this is a quick overview of the TV platform that never was, and a guide to install what's left of it.
citing this ask ubuntu answer:
Ubuntu TV is a flavor of the Ubuntu operating system intended for use on smart television sets. While with traditional televisions you flip between channels of programmed content, Ubuntu TV will provide an interface to choose shows and movies à la carte. It will also be internet enabled, letting you browse the web, use rich media applications, record shows, and control remotely from a mobile device.
Above all, Ubuntu TV is its tagline: TV for human beings. The televisions of 2011 are incredibly complex: they come with input cables, set-top boxes, and controllers with eighty buttons and as many modes (AV1, AV2, HDMI... do these look familiar?). Ubuntu TV aims to be a revolution in ease of use.
The great differentiating feature of Ubuntu TV is its commitment to putting all these features in one easy-to-use interface. Other smart television products fragment the user experience with apps. Want to watch a video? You must check Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, Youtube, and your cable listing to see which service has it. Ubuntu TV has one searchable, browsable interface that consolidates content from dozens of different sources, and makes it easily accessible to you.
i know, this still sounds amazing! canonical planned to launch the first ubuntu powered TVs in 2012 but quietly discontinued this OS before abandoning unity altogether.
but, the last version is still available in a ppa, so it can be installed, at least in an alpha form.
the last alpha version of ubuntu TV works on ubuntu 12.04.x (i used 12.04.3), which can be downloaded from the old releases page. however, to add the ppa, the ca-certificates package must first be updated. to do this:
/etc/apt/sources.list, replace (region).archive.ubuntu.com and security.ubuntu.com with old-releases.ubuntu.com,sudo apt-get update,sudo apt-get install --reinstall ca-certificates.it should be safe to upgrade to the latest version of ubuntu 12.04 (12.04.5) and to install the language update, but do not upgrade to 14.04, no matter how much ubuntu asks.
canonical still has a helpful guide that can be used to install ubuntu TV. in case it is taken down, the gist of it is to run:
apt-get -y build-dep unity-2d
add-apt-repository ppa:u2t/bleedingedge
apt-get update
apt-get -y install unity-2d-shell
as root or with sudo.
here it's also recommended to remove the annoying pop-up that asks to update to 14.04 lts on every subsequent boot. this can be done either by disabling notifications from the update manager using its UI or by completely removing it with
apt-get remove update-manager
(this will not impact apt-get)
the same should be done with the backup manager, which also shows a popup on every boot. however, this time i couldn't find anything other than completely removing it:
apt-get remove deja-dup
you might ask: "but slightlycat, why delete important features like the backup service and update manager?" to which i reply: these programs show popups when on boot, which crash the unity-2d shell used by ubuntu TV. nobody, really, should use 12.04 lts as a daily driver in 2025 anyway, unless they know what they're doing.
now, reboot. at this point it should boot into ubuntu TV, if not, select the unity 2D shell at login. enjoy!
this is the screen that you're probably most familiar with - the TV guide, which still shows the schedule for a few BBC channels from 2012.
ubuntu TV made heavy use of the unity dash feature: the music section is basically unity dash but with a filter to only show music.
same goes for the files section.
...and the videos section.
...and the applications section!
the camera button, which i assume represents a connected device, does exactly nothing.
the last option is supposed to be an app store, which just shows a white screen:
there are also a few extras, which are basically apps. they can be started by pressing the ubuntu icon.
"settings" is, well, a settings screen, which was left very early in development as can be seen from the spelling mistakes and layout issues.
"maps" launches some kind of maps, or at least is supposed to, but it doesn't load.
but unlike maps, youtube at least opens! it first shows a redirect screen because google removed the leanback mode...
...then gets stuck here
"news" is one of the few parts that loads live data from the internet. i won't show the headlines because i don't currently have a trigger warning system here, and some of the headlines might seem disturbing to readers.
but there is a more fun part that loads live data - the ominously named "qt viewer"! contrary to what the icon suggests, this isn't iplayer, but rather a TV show search app with an unfinished layout.
"torrents" is, well, a local torrent search, once again using the unity dash.
and with that i conclude this short tour of ubuntu TV, the ubuntu flavor/TV revolution that never was.
(by the way - if you want the wallpaper, you can get it here, in 1080p quality)
