Libertine on Ubuntu Touch: Poor Performance and Issues with "Read-Only" File System

manoiese

Hello everyone,

I would like to share my experience with Ubuntu Touch on my Poco X3 device and report some issues I've been facing, in the hope that the community or the developers might consider these points for future improvements. As a developer, I have higher expectations regarding performance and flexibility, but unfortunately, the experience has been frustrating.

Libertine Performance and Stability
Libertine, the solution for running Linux applications on Ubuntu Touch, has shown extremely poor performance. Apps that run smoothly on other Linux-based platforms are experiencing serious lags, crashes, and unexpected behaviors on my device. This severely affects the overall development experience and daily usage.
I understand that Libertine is still in development, but frankly, it seems far from being stable or ready for regular use. The resource overhead and slowness are significant barriers for any serious use, especially for those of us who need a functional development environment on the device.
"Read-Only" File System on Startup
Another major issue is the fact that the file system is mounted as read-only on startup, preventing direct modification of the system files. As a developer, I need the flexibility to modify the system, test different configurations, and have full control over what I’m developing. Unfortunately, the write-blocking is a major roadblock.
Even after attempting to remount it as read-write (rw), the system continues to revert to a read-only state after rebooting, making any changes temporary at best.
I believe the community could consider ways to make this more accessible or provide more flexible options for developers and advanced users.
Suggestions and Expectations
Improve Libertine: Libertine’s performance needs significant optimization to become a viable solution for running desktop apps on Ubuntu Touch. This is crucial for those of us who need to use Ubuntu Touch for development. The ability to install and run native Ubuntu tools would be a huge asset for the platform.
File System Options: It would be great to have a more robust way to configure the file system to allow permanent read/write access without compromising system integrity. Additionally, it would be beneficial if UBports offered clear options for developers on mobile devices who want more control over the system.
Better Documentation: Documentation on how to unlock the system and deal with these issues is not very clear, which leads to further frustration for more technical users. Perhaps a dedicated section on common developer issues and possible solutions in the forum or official documentation would help.
Conclusion
As an enthusiast of Ubuntu Touch and an advocate for free software, I would love to see the project become even more stable and functional for developers and users in general. However, the issues with Libertine and the read-only file system have been significant obstacles. I hope this topic will open a dialogue about these concerns and help the community work on solutions to make Ubuntu Touch a more powerful and flexible platform.

I appreciate any solutions or feedback from others. I hope that, over time, we can overcome these limitations and make Ubuntu Touch a solid and viable mobile alternative.

"Those who use Ubuntu Touch because they want more freedom, and discover that it is a blocked system, remove Libertine and release the system updates via apt, everyone is used to it and solves security problems at once."

ikoz

@manoiese

If your device supports snaps, it is better to install the snap version of your prefered app with Snapz0r (from OpenStore). Some apps have alternatives, or more optimized packages built for Ubuntu Touch (e.g. Firefox), so be more specific.
Please read this excellent post explaining why you don't need to remount permanently the filesystem as RW. If you still think you need it, just touch /userdata/.writable_image to make the remount permanent.

APT can cause dependency tree problems and more, every long-time Linux user knows that. Just search why an immutable OS is preferred when stability and redundancy is key. OTA updates are safer and have very low chance of failing compares to dpkg.

Keneda

@manoiese said in Libertine on Ubuntu Touch: Poor Performance and Issues with "Read-Only" File System:

Even after attempting to remount it as read-write (rw), the system continues to revert to a read-only state after rebooting, making any changes temporary at best.

First, the read-only file system is by design for important reasons. UT is designed for "normal users" before all.
Second, for Devs like you, it is possible to make it r/w in a persistent way, I don't remember the command line, but you can do it using Ubuntu Touch Tweak Tool app anyway.

manoiese

@ikoz this file was already created but it didn't work, I know it seems strange but I don't care if it breaks the system, these containers are very disruptive, I wanted to have full access, use access to applications running via SSH on a standard Ubuntu

AppLee

Hi @manoiese

I do appreciate your intentions here.

But you're wrong.

Libertine is getting more or less obsolete. Nowadays as @ikoz pointed out, we have snaps getting supported.
Still in early stage, but the goal of Alfred, who did all the heavy lifting, is for him to be able to develop for Ubuntu Touch from an Ubuntu Touch device.
We use an immutable file system for good reasons. The fact that you don't know that means that you didn't read much on this forum or about Ubuntu Touch. But it might also be because you had access to outdated information.
For the aforementioned reasons we probably won't follow your suggestions. But your take on the documentation is true.
We try to make those information more easily accessible but somehow people seem to get old news from I don't know where.
We have FAQ on the forum and on Telegram as well as weekly Q&A where these questions are answered again and again.
The porting documentation is being updated and the overall documentation seems pretty clear to me.
But people keep coming here expecting Ubuntu Touch to be something that it has never been and will never be.
That's a mystery to me, but I would love to understand where it comes from so we can fix it.
My conclusion is that as a developer, you should take a look at the documentation to understand what is Ubuntu Touch, how to develop for it on the application level or at system level.
My advice, before wanting to teach seasoned developers (which I am not) here a lesson, try learning about the project and asking questions. Only then you can become a master and start teaching the newcomers.

Ubuntu Touch is pretty complex and rushing in won't get you anywhere.
It takes time to get familiar with the project and to be able to contribute.
So take it easy and proceed step-by-step.
Your enthusiasm is appreciated and I hope you will be become a valued contributor if you take the time to learn and contribute.

Kindly yours

manoiese

@AppLee The problem is trying to create a system for common users, for that you already have Android, I know that the immutable system seems interesting for stability reasons, but after I saw Ubuntu Touch I discovered that I actually need Debian/Ubuntu for PC installed on the cell phone.

Keneda

@manoiese
Did you read my message above ?
You CAN make the system r/w.
Now if you want that the Devs change Ubuntu Touch just for you that will not happen.
You're not the first to ask, you'll probably not be the last disappointed.

And no, android is not what "common" people using Ubuntu Touch want.

manoiese

@Keneda sorry if I sound rude, what I'm trying to say is that Ub users are legacy Ubuntu users, Debian has worked the same way for years and this change leaves a lot of embarrassment, I believe that for my specific use I will have to assemble the system from scratch. (internal communication system for a security company), but think of a way to leave everything in/in a single partition for developers.

AppLee

Hi @manoiese

You didn't sound rude.
Just your assumptions about Ubuntu Touch users is not correct.
There are other existing distros of Linux on mobile, what make Ubuntu Touch unique is the fact that we can daily drive our devices without a need to carry another phone around. That's the kind of users we're serving.

Your use cases are not the one intended by the project.
No biggie, you can either find another project that suits your needs better or try to work around what is.

But your suggestions are misplaced.
You want to change what Ubuntu Touch is instead of improving towards the goal that is set.

If you feel android is for the users (and not against as I feel) it's fine.
But I find Ubuntu Touch more user friendly and respectful.

@manoiese said in Libertine on Ubuntu Touch: Poor Performance and Issues with "Read-Only" File System:

after I saw Ubuntu Touch I discovered that I actually need Debian/Ubuntu for PC installed on the cell phone.

What you're describing looks like Droidian.

@manoiese said in Libertine on Ubuntu Touch: Poor Performance and Issues with "Read-Only" File System:

The problem is trying to create a system for common users, for that you already have Android

When I read this, I understand something like:
Making a Linux distro for the common folks is difficult, for that you already have Windows...
This is in no way relevant. We know we have huge challenges ahead and obstacles to overcome.

But our goal is still to have a perfectly good, easy to use, privacy oriented, open sourced, well polished, stable, feature complete operating system for smartphones.

Keneda

@manoiese
As @AppLee said you don't sound rude, just honest.
But what you don't understand is that Ubuntu Touch is like that since the beginning, Canonical made it that way (read only in first) and users like me that adopted it since that time don't need a phone system with full access all the time.

Like already said if you want you can make it full read/write in a persistent way.
Or like you experimented, temporarily untill next reboot.

That can be useful, but for normal users for whom the system is designed, again, since the beginning, it is not mandatory or a normal use case.

If you want to continue with Ubuntu Touch on a normal way, you should consider trying to achieve what you want/need in respect with this particular behaviour of the system, like some Devs already did with crackle or things like that, I'm sure this would be a welcomed contribution.

Or maybe, like said @AppLee also, Ubuntu Touch is not what you need.