Had enough of Android? First 'Focal' based Ubuntu Touch is out
(2023/03/29)
- Reference: 1680118390
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2023/03/29/first_focal_based_ubuntu_touch/
- Source link:
The UBPorts project has just released the fruit of a lot of labor, especially for a volunteer group, emitting a fresh version of its smartphone OS – which includes the Lomiri UI, formerly known as Unity 8.
Ubuntu Touch [1]OTA-1 Focal is a major step for the community-driven UBports project: it's the first version of the smartphone OS based on Ubuntu 20.04 "Focal Fossa." All of its previous releases were based on Ubuntu 16.04 "Xenial Xerus." As we pointed out when we covered [2]OTA-24 last November , Ubuntu 16.04 was the last LTS release before [3]Canonical cancelled its convergence project .
One of the significant changes in this version is a change of name, although this is a bigger deal than it sounds. The original name for Ubuntu's touch-driven UI was "Unity 8." Now, though, it has been renamed to [4]Lomiri . OTA-1 Focal is the first version to use Lomiri, and as a result, a lot of components have had to be changed to reflect the new name.
[5]
The upside of this is a reduction in dependence upon Ubuntu components, and as we reported back in February, Lomiri is more distro-independent – it [6]also runs on Debian , as well as on [7]postmarketOS, the FOSS OS for smartphones abandoned by their vendors .
[8]
There are other changes too. Whereas the Xenial version used Canonical's upstart init system, the Focal version uses systemd. It has also replaced the old Ubuntu [9]Indicators with ones from [10]Ayatana . The now-deprecated [11]Anbox has been replaced with [12]Waydroid .
As we covered a year ago [13]while introducing the Armbian project , one problem with the SoC hardware in many phones and tablets is the lack of device drivers. Fondleslab vendors are at the mercy of the SoC manufacturers, and once those upstream companies stop updating their Android image, then the phone makers can't do much about it. This is why niche market hardware such as Planet Computers' PDAs are stuck on old versions of Android.
[14]Linux-on-an-SBC project Armbian releases version 22.02
[15]Planet Computers has really let things slide: Firm's third real-keyboard gizmo boasts 5G, Android 10, Linux support
[16]Pine64 takes another shot at an open tablet after chip shortages killed first PineTab
[17]The App Gap and supply chains: Purism CEO on what's ahead for the Librem 5 USA
If you're replacing the whole OS, a partial way around this is to run an Android subsystem in a container, allowing vendor-specific drivers to execute in that environment. Waydroid runs a [18]LineageOS image based on Android 11. Ubuntu Touch also uses the [19]Mir display server, which is still being supported and developed by Canonical.
For now, the new version supports a smaller list of devices than before: just the Fairphone 4, Google Pixel 3A, and three models of [20]Vollaphone . If you're running Ubuntu Touch on any of the other supported [21]devices , there's also a final update to the Xenial version, [22]OTA-25 . ®
Get our [23]Tech Resources
[1] https://ubports.com/blog/ubports-news-1/post/ubuntu-touch-ota-1-focal-release-3888
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2022/11/29/new_versions_of_ubuntu_touch/
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2017/04/05/ubuntu_euthanizes_unity/
[4] https://lomiri.com/
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZCS1AO-VyW-hP7UfIwLndQAAAEw&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2023/02/27/lomiri_desktop_on_debian/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2022/06/15/postmarketos_2206/
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZCS1AO-VyW-hP7UfIwLndQAAAEw&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://ayatanaindicators.github.io/about/
[10] https://ayatanaindicators.github.io/
[11] https://github.com/anbox/anbox
[12] https://waydro.id/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/03/armbian_project_releases_version_2202/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/03/armbian_project_releases_version_2202/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2020/03/30/planet_computers_astro_slide/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2022/12/21/pine64_announces_new_open_tablet/
[17] https://www.theregister.com/2022/07/02/interview_purism_ceo_librem_usa/
[18] https://lineageos.org/
[19] https://mir-server.io/
[20] https://volla.online/en/
[21] https://devices.ubuntu-touch.io/
[22] https://ubports.com/blog/ubports-news-1/post/ubuntu-touch-ota-25-call-for-testing-3887
[23] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Ubuntu Touch [1]OTA-1 Focal is a major step for the community-driven UBports project: it's the first version of the smartphone OS based on Ubuntu 20.04 "Focal Fossa." All of its previous releases were based on Ubuntu 16.04 "Xenial Xerus." As we pointed out when we covered [2]OTA-24 last November , Ubuntu 16.04 was the last LTS release before [3]Canonical cancelled its convergence project .
One of the significant changes in this version is a change of name, although this is a bigger deal than it sounds. The original name for Ubuntu's touch-driven UI was "Unity 8." Now, though, it has been renamed to [4]Lomiri . OTA-1 Focal is the first version to use Lomiri, and as a result, a lot of components have had to be changed to reflect the new name.
[5]
The upside of this is a reduction in dependence upon Ubuntu components, and as we reported back in February, Lomiri is more distro-independent – it [6]also runs on Debian , as well as on [7]postmarketOS, the FOSS OS for smartphones abandoned by their vendors .
[8]
There are other changes too. Whereas the Xenial version used Canonical's upstart init system, the Focal version uses systemd. It has also replaced the old Ubuntu [9]Indicators with ones from [10]Ayatana . The now-deprecated [11]Anbox has been replaced with [12]Waydroid .
As we covered a year ago [13]while introducing the Armbian project , one problem with the SoC hardware in many phones and tablets is the lack of device drivers. Fondleslab vendors are at the mercy of the SoC manufacturers, and once those upstream companies stop updating their Android image, then the phone makers can't do much about it. This is why niche market hardware such as Planet Computers' PDAs are stuck on old versions of Android.
[14]Linux-on-an-SBC project Armbian releases version 22.02
[15]Planet Computers has really let things slide: Firm's third real-keyboard gizmo boasts 5G, Android 10, Linux support
[16]Pine64 takes another shot at an open tablet after chip shortages killed first PineTab
[17]The App Gap and supply chains: Purism CEO on what's ahead for the Librem 5 USA
If you're replacing the whole OS, a partial way around this is to run an Android subsystem in a container, allowing vendor-specific drivers to execute in that environment. Waydroid runs a [18]LineageOS image based on Android 11. Ubuntu Touch also uses the [19]Mir display server, which is still being supported and developed by Canonical.
For now, the new version supports a smaller list of devices than before: just the Fairphone 4, Google Pixel 3A, and three models of [20]Vollaphone . If you're running Ubuntu Touch on any of the other supported [21]devices , there's also a final update to the Xenial version, [22]OTA-25 . ®
Get our [23]Tech Resources
[1] https://ubports.com/blog/ubports-news-1/post/ubuntu-touch-ota-1-focal-release-3888
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2022/11/29/new_versions_of_ubuntu_touch/
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2017/04/05/ubuntu_euthanizes_unity/
[4] https://lomiri.com/
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZCS1AO-VyW-hP7UfIwLndQAAAEw&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2023/02/27/lomiri_desktop_on_debian/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2022/06/15/postmarketos_2206/
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZCS1AO-VyW-hP7UfIwLndQAAAEw&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://ayatanaindicators.github.io/about/
[10] https://ayatanaindicators.github.io/
[11] https://github.com/anbox/anbox
[12] https://waydro.id/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/03/armbian_project_releases_version_2202/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/03/armbian_project_releases_version_2202/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2020/03/30/planet_computers_astro_slide/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2022/12/21/pine64_announces_new_open_tablet/
[17] https://www.theregister.com/2022/07/02/interview_purism_ceo_librem_usa/
[18] https://lineageos.org/
[19] https://mir-server.io/
[20] https://volla.online/en/
[21] https://devices.ubuntu-touch.io/
[22] https://ubports.com/blog/ubports-news-1/post/ubuntu-touch-ota-25-call-for-testing-3887
[23] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Renaming and discontinuing
-> "Unity 8." Now, though, it has been renamed to Lomiri.
Whatever the reasons, I wish that people running projects would stop renaming them. Firstly, it is just another piece of useless information to know. Secondly, it removes the history or wastes time reading about it.
-> postmarketOS, the FOSS OS for smartphones abandoned by their vendors
I've been bitten by this sort of thing once before - Cyanogenmod. I've done it once and don't want to go down that one-way rabbit hole again.
Sad though it is, I do not see Linux smartphones as remotely viable (don't anyone try and tell me that Android is Linux in disguise - you know what I mean). For a bit of distraction they may be OK, but the likelihood (not just the possibility) of having the rug pulled from under my feet because somebody gets bored with a project or the developers decide to do something else is just too high. What then? There are regular justified complaints about $bigvendors not updating their smartphones beyond a couple of major versions, so that should hold for the Linux phones too.