Ubuntu Linux is to come to cell phones and other portable devices with Mobile and Embedded distributions to be released in October. The result of a collaboration between open-source community enthusiasts and Intel staffers, the OS will be tailored for the next generation of cheap, powerful handsets.
Ubuntu is the closest thing Linux has to a breakout consumer distribution, finding its way into Dell's desktop PCs thanks to user-friendly presentation and its "Linux for human beings" motto. Intel CEO Paul Otellini's already been spotted flashing a prototype smartphone around, though he was careful to say it would run Windows just as well. Why does Intel care? Because it's throwing everything and the kitchen sink into low-power mobile chips, and helping Ubuntu is part of a campaign that ranges from ultraportable laptops and UMPCs to smartphones and under-TV appliances. "Embedded and cheap," will be a watch-phrase for the coming decade, wherein performance computing and networking will be ubiquitous. But will is also be the watch-phrase for the ever-promised ubiquity of Linux itself?
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