# The Linux Tablet Thread (non-Android)



## Macabre (Jul 6, 2011)

This thread is for news, updates, tips, tricks, ect for linux tablets that don't use Android.

I'll start the ball rolling with Ekoore, an Italian company that are producing tablets wuth Ubuntu 11 on it.  Here is their youtube channel so you can see some in action http://www.youtube.com/user/ekoore#p/u/2/5nHbRspykIQ 

NotionInk have also released ADAM with their own OS (which makes me a bit dubiuous about updates as shown here )


I'm really interested in this style of tablet over Android and Apple ones as they are more like stripped down, touch screen netbooks that the keyboard has been removed were as the later are big mobile phones/ media browsers.  Being able to use the same software on the tablet that I'm using on my computer is a big bonus as I use specialist ChemAxon software that possibly only a W7 tablet would handle.  I'd love one so I could create a proper e-labbook were I could draw all the molecules straight onto the screen!


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## Crispy (Jul 6, 2011)

Macabre said:


> Being able to use the same software on the tablet that I'm using on my computer is


pointless, because the interfaces are so different.
Things you can't do on a tablet that you can with a mouse+keyboard: Click+Drag. Right Click. Shift/Ctrl/Alt Click. Mouseover. Track cursor. 
Things you can't do with mouse+keyboard that you can do with a tablet: Pinch-zoom. Dual/Triple tap. Dual/Triple swipe. Touch multiple things at once. Rapidly change screen orientation.

Any computer that runs desktop software will need to retain desktop interfaces for them to remain usefully functional, which means pricey 'transformer' hardware and a bloated desktop OS.

Really not sure why a non-Android linux tablet is required, when you can write your own software just as well for Android as for any other flavour.


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## lobster (Jul 6, 2011)

Linux desktop distributions like ubuntu,fedora, Debian and so on have been able to run on pc tablets for many years, i would be surprised if there is not one that does not work. I have stuck ubuntu on a acer w500 tablet, multi-touch and auto-rotation are not working at the moment, so right clicking is a bit of a pain. Mypaint is good for drawing until multi-touch driver support, there is no pressure sensitivity at all. Bodhi linux , based on ubuntu using e17 is pretty good , theshow you what its like . Plasma active which is still in development is something worth looking at .


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## lobster (Jul 6, 2011)

Crispy said:


> Really not sure why a non-Android linux tablet is required, when you can write your own software just as well for Android as for any other flavour.



The main reason is android is just java and is not the best solution for everything. I know there is the native development kit but the code still gets translated to java at runtime. Also not everyone wants a full screen for an application.


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## magneze (Jul 6, 2011)

Unless you have a large (tabletop?) touchscreen then windowed applications won't be great.

Definitely agree with the general point though - will check out the examples in the OP. In theory Unity & Gnome 3 are much more touch friendly than previous Linux desktop interfaces.


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## lobster (Jul 6, 2011)

Crispy said:


> Things you can't do on a tablet that you can with a mouse+keyboard: Click+Drag. Right Click. Shift/Ctrl/Alt Click. Mouseover. Track cursor.
> .



By default , touching a touchscreen emulates a left click, you just need to hold on the object you want to drag and move it,its simple.
Mouseover can be done by just highlighting text or whatever with a finger.
Right click is emulated by holding a finger down.
Gestures emulate Shift/Ctrl/Alt Clicks


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## Macabre (Jul 6, 2011)

Crispy said:


> pointless, because the interfaces are so different.
> Things you can't do on a tablet that you can with a mouse+keyboard: Click+Drag. Right Click. Shift/Ctrl/Alt Click. Mouseover. Track cursor.
> Things you can't do with mouse+keyboard that you can do with a tablet: Pinch-zoom. Dual/Triple tap. Dual/Triple swipe. Touch multiple things at once. Rapidly change screen orientation.
> 
> ...


 

For starters I can't write my own software and chemistry software is complicated.  I can't get ChemAxon to transfer to CambridgeSoft without having to redraw most of it so a third software is just making things worse.  Also, most chemistry software is single click which should be reproducable on the tablet plus just being able to sync my labbook software on my laptop to that on a tablet it make things simpler if they both ran exactly the same program.  There is also talk of Canonical releasing a stripped down tablet version of Ubuntu


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## Crispy (Jul 6, 2011)

Ok, so why a tablet for this task? What benefit does it bring compared to a laptop?
I'm only pressing hard because desktop OS in a tablet formfactor is not a new idea, and it's been a failure every time it's been tried.


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## Macabre (Jul 6, 2011)

lobster said:


> Linux desktop distributions like ubuntu,fedora, Debian and so on have been able to run on pc tablets for many years, i would be surprised if there is not one that does not work. I have stuck ubuntu on a acer w500 tablet, multi-touch and auto-rotation are not working at the moment, so right clicking is a bit of a pain. Mypaint is good for drawing until multi-touch driver support, there is no pressure sensitivity at all. Bodhi linux , based on ubuntu using e17 is pretty good , theshow you what its like . Plasma active which is still in development is something worth looking at .


 
I'm not techi enough to be able to put the software on myself, one of the reasons I like the Ekoore tablet is because they have worked out all the bugs for you and it should work straight out the box.


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## lobster (Jul 6, 2011)

Crispy said:


> I'm only pressing hard because desktop OS in a tablet formfactor is not a new idea, and it's been a failure every time it's been tried.



I would not exactly say tablet pcs are failures otherwise why would each of the big manufacturers release at least one tablet pc in their range for over a decade? Tablet pcs are just like liquorice, an  acquired taste


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## lobster (Jul 6, 2011)

Macabre said:


> I'm not techi enough to be able to put the software on myself, one of the reasons I like the Ekoore tablet is because they have worked out all the bugs for you and it should work straight out the box.


 
That's fair enough


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## Macabre (Jul 6, 2011)

Crispy said:


> Ok, so why a tablet for this task? What benefit does it bring compared to a laptop?
> I'm only pressing hard because desktop OS in a tablet formfactor is not a new idea, and it's been a failure every time it's been tried.


 
Portability would be the biggest bonus as I have to go between lab and office on different floors regularly, being able to access the e-labook, publications and internet from a device I can take with me everywhere would be a big help.  It's not essential that it's a tablet, I'm just trying to see if I can use latest technology to my advantage without doubling up on hardware.


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## magneze (Jul 6, 2011)

Now I think about it, Canonical actually made Linux non touch friendly with Unity - the global menu feature relies on hover.


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## Macabre (Jul 6, 2011)

From the Ekoore videos I think they get around that by having the left hand panel locked on and putting icons that mimic keyboard short cuts in there.


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