Assuming the lens works the same way as on the desktop, there have to be some command-line utilities installed, because the search lenses are using some very large python and whatever scripts to fetch and parse the data.

They also said that you could plug your phone into a TV and would get a full Ubuntu desktop with all the stuff you're used to.

So it seems to be basically a pretty standard Ubuntu with just a phone-interface.

It sounds like it is the standard Ubuntu userland, but I am not sure if that is a guarantee for root access. If most of Ubuntu is still under GPLv2 (or other non DRM restricting licenses), then there is nothing stopping the manufactoring from locking down the phone. If enough of Ubuntu is under GPLv3, then I think that the manufacturer would need to replace those pieces in order to lock down the phone.

Unity itself is GPLv3: http://bazaar.launchpad.net/~unity-team/unity/trunk/files

It is debatable whether you can use DRM with GPLv2. It might still be banned. GPLv3 includes the anti-DRM stuff to be more explicit and unambiguous.

Android phones use the linux kernel, which is GPLv2, and they do not seem to have an issue locking them down.

Just because you use software doesn't mean that the restrictions on the software apply to software it runs. It's only when you re-distribute or modify GPL software that the GPL licences kicks in.

And the manufacturer re-distributes the software when they sell me a phone with it pre-loaded.

Emacs. And Emacs.

Emacs may be great on desktops, but it probably isn't on hands or smartphones.

"If so, this is a significant step up in terms of hackability than iOS or Android."

You can ssh into iOS and have all the Unix utilities and full root control for quite some time.

...after jailbreaking and modifying. His point was off the bat, legally, or both.

Not to be an über-pedant, but are you implying that it's somehow illegal to take ownership of your own device?

In what crazy world do you live?

A rapidly-evolving one where the legal status of jailbreaking an iPhone has changed over the last several years and jailbreaking an iPad remains illegal. AKA: The United States.