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I spoke to a sales rep about a Google nexus 10 and he said that the current OS (Android Jelly Bean 4.2) was 'locked' and could not be upgraded. He said that the nexus 7, just as the 10 started out with an unlocked OS but about 6 months before a new release they also became locked. This leads him to believe that there is a new release of Android coming up soon and that is why the nexus 10 is now shipping with a locked OS. I personally am not too concerned with the Android OS being not upgradable. What does concern me is whether or not I will be able to install other OSs such as Ubuntu onto this tablet. Does anyone know if this 'lock' will affect my ability to install Ubuntu?

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In order to install any other ROM or OS on an Android Tablet/Phone you need to first unlock the bootloader.

Unlocking the bootloader is very easy on Nexus devices. It's sometimes easy and sometimes difficult on devices by other brands such as HTC, Samsung. This is why Nexus devices are often popular with developers and those interested in aftermarket ROMs or Ubuntu Touch itself.

To reiterate, unlocking Nexus devices is easy.

Once you have the Android SDK, it's a matter of

adb reboot bootloader
fastboot oem unlock

The information given to you regarding Nexus 10s being 'locked' seems ambiguous. It seems they are referring to the upgrade cycle. However, most devices should get upgrades for roughly 18 months. That is not a lock, but is simply an upgrade cycle and should not concern you regarding your ability to install Ubuntu.

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As far as I know you have to root your system to install any new operating system and rooting the system overrides any lock that could be there. The "lock" most probably means that there will be no pushed major automatic updates.

I think that you should have no problems installing Ubuntu because of the "lock".

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