Ubuntu Linux seen on Nexus 7, more tablets to follow
Canonical is putting in some serious efforts in making Ubuntu Linux a more tablet-friendly OS and is using the Nexus 7 tablet as an inexpensive reference platform
According to Liliputing, the 7-inch Google Nexus 7 tablet is being used by Canonical as reference platform for launching Ubuntu on tablets. Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth has also suggested developers to bring Nexus 7 tablets to the Ubuntu Developer Summit in Copenhagen which is scheduled to start on October 29.
Also, an Ubuntu developer by the name of Victor Palau has posted a brief video that shows the Nexus 7 running on Ubuntu. Not to mention that there have been numerous unofficial efforts to port Ubuntu to Nexus 7.
The Nexus 7 with a 1.2GHz Nvidia Tegra 3 quad core processor along with 1GB of RAM is well equipped and perhaps the perfect device for running other operating systems. To top it all, it comes with a bootloader that can be unlocked.
It’s not the first time that Ubuntu or another Linux distribution has run on an ARM based tablet. For example early builds of Arch, Debian and Ubuntu are already available for the HP TouchPad. There’s even an app that allows us to install Ununtu on an Android device as if it were an Android app.
Meanwhile, the Nexus 7 is not the only tablet that Canonical has in mind and we expect a lot more tablets to appear running on Ubuntu Linux. For the time being Nexus 7 is being used as an inexpensive reference platform for making Ubuntu a more tablet-friendly OS.
If Canonical really succeeds in its efforts then we would have Ubuntu as an inexpensive alternative to iOS, Android or Windows RT.
Sudipto
