14 DAY TRIAL // Canonical has launched a contest a while back called Ubuntu App Showdown. Three very interesting applications made their way to Ubuntu Software Center.
Ubuntu App Showdown is a Canonical initiative that tried to entice developers into making interesting applications for Ubuntu Software Center and to show that Ubuntu is an app developer platform.
The rules were very simple. Every application had to meet certain conditions in order to get accepted into the program.
All submissions had to be open source applications that contain exclusively original code, they must have created with any toolkit of choice (preferably with Quickly and GTK), must have been compatible with Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, and they must have been packaged by the participant in a Personal Package Archive (PPA).
Just three applications made an appearance in Ubuntu Software Center. The first one is Lightread, a lightweight Google Reader client that works offline, allowing users to get all the news and read it without an internet connection.
The second one is Fogger, an application that allows uses to create sandboxed web apps as desktop applications. According to its developer, it acts as a bridge between webapps and the Linux desktop. It exposes an easy-to-use JS API to webapps, which can be used to interact with the host desktop environment.
The last one is a simple puzzle game, called “Jigsaw Puzzle Game.” It uses beautiful backgrounds and simple models.
As anyone would expect, the winner of the competition was Lightread. Its developer received a System76 Gazelle Professional laptop and a Nokia N9 phone.
The second place was taken by Fogger and the developer received a System76 Lemur Ultra laptop and Nokia N9 phone.
The third place was occupied by Jigsaw Puzzle Game and the developers got a Nokia N9 phone.
All the applications are available on Ubuntu Software Center, free of charge.