FixBug1Via64BitDomination

Summary

As outlined in the World Domination 201 essay, Linux currently has a unique opportunity to make serious inroads on the desktop. This is because, by the end of 2008, the (first) world will have transitioned to 64-bit desktops (due to a demand for >4GB of memory, among other things). This specification is meant as a central coordinating place for what Ubuntu needs to do to take advantage of this and fix bug #1 by the end of 2008!

There are three top priorities for Ubuntu to focus on in order to position itself as a serious contender in the battle for the 64-bit desktop. They are:

  • Integrate the "Codex" CD
    • a CD of fully licensed, binary codecs that can be installed on a Linux system to allow end users to have their DVDs, MP3s WMV streams etc. Just Play out of the box
    • a temporary compromise:

      • to get Linux ready to handle multimedia today, since we can't dictate the use of open formats until after we take over the world

      • to cover for those countries where patents or legislation prevent legitimate use of DVDs etc. using open codecs without licences from rights holders
    • doesn't yet exist, being developed by Linspire (who are in the unique position of being the only folks licensed to support MS multimedia codecs on Linux, a little treat they got in their settlement of the Lindows lawsuit)
      • we are expecting more information mid Feb 07
    • see essay for more details
  • Integrate wine into main along with enough added functionality to make it Just Work out of the box
    • should only run win32 apps out of the box, not win64 (we don't want to emulate the competition unless we lose)
    • since it is unlikely the upstream wine devs or the Ubuntu wine packagers will agree to remove win64 support until after 2008, this should probably be a separate win32-support package (in main), and thus leave the full wine package in universe (which would be free to include win64 support)
    • currently being held up by bug #43324
  • Encourage system OEMs to bundle this Ubuntu+Codex+Wine distro on their 64-bit desktops
    • this will be the trickiest part, and will require heavy Canonical involvement
    • should first focus on OEMs that are not completely beholden to Microsoft and/or that are big enough to "own the bank" (i.e. when you have a small loan, the bank owns you, but when you have a big loan, you own the bank--MS is dependent on OEMs like Dell to sell Windows)
      • may be possible to get HP given previous activities in this area

      • Sun AMD workstations might be a small but meaningful contender, given they don't often ship with Windows Wink ;-)

  • Will need integration of other essential binary-only bits such as Flash 9 (high priority) and Java (probably slightly lower priority).

    • Could use nspluginwrapper for this, but currently it isn't packaged, to my knowledge.

    • We should also watch this space for official updates on a 64-bit Linux Flash plugin.

Details / Discussion

Canonical / Linspire partnership

  • Canonical has partnered with Linspire, which among other things will provide CNR (Click N' Run) support on Ubuntu, starting with feisty (7.04). This will allow easy installation of Linspire's multimedia codecs and other licensed / commercial software on Ubuntu. Depending on the level of 64-bit support, this potentially gets us most (or all) of the way there on Codex integration. Here's the press release.

    • This partnership positions Ubuntu to be the basis for the leading desktop version of Linux amongst OEMs. Is an Ubuntu-based Linspire basically what we're shooting for here? Except for making sure a 64-bit version is available and works well, I think this gets us what we want.

Codex / Multimedia Codecs

  • An alternative to the Codex, should it prove to be nothing more than vaporware, would be to setup a bundling deal with Fluendo for their properly-licensed codecs, and then market that Ubuntu+Fluendo package to OEMs. Fluendo already sells x86_64 versions of their codecs. (Fluendo's press release)

    • These Fluendo codecs have the advantage of being available today. But we'll have to wait and see if they are the real deal or not. Anyone who has used them, please add your experiences here.
    • I'm now a beta tester for the Fluendo codecs, and my initial impression is that they Just Work. Quicktime (the new MPEG 4 variety at least) and Windows Media seem to work without a hitch in all apps that use gstreamer-0.10 (which is all the default apps in Ubuntu). So this should definitely be left on the table as a potential option for OEMs.

FixBug1Via64BitDomination (last edited 2008-08-06 16:24:08 by localhost)