Ubuntu On Surface RT

Andrea Menna

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ciao People,

today Ubuntu showed his version for mobile phone. is 100% compatible with ARM processor. Do u think we can run it on surface? has any one tryed it on usb key as bootable device?

thanks in advance
 

kevin2577

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Windows RT devices use SecureBoot and limit BIOS access pretty heavily, so without some tinkering I don't think it would be as trivial to run Ubuntu on it as it would be on a full-Windows 8 device
 

enjoylife949

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I think it would be pretty cool if we could try Ubuntu for ARM as long as we could restore or protect the windows 8 RT installation. That video showing Ubuntu on the Galaxy Nexus phone looks pretty nice.
 

inteller

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Go get a crap android tablet and hack Ubuntu on it if you want to see how it runs on a tablet. There is no reason otherwise to run Ubuntu on a Surface.
 

Laura Knotek

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Windows 8 already has more market share than Linux, it is niche crap.
Linux is not niche crap in the world of big data. Most of the servers are running Linux. Amazon Web Services uses LInux.

The majority of supercomputers run Linux too. 94 Percent of the World's Top 500 Supercomputers Run Linux | Linux.com

Linux on the desktop might not be popular, but that does not mean Linux is a niche product.

On the small scale level, Linux is found in cars, home appliances, etc in embedded devices.
 

nokialove

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Thank-you, lak611. You summed it up better than I could.

And while it could be called a niche desktop OS, it's not crap.
 

ljkelley

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Yes it would be possible. You would have to have the correct drivers, but seeing that Tegra 3 already has Linux drivers for Android it shouldn't be hard. You would also need the Secure Boot Key to be able to boot. That would be the harder part. If someone with the right talent put effort into it, It could be done. That being said it would be rather pointless as the Surface is expensive and certain parts like the Touch/Type Cover are proprietary so forget about those ever working in another OS.
 

Laura Knotek

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Thank-you, lak611. You summed it up better than I could.

And while it could be called a niche desktop OS, it's not crap.
I run Linux in addition to Windows.

I'm also a member of two local Linux User groups. Many of the group members are IT professionals, and they run Linux servers at work even though the desktops run Windows.
 

Gaz D

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Microsoft have deliberately nobbled the Windows 8 specification so that this can't happen on ARM-based machines.

To be Windows 8 RT compatible (ARM machines only) it must not be possible to disable or reconfigure secure boot. So if you have an ARM machine that can run Windows 8 RT then it can only run an operating system signed by Microsoft.

So the Surface RT is like all other Windows 8 RT in that it's very much a device for muggles and mouse mittens; no Linux or BSD wizardry allowed, no dual-booting hacked-up iOS and no Android either. I can understand why they'd do this because most people are pointers and clickers, but it's not a machine for tech-heads.

The Surface Pro has an Intel i5 machine so hopefully Ubuntu 13.04 will support it of the box, if it does then I'll get one.
 

bawboh86

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I run Linux in addition to Windows.

I'm also a member of two local Linux User groups. Many of the group members are IT professionals, and they run Linux servers at work even though the desktops run Windows.

I am one of those IT professionals. I am completely in love with Win8, but I still prefer using Gentoo on my home servers and dual boot it for some projects (or have it installed on a separate partition and boot it from a VM - wildly handy to get gcc compiler in Windows when you already have it installed somewhere accessible). I'm glad someone stepped in and pointed out the fallacy of the "niche crap" comment, though. Thank you for that as well.

With all of that said, I'm quite happy with WinRT on my Surface, and will not be looking into changing it anytime soon. I'm sure that getting Ubuntu on here is feasible, and will be done (I'd be more shocked if it weren't), but I shan't be one of the people jumping on that bandwagon.
 
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anon(5370748)

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On the other hand, once I realized I needed the 32-bit installer rather than the 64, I was able to get Ubuntu running off a USB key on My Surface Pro in a matter of minutes ;) Granted, no Wi-Fi support right off the bat, but hey, it wouldn't be Linux without the traditional multi-day driver hunt/hack.
 

Guzzler3

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Why not try it?

Make a USB recovery drive for RT (it's easy, I made mine last night) and go experimenting.

If MS followed proper UEFI standards, you should be able to disable enough security to install another OS.
 

Henry Tirebiter

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You have to remember not to feed the trolls...

Some people have never traveled abroad, or even allowed a neuron to fire across their synaptic gaps. We call them "challenged" in meatspace, in cyberspace, it's just sad. When they are confronted with ideas that challenge their traditional beliefs, they tend to react. I say, don't worry, be happy. Have a nice day.

So, since learning about Linux and starting to use it since 1998, have seen a steady demand increase in my services and pay. Largely because don't waste time and get things done. Anyone who uses Linux and has been for a while, knows its the way to go if you don't want to be interrupted by stupid reboots every day multiple times in a row.

Now that's a niche that is better left for fanboys to enjoy. :smile:
 

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