‘Angry birds’ may be coming to Ubuntu

By , Published January 6, 2011

With the words ‘app store’ emblazoned across the Internet today thanks to Apple’s launch of a desktop software store, a familiar band of apps and games have also been in the news – albeit due to their collective selves gaining poll position as ‘apps available on launch’.

But what about Ubuntu? We’ve had an ‘App store’ capable of supporting paid applications for a good few months now: will we see some of the more popular cross-platform games and apps heading our way?

It seems so.

Angry Birds

Rovio media, the company behind the hit game ‘Angry birds’, have said that they are ‘looking into’ bringing the game to the Ubuntu Software Centre.

angry-birds-update-2

With Ubuntu’s multi-touch framework maturing every week and with more tablets and touchscreen devices capable of running Ubuntu the notion of popular ‘touch friendly’ applications cosy-ing up to Ubuntu doesn’t seem entirely bizarre.

Having just spent a good hour flexing my finger on level 5-11 of this very game I have a vested interest in staying abreast of news on this particular port as and when it happens…

What apps/games would you like to see transition from iOS/Android to Ubuntu?

Thanks to Florian

Related posts:

  1. Logic game ‘Brukkon’ now available to 64bit Ubuntu users
  2. 3D space combat MMORPG ‘Vendetta Online’ coming to the Ubuntu Software Centre
  3. Should “Ubuntu Software Store” Be Renamed?
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  • http://twitter.com/thecosmicfrog Aaron Hastings

    Better hit the old edit button, Joey!

    • http://omgubuntu.co.uk/ d0od

      Ssssh! You weren’t supposed to notice :P

      All patched up now :)

  • Anonymous

    I think Joey hit the submit button a bit early. >.<

  • http://twitter.com/BrandonSheppard Brandon Sheppard

    That’d be amazing

  • http://danhatch333.myopenid.com/ danh

    Sweet I’ve been wondering about this.
    I really think Ubuntu should have named their software center to something with “App” in it, but if they did it now, then people will think they copied the whole idea of an app store from Apple.

    • http://about.me/jrgifford James Gifford

      Nah. AppStore wasn’t Apples thing – remember the BlackBerry “App World”?

  • http://twitter.com/JoaoTMDias João Dias

    Killing Pigs in a bigger screen: Smells like Awesomeness to me!

    • http://omgubuntu.co.uk/ d0od

      Hear them laugh in 5.1….

      • http://twitter.com/jknvv13 Joaquin Vacas
        • http://twitter.com/ThomasBerends Thomas Berends

          It isn’t a bug, it is an idea… put it on Ubuntu Brainstorm ;)

        • http://twitter.com/ThomasBerends Thomas Berends

          It isn’t a bug, it is an idea… put it on Ubuntu Brainstorm ;)

      • http://twitter.com/JoaoTMDias João Dias

        hahaha

  • http://twitter.com/hrod_wulf Rodolfo Carlos

    Well even though the post seems to be sent without a previous editing, we should be focusing on the contents, and let me say it is great news! It seems that Ubuntu is becoming quite popular and it is reaching heights never seen before by the Linux community. The fact that we, Ubuntu users, are being taken in account for applications like commercial games is a very important step and shows that the number of Ubuntu users are increasing quite rapidly as to be noticed by relatively important developers. I’m glad to hear this, and I’ll be looking forward for more news on this topic.

  • http://omgubuntu.co.uk/ d0od

    Indeed. And he kindly nudged us with their response :)

  • Anonymous

    Cool!

  • http://jackhynes.tumblr.com jackhynes

    Ohshitthatwouldbeawesome

  • http://www.twm-kd.com/ BigWhale

    Now I really have to install this on my phone, just to see what everyone is talking about. :>

  • http://twitter.com/Moumny Benyounes Moumni

    i would definitely buy this !

    • Anonymous

      I don’t beleive I’m going to say this, but;

      Me Too!!!!1!!

  • http://twitter.com/jknvv13 Joaquin Vacas

    I want to see Gameloft games
    like Nova, Asphalt 6, Dungeon HUnter, Hero of Sparta, Splinter Cell, etc…
    Games from EA, like Sims 3, worms, etc…
    Dungeon Defenders
    Plants vs Zombies
    and others….

    • http://twitter.com/jknvv13 Joaquin Vacas

      And simple games like Shoot U!
      Space phyisics
      Totemo
      for Touch Screen… :D

    • Anonymous

      Agreed. And I would also like GTA CTW :)

    • Anonymous

      Good luck with that :/

    • Anonymous

      you can already grab plant vs zombies from the google chrome web app store.

      thx google :D

    • http://twitter.com/Inrideo Mike Wagner

      I’d like to see Sword of Fargoal on it. :)

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_X2MHKNILB43SFGZRBSVG5ZHDNE Ubuntu Fan

      I work in Gameloft, and i can tell you that this company it’s always trying to expand to new markets. If Gameloft will see that there is a number of clients who are willing to play our games on Linux, there is a big probability to port them. At least they will try with 1-2 games to see if the market works. I think that if Gl will see allot of tickets from Linux fans asking to port the games, they should really think at this.
      So, my advice for everybody who wants this is to take 2 minutes and fill a form on http://www.gameloft.com/support/ and ask Gameloft to port the favorite games.
      This comment is not an official comment of Gameloft. I’m simply an employee there and a Linux fan. I’m not a tech person, but i think that there shouldn’t be so hard to port from the Android master games…

  • http://dylanmccall.blogspot.com/ dylan-m

    It isn’t a far cry for a lot of new cell phone games to be ported to our platform. The only thing really missing is nice documentation to reach out to developers.

    For example, here are the packaging guides:
    https://wiki.ubuntu.com/PackagingGuide
    (I can’t find the “simple” packaging guide, but I remember it being ginormous).
    The advanced stuff in each of those guides is great and important, but more for the people who do seriously serious packaging (like xorg or the Gnome desktop).

    Meanwhile, Quickly makes packaging a dead simple operation someone can do in his sleep. We’re missing something in the middle here.

    • http://www.google.com/profiles/105149752388823929213 Paolo

      You are right: develop and publish an application fo Android is very very simple. In two ours I can learn how to build and package an Android application and publish on the Market Place.
      Is it so simple for the Ubuntu Software Center?

    • http://twitter.com/cranil Anil C R

      This was exactly what mpt spoke about in the plenary talk at UDS-N…

  • Anonymous

    The Windows version is working flawslessly on wine. Just tried

    • Anonymous
      • Anonymous

        What did you do to get it working it wont start for me.

        • Anonymous

          Nothing that i’m aware. Ubuntu 10.10 with Wine 1.3.9.

          • Anonymous

            Figured it out. The default wine in 10.04 wont work with it but once i loaded up the PPA and installed 1.3 it worked fine.

      • Anonymous

        offtopic:
        on your screen-shot you have a nautilus elementary layout problem. Solution is > open nautilus and go to > edit > preferences > last tab and select breadcrumbs. now it looks good. (hope the translation is correct i use another language).

        • Anonymous

          thanks

      • http://twitter.com/zc456 Zenon Tigerpaw

        Holy crap. Almost thought that was Mac OS X.

      • http://twitter.com/zc456 Zenon Tigerpaw

        Holy crap. Almost thought that was Mac OS X.

    • http://fapnews.com Screatch

      Confirming, works as native.

  • http://twitter.com/uri_herrera Uri Herrera

    what i ‘d like to see is all those games that make iOS and Android so, uhmm gamer-friendly “ported” to Ubuntu, that would be beneficial for Ubuntu as a tablet platform.

  • https://launchpad.net/~boniboyblue Boni Boy Blue

    I heard that they are releasing this for the PlayStation 3 soon. So hopefully they’ll focus on a Ubuntu release after that. I haven’t actually played it but I have heard a lot of good things about the game.

    • http://twitter.com/jknvv13 Joaquin Vacas

      The problem in Ubuntu Software center is…
      BUYING
      I don’t have a credit card, but I want to buy Angry birds, if exists some cards like “Canonical Cards” for Ubuntu One music store, and Software center will be better for us/they
      Something like iTunes cards
      If Rovio develops for Linux, some developers will support Linux = Steam maybe?

      I’m dreaming maybe… but I want to see it…
      https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/software-center/+bug/698885

      • Anonymous

        You can buy prepaid credit cards just about everywhere here in the states. I dont know where you are from but im sure you could find one.

        • http://twitter.com/jknvv13 Joaquin Vacas

          I’m from spain ¬¬

        • Anonymous

          prepaid credit cards…. really? ROFL!!!!

          Isn’t the point of a credit card buying now and paying later?

          Well, good luck finding any of those outside of the US…

          • Anonymous

            Niosus wtf are you going on about? They work just like a debit card. You put money on them and use it just like a credit card.

            They can be found all over the world.

          • Anonymous

            There are prepaid cards, but not prepaid credit cards…. buying something on credit means you get it now but pay it later by definition, which just completely breaks the idea of paying for the card in advance. Prepaid CREDIT cards from Visa etc are limited to the US afaik. Other prepaid alternatives like Paysafe Cards are available.

            I’m just trying to understand why the hell someone would call it prepaid credit cards, it’s like saying liquid ice, prepaid and credit are 2 opposites.

          • Anonymous

            Niosis you are rambling ignorant nonsense. There are most certainly prepaid credit cards. There are secured credit cards, prepaid etc. It is not always buy now pay later. You need to do some research before making any more stupid claims.

            With a prepaid card your line of “credit” is whatever you prepaid. You seem to think credit has one singular meaning in the entire universe and you would be 100% wrong.

            Credit also means how much of a balance you have on something. You should really consult a dictionary and stop talking nonsense.

          • http://www.facebook.com/people/Kate-Maus/100001852206329 Kate Maus

            I absolutely agree. Prepaid cards like Paysafecard are the perfect credit card alternative and not just another kind of it. It works different but completes the same tasks like credit card. I’ve got no credit card nor PayPal so it’s the perfect solution for me.
            This is not the first time when I hear people calling prepaid cards like that. That’s an absurd!

          • Gnubie

            I have been using precisely those in the tiny Pacific island of New Zealand. The mega corps will never get me cause they are dirt cheap, I can get them in any kiosk, without provig my credit-worthiness. If I lose it I don’t have to break out in a sweat and cancel anything.No bills!! Can pay for NSFW without shame….hehe. If scammers steal my number…so what. It expires after a few months anyway.

            I could go on, but I think you get the point

      • Anonymous

        My debit card works fine…

      • https://launchpad.net/~cscarney ~cscarney

        If you don’t have a credit card or a debit card, what would you use to buy the card for the software centre?

  • http://twitter.com/jknvv13 Joaquin Vacas

    RT #linux #ubuntu #whatever Say to (at)RovioMobile What about Angry birds for Linux?? #canonical #meego #gnome #kde #all PLZ /RT
    TWITTER!

  • http://twitter.com/Inrideo Mike Wagner

    I know other devs of popular games who would like to be on the Ubuntu Store too. They really should jump on this opportunity to draw in new developers. I know some people will yell about commercial products tainting Ubuntu, but Windows and OSX have commercial apps yet still have healthy free/open source app communities.

    • Anonymous

      Ya the dumb people that yell about commercial products are the reason steam isnt coming to linux. I mean I can understand how they still want a free alternative to things such as the photoshop vs gimp situation. But they need to deal with the fact that some people might want commercial software.

    • http://www.manishsinha.net Manish Sinha

      No open source license prohibits from charging for the software, nor does it prohibit it from being commercial.

      I don’t know why people have such a knee-jerk reaction for paid FOSS applications. Don’t the app devs need money too?

      • http://twitter.com/Inrideo Mike Wagner

        I think some think that any attempt to put a commercial product on the platform is the first step to becoming the next Microsoft or Apple.

        Personally, I’d like it if some apps go commercial. This would ensure that there is an incentive to continue on a project that might otherwise be a hobby. Sometimes an app that I love dies from neglect because the maintainer went on to do something else because they got bored or finished school and had to get a job to pay the bills. It’s so easy to neglect financially supporting projects simply because there’s no incentive to do so. Heck, I’ve only donated to a small number of those that I use.

        I wouldn’t begrudge any project that went commercial so the guys could keep going AND pay off their student loans.

      • http://about.me/jrgifford James Gifford

        The issue that some people have with having payed FOSS applications is that like Mike Wagner said below, it’s the next step to becoming the next Micro$oft or Apple.

        Something else to think about is that for the most part, the highlighted example of a FOSS Application in a AppStore on a closed platform (I’m talking about iOS because iOS is the most closed platform out there) is VLC – which is a Free and Open Source project, and the iPhone version of VLC was just pulled from the AppStore for copyright reasons – AKA Apple’s DRM. And Apples DRM is perfectly fine if you’re a conventional developer – but the problem is that not everyone is a conventional developer. Some of us are big fans of Free and Open Source. Hence the knee-jerk reaction for paid FOSS Applications.

  • https://launchpad.net/~davidnielsen David Nielsen

    I just got myself a Samsung Galaxy S and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about so I installed Angry Birds. Riding the bus has never been this much fun, it is a nice twist on the old school “scorched earth” type of game.

    I’d be happy to see Angry Birds available for Ubuntu, I doubt I will play it since it works very well on the touchscreen and AB’s is a time waster that works best for those 20 mins it takes to get downtown.

    • http://about.me/jrgifford James Gifford

      Angry Birds works VERY well on the Mac. And while it’s got a different twist from what you’d expect considering how it’s a touch-screen-based Application from the ground up, Rovio did a good job making it into a desktop app.

  • Mohan

    No matter how you look at it, this would be a huge addition.

  • http://twitter.com/oxcoder 叫我OX

    I just wanna know when it open 2 download。

  • Anonymous

    I really hope they sell it from their own website as well, since I use Kubuntu LTS. No paid software love for KDE, and they still haven’t backported the buying feature from Maverick.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_D4I4KCC4ELT77PBXK23VKCAHTM 罗捷捷

    Now, I just went away from Ubuntu, as the Software Center becoming Software Store. I’m afraid, they are doing something against themselves. Come to debian, guys.

    • http://twitter.com/ethana2 ethana2

      I don’t share your priorities and I feel about the opposite about this transformation. Of course you’re free to use whatever OS you please, but I do it with Ubuntu, and will continue to for the forseeable future.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_2BQSCAH2ODKM73LQHK4L6FSNTI 王庆华

    when? it become true?

  • http://twitter.com/usemeego meegouser

    There’s already a Qt version of Angry Birds on the Nokia N900 and N8 and it has just launched on the Intel Appup Center for MeeGo about a week ago so it should be showing up in Ubuntu as well.

    • http://twitter.com/zc456 Zenon Tigerpaw

      Then it should be pretty easy to port over to Ubuntu and other Linux desktops, if that’s the case. Would be one heck of a milestone.

      • http://twitter.com/usemeego meegouser

        No porting necessary since it’s a Qt app.

    • http://twitter.com/zc456 Zenon Tigerpaw

      Then it should be pretty easy to port over to Ubuntu and other Linux desktops, if that’s the case. Would be one heck of a milestone.

  • http://thinpancakes.wordpress.com/ weberc2

    Is it just me, or does anyone else think the software center needs a serious upgrade?

    • http://twitter.com/KyleClarkeNZ Kyle Clarke

      I filed this bug https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/software-center/+bug/665342 the day Brukkon came out (Oct 22) They still haven’t even looked at it.

      • http://twitter.com/ThomasBerends Thomas Berends

        It is marked as duplicate.

    • http://twitter.com/Rapido3011 Jon Koops

      Yes, honestly I think it looks awfull.
      Sources shouldn’t be displayed in the main panel.

      • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_FX5ITOLLHVNOY673XBRGCKF3DI Freddi

        Seeing the design and layout, also the awkful design of the new comments system make me feel that the Ubuntu software center was an innovation but also a flop, as others are getting credits and publicity (Apple Store) and are much faster overtaking Ubuntu (Apple Store + coming Microsoft Store). I hope to see soon more paid apps than I have fingers on my hand :-)

        • http://twitter.com/davbren David Gross

          They were always going to overtake Ubuntu just through publicity. The general public don’t know about the Ubutnu Software Centre. The only reason Canonical haven’t splashed the cash on a brilliant ad campaign like ‘Mac vs PC’ or ‘I’m a PC’ is because its not baked yet. It would be an uber flop before it could get started.

    • http://twitter.com/JeffHoogland JeffHoogland

      Not to toot my own horn… But I think an online software interface makes much more sense! Something along the lines of:

      http://software.bodhilinux.com/

    • http://twitter.com/blackout35m Ricardo Lewis

      yeah….and no….but they could tweak it a bit.

  • Anonymous

    Works fine in wine 1.3.10 as long as windowed. Splutters on full screen and sound is draaaaagggeeeedd ooouuuutttt but might be just my set up.

  • http://techhamlet.com Sahan Serasinghe

    Hehe…it was fun playing Fragger for quite sometime. Angry Birds seems to have the kinda-same concept behind it.

  • rkv

    yeah.. big fan of angry birds, played it on android and idevice.. awesome..

    i may not buy it from software center. but if they include it in the humble bundle 3, i would definitely buy it.

    so far i bought humble bundle 1 & 2 :D

  • Anonymous

    There is also a floss clone of angry birds in progress at http://www.softwarelibra.com

  • Anonymous

    I play it all the time on my Mac, and I love it! It’s just as fun with a mouse as it is with the finger on my N900!
    I think it would be a nice game to hit the Software Center :)

  • http://auth.raoulsnyman.co.za/user/raoul.snyman Raoul Snyman

    Well, since Angry Birds is already available for my Nokia N900 running Maemo Linux, I don’t see why they don’t make it available for Ubuntu or other desktop Linuxes. It only really needs a re-compile.

  • http://aisjournal.com/ Sajib

    I will have to pay for it, right? :(

    • http://twitter.com/__MsG__ Mathijs

      I thinks guys like you are the problem of the impopularity of games and stuff on Ubuntu and other GNU / Linux platforms. People often only use Ubuntu and others because they are free, so you don’t need to pay. Where are the ideological users hiding? I hope Ubuntu is becoming more and more commercial, with their open idea in mind. But I don’t need to have my games open source. There are tons of nice games out there, they should skip the open stuff for games imo. And they should implement donation system in Launchpad, so that you can speed up development by donating.

      • Anonymous

        no floss license stops you from making it commercial.

  • http://twitter.com/jimcure jim

    nice =))

  • http://twitter.com/vanysha95 Ivan

    It working on wine absolutely fine! No need to make it under Linux. I think for Linux have to make more 3D games with beautiful graphics. Like OilRUSH.

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