Q&A 2018-01-20

News

Anbox

Anbox currently runs only on MediaTek devices: Meizu Pro 5 and BQ Aquaris M10 tablet running 16.04. Issues with color space on Qualcomm devices are currently a roadblock, but developers are working on getting Anbox on all core devices. Instructions for testing supported devices are in the documents.

16.04

Most users can now test 16.04 on their devices. It is still only for testing and not as a daily driver. Some things like the OpenStore do not work properly. Users are encouraged to test it out and report bugs for the system and apps that are not working. Guidelines for reporting bugs are also documented.

Halium

Flo and Dalton have been working on Halium and flashing to devices. They demonstrated Ubuntu Touch booting on Samsung devices with the aid of Halium. The bootime is still quite slow, but this is very early development. Samsung devices don't have fastboot, so Halium helps to bridge the gap for flashing on these devices. Any device with LineageOS 12.1 or 14.1 should be able to work with Halium.

Community Channels

The community channel for flashing devices is open. The Moto G 2014 is now on the community channel and can run Ubuntu Touch! The community channel will be maintained by the community, and will not be part of the core devices.

uNav

uNav relies on a map server for routing. uNav was using Mapzen as its backend routing engine, but Mapzen is now shutting down its services. We are in look of a service with a similar API to mapzen.

Meetup

A forum post about coding workshops has turned into an event. Community memebers will be meeting at Valtech GmbH Friedenheimer Brücke 29 80636 München March 17-18, 2018.

Questions

[30:50]

18.04

18.04 is coming after (not before) 16.04, which is supported until 2020. We depend on canonical upstream for package updates.

[35:07]

MyCroft AI integration

Marius demonstrated some integration a long time ago but without the UI. This is not a priority until we reach the 16.04 milestone. We will leave this to the community until we can combine efforts.

[38:10]

CardDav

CardDav is for syncing contacts with the Contacts app. Jan says it's being worked on.

[40:08]

Multiboot

Multiboot is not fun to maintain and we don't have time to do it. Some people have been able to get this working with kernel patches and recovery tricks, but it will kill OTA updates. We plan for Anbox to solve the Android problem.

Will Anbox kill app devlopment?

No, we still want core apps. Tt's more fun and exciting, and flexibility. Anbox is just a solution when we have no other choice.

[44:39]

Official presentation slides for UBports

There was slided eck from Ubucon once upon a time. We will look for that and see if it needs updating, then release it to the community.

[48:10]

Chemnitz Linux Days

UBports has applied to to talks atChemnitz Linux Days. There has not been a reply yet, but the chances are better than at FOSDEM. UBports will also be hanging around Ubuntu-related booths.

[49:30]

Is there a video of Ubucon?

No

[50:45]

Hardware Vendors

There are no hardware vendors as of yet that are talking about shipping devices with Ubuntu Touch. We continue to communicate with Purism who are open to having Ubuntu Touch on their devices, but there is no pre-install guarantee.

[53:00]

Snaps

Snaps are not yet supported on Ubuntu Touch, but we want to bring to core devices. The development of this is still vauge. Canonical was working on this, but never finished. OS and kernel patches need work for this to happen.