference that HP has chosen Ubuntu as the lead host and guest operating system for its Public Cloud. That’s impressive. It’s Canonical’s biggest enterprise win to date, but that’s only a hint of what Canonical is up to with the cloud.

Canonical started its move to OpenStack from Eucalyptus in February. While Canonical has promised its not going to leave its Eucalyptus users without support, the company is clearly pinning all its cloud plans going forward around OpenStack.

To be exact, according the company, “Ubuntu Cloud Infrastructure now includes OpenStack as the core infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) element of Ubuntu Cloud. Canonical’s investment in lightweight container technology LXC alongside the well-known KVM and Xen virtualization technologies, has resulted in a tightly integrated cloud infrastructure solution that works across all hardware platforms. That means any business can deploy Ubuntu Cloud Infrastructure on their preferred server platform today.”

HP and Canonical are now working together in HP’s private cloud beta to make certain that it will work well. Since Ubuntu is the reference OS for OpenStack and this is a major play by HP a lot depends on Canonical getting this right.

This isn’t just about some business cloud play though. I talked with Mark Baker, Canonical’s server product manager, and he kept telling me about how Ubuntu plans on making it easy for companies to deploy to Ubuntu-based clouds with Juju.

Juju you ask? Juju, formerly Ensemble, lets you easily start-up and manage application services on the cloud. According to Canonical, “Juju is a next generation service deployment and orchestration framework. It has been likened to APT for the cloud. With juju, different authors are able to create service charms independently, and make those services coordinate their communication through a simple protocol. Users can then take the product of different authors and very comfortably deploy those services in an environment. The result is multiple machines and components transparently collaborating towards providing the requested service.”

So say you want to launch a blogging site on the Web. With Juju you invoke the charms for say WordPress, MySQL and a Web server and, ta-da, you have a blogging site. Need more DBMS power or more Web servers just add as required with Juju. Don’t need them anymore, take them down. No fuss. No muss.

Juju was a technology preview in Ubuntu 11.04, but it’s real in Ubuntu 11.10. The cloud behind it though isn’t just for servers. No, in Ubuntu’s new world view, the desktop is part of the cloud.

Gerry Carr, Canonical’s marketing manager, told me that the Ubuntu 11.10 desktop is a step from a PC being simply a piece of hardware on your desk. Eventually, it will equally be a gateway to the power of the cloud. “We’re moving away form concept of local PC to one where the local PC and cloud will be equally important.”

Canonical is already working on this. For example, Ubuntu One, Canonical’s combination cloud storage and music streaming service, is now available not just for Ubuntu users on Ubuntu but on Android, iOS and, get ready for it, Windows as well.

So, what’s a nice Linux desktop feature doing on Windows? According to Carr, it’s because Canonical “doesn’t want to restrict you to the Ubuntu desktop. We’re moving away from the concept of the local PC to the cloud. On the cloud, content is king and we must liberate content across multiple devices.”

In short, sure Canonical wants you to run an Ubuntu desktop, but they also know you can’t always do that, and what’s more important is that you have access to your data, your music, whatever, no matter what you’re running locally. And, the best way to do that, according to Canonical, will be from Ubuntu-powered clouds. 

KDE takes on Android, Apple's iOS on smartphones and tablets

Summary: KDE, one of the leading Linux desktops, is taking dead aim at Android and Apple’s iOS on smartphones and tablets

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If another group was trying to take on Android and Apple’s iOS on smartphones and tablets, I’d dismiss them. RIM, BlackBerry’s parent company, is having a heck of a time getting anyone to buy into PlayBook and while HP TouchPad users loved it,HP killed the TouchPad after only a few weeks. So, why should anyone think that KDE, makers of one of the two most popular Linux desktops, should stand a chance with Plasma Active? Well, because KDE has a long history of delivering the goods with minimal resources.

So what is it? Plasma Active is not, like Android, iOS, or webOS, an operating system. It’s a KDE 4.x style interface and application programming interface (API) designed for touch devices. The Plasma Active Team states that “Plasma Active is innovative technology for an intelligent user experience (UX). It is intended for all types of tablets, smartphones and touch computing devices such as set-top boxes, smart TVs, home automation, in-vehicle infotainment. The goals for this KDE open source project are:

• A fast embedded UX platform with minimal memory requirements
• Customizable and modular to support different form factors
• An interface that adapts as users change Activities.

In their GrandMaster Plan, the developers go into more detail about how they’ll do this: “Plasma Active runs on the proven Linux desktop stack, including the Linux kernel, Qt and KDE’s Plasma Framework. The user interface is designed using Plasma Quick, a declarative markup language allowing for organic user interface design based on Qt Quick. Plasma Active uses existing free desktop technology and brings it to a spectrum of devices through a device-specific user interface. Classical Plasma Widgets can be used on Plasma Active as well as newly created ones. The key driver for the development of Plasma Active is the user experience. Collaboration is made easy through high-level development tools and a well defined process. ”

“The first release of Plasma Active fully focuses on tablet computers. Plasma Active Tablet’s user experience is designed around the web, social networks and multimedia content.” Today, Plasma Active runs on MeeGo and the openSUSE-based Balsam Professional (German language site). There are also OS images for Intel-based tablets, and package builds for ARM and x86 platforms. The group is working flashable images for ARM platforms. The interface will also run on Oracle’s VirtualBox virtual machine. If you want to try it you can find downloads and instructions at the Plasma Active Installation page.

According to Sebastian Kügler, one of Plasma Active’s leading developers Plasma Active is “certainly meant as a replacement for iOS and Android, a completely open, community-driven project with strong backing by a group of (SMB-sized) businesses. We hope this appeals to many hardware vendors, and have in fact already started talking with some. The feedback so far was very good, and the concepts seem to appeal with potential partners. There is definitely demand for an open system without lock-in in the market for devices.”

Kügler also told me that they “have started investigating Tizen, [Intel and the Linux Foundations' proposed replacement for MeeGo] but at this point, there is too little information out, and too many unknowns. We do see Tizen as a potential and likely target platform, but before Intel and Samsung release an SDK, our hands are tied. It’s not stopping us, since in the meantime, we can still run our stuff on MeeGo and Balsam, and we are investigating, together with the Mer team [Another mobile Linux operating system] how to get Plasma Active onto Mer.

That’s all well and good but does KDE have any industry support for this? Kügler replied, “My employer, open-slx backs this project, and we are actively working towards creating a wider ecosystem of companies around Plasma Active, to make good commercial support available, next to the community resources. This includes OEMs, ODMs and companies that can deliver support around Plasma Active, for example integration with new hardware platforms, support for custom-build OS images, 3rd party software, end-user support, etc.”

To that, I might add that unlike other such mobile projects, KDE starts with a large number of open-source applications that already run with it. That’s an advantage that neither RIM nor HP had. Personally, it’s hard for me to see a competitor to Android or iOS getting traction, but I’ve learned over the years not to bet against the KDE team.

KDE takes on Android, Apple's iOS on smartphones and tablets

Ubuntu 11.10 Released

 

Canonical has just released the latest version of Ubuntu, 11.10 Oneiric Ocelot, to end users. Most prominent among its new features are upgrades to the Unity interface, the new shell introduced in version 11.04. New users can download the open source OS from the Ubuntu web site, and current users can try their luck upgrading their existing install through the Update Manager.

Other changes include the replacement of the Evolution email client with Mozilla Thunderbird, version 3.0 of the Linux kernel, and the ability for developers to sell software through the Ubuntu Software Center. Newer versions of Ubuntu's built-in apps, including Firefox and OpenOffice, are also included.

Ubuntu is officially available in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions, though ports (and forks like Kubuntu and Xubuntu) are available for other architectures and platforms as well. The next release, 12.04 ("Precise Pangolin"), is due in April of 2012, and will be an "LTS" or Long Term Support version supported by Canonical for three years after its release.

Linux foundation new mobile OS: Tizen

Linux foundation has announced a new mobile operating system called Tizen. Samsung and Intel are the prominent backers of this OS, which will also work on tablets, netbooks, TVs and in-vehicle devices.

Tizen is a new open source mobile and device operating system based on Linux which will be designed to support multiple device categories such as smartphones, tablets, smart TVs, netbooks, and in-vehicle infotainment devices.

The project is hosted by the Linux Foundation with development led by a technical steering team from Intel and Samsung. Tizen will build upon technologies developed as part of the MeeGo and LiMo (Linux Mobile) projects.

Intel, along with Nokia, was part of the Linux Foundation's earlier project called MeeGo. "Over the next couple of months we will be working very hard to make sure that users of MeeGo can easily transition to Tizen, and we will be working even harder to make sure that developers of MeeGo can also transition to Tizen." An Intel representative working on the MeeGo project said on the project's website.

MeeGo is not dead but Nokia has left it in favour of Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 as its smartphone OS. Intel is still backing MeeGo, but will now move to Tizen and will use its knowledge for this new project.

Google recently announced its decision to buy Motorola, which will put it directly in competition with device makers like Samsung, LG, Acer, Asus and HTC who use Google's Android operating system in their smartphones.

After the move it was widely speculated that the device makers will look for a new OS to hedge the risk. With Samsung already participating in the Tizen project, Acer and Asustek are expected to join it as well. HTC is also evaluating its options (according to Digitimes,) but it is clear that it was indeed keen on a new operating system.

There are several reasons to believe that this project will taste success or will at least remain in focus. Samsung already has a smartphone operating system under its belt with bada (an OS that has seen a fair amount of success,) and will use its know-how to improve Tizen. Intel too has a lot of experience with MeeGo, an OS which techies used to love.

The other reason is that Linux Foundation has a fairly large number of members in Fujitsu, Panasonic, NEC, Motorola, ARM, ACCESS, Casio, NTT Docomo, SK Telecom, Telefonica, Vodafone and a host of others. While it is still not clear what their position with this new project is, we certainly expect to hear some of them joining it soon. Motorola could be ruled out as it is now owned by Google, the biggest rival of this project.

The Tizen application programming interfaces are based on HTML5 and other web standards, which means compatibility will not be an issue. And that is why Linux Foundation anticipates that the vast majority of Tizen application development will be based on these emerging standards.

According to the Tizen website, HTML 5 and web standards based APIs will cover various platform capabilities such as messaging, multimedia, camera, network and social media. For those who use native code in their applications, the Tizen SDK will include a native development kit.

What is also good is that Intel will support Tizen with its Intel AppUp developer program and a developer framework based on HTML5 and WAC standards. Intel is also encouraging developers to continue building and submitting apps for MeeGo netbooks already shipping, apps that will be compatible — unchanged — on Tizen netbooks.

So by the time Tizen OS makes its first appearance, it will have a good stack of apps. A lack of apps had killed HP's WebOS, which was otherwise touted as a potential iOS killer.

HTML5 and Web Standards support means that this OS will be very suitable for cloud based services like those of Amazon, Google cloud service (Google Drive), Windows Sky Drive and iCloud.

Mobile manufacturers like Huawei and HTC are also trying their hands at cloud services and so are mobile operators across the globe. These companies will like this OS for this reason more than anything else.

Linux foundation will open the entire Tizen software stack from the core OS up through the core applications and polished user interfaces. Tizen and its SDK (software development kit) are expected to be released in the first quarter of 2012, with the first devices hitting the market in mid 2012.