Where does Ubuntu Touch come from? And why clarify it?

[libremax]

We often read that Ubuntu Touch is developed by a small handful [5,10] of developers mostly in their spare time.
This is problematic because it can give the impression of "amateurism" far from "professional" quality standards.
In reality, Ubuntu Touch assembles a very large number of components, including the Linux kernel, GNU components, Qt, Mir, Lomiri, Ofono, and so on.
All of which are or have been developed mainly by hundreds of individuals in their paid working time for hundreds of different companies.
This does not prevent many people from contributing in their free, unpaid time, and the open source code system, which is visible to everyone, makes it possible to achieve high levels of quality.
Coming back to Ubuntu Touch, if, as I assume, less than 1% of the source code that makes it up has been developed by individuals in the UBports community in their spare time, it would be advisable to make it clearer in the communication about Ubuntu Touch where the more than 99% that makes it up comes from and makes it a complex operating system of great quality and value (several billion or tens of billions of $/€ for all the components).

For example, Top 50 contributors (out of more than 500) for linux kernel
(https://insights.linuxfoundation.org/project/korg/contributors) :

Organization
Total contributions
1
Intel Corporation
24,901
2
Red Hat, Inc.
17,172
3
Google LLC
13,908
4
Meta Platforms, Inc.
13,169
5
SUSE
11,222
6
Arm Limited
11,067
7
Linaro
10,202
8
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
8,634
9
Linux Foundation
8,594
10
Oracle America Inc
4,189
11
Microsoft Corporation
3,739
12
Huawei
2,481
13
Collabora
2,466
14
Datera
2,405
15
NVIDIA Corporation
2,292
16
IBM
2,174
17
Linutronix GmbH
1,993
18
Cisco Systems, Inc.
1,764
19
Glider
1,751
20
Bootlin
1,671
21
Uxlite Solutions
1,639
22
Qualcomm Inc
1,576
23
Texas Instruments Incorporated
1,300
24
CHERRY Digital Health
1,217
25
LWN
1,142
26
Ideas on Board
1,106
27
Renesas Electronics Corporation
1,043
28
Individual - No Account
980
29
NXP Semiconductors N.V.
895
30
Kernel Community
889
31
Pengutronix
848
32
Microchip Technology Incorporated
816
33
Chromium
804
34
Linutronix
766
35
BayLibre
737
36
Mellanox Technologies, Ltd.
700
37
Western Digital Corporation
639
38
NVIDIA AI IOT
622
39
Tencent Cloud
581
40
NEC Corporation
574
41
Fedora Project
561
42
Linux Kernel
545
43
Samsung Electronics Co., LTD
480
44
Rivian Automotive LLC
446
45
Mainline Linux Kernel Development
444
46
Loongson Technology Corporation Limited
444
47
Canonical Ltd
441
48
Marvell Technology, Inc.
431
49
Hovold Consulting.com
423
50
Broadcom Inc.
401

[arubislander]

@libremax while what you say is true, it is also unhelpful, in that it makes it seem like there are many more developers involved in maintaining it than there actually are, raising the spectre of unreasonable expectations.

The parts of UT that make so eminently suited for mobile devices (and this includes Lomiri itself) are in fact for the most part maintained and developed by a handful of devs, including those contributing in their spare time.

The other parts you talk about are common to all Linux distro's. And while UT would not exist without them, they are not what makes UT what it is.

[oldbutndy]

@arubislander I think you make good points.
But I would not call the original post unhelpful.
After I read that original post, I realized that an image could make this much clearer to all.
I tried asking Google to create an image (a wall of bricks) representing major components of Ubuntu Touch.
I asked that it show the parts created by UT developers in a different color from the rest.

The response was 3 different style groups of prompts for some listed AI systems, which could generate an image.

I have never tried to give prompts to these type AI systems, so maybe someone here could do that, and post image results.

after reading arubislander's post, I think it would be good to show that AI 'brick wall' so that all UT components that come from other sources unmodified are shaded green.
Then anything that UT developers have to modify, or create from scratch, is shown in yellow or red, or something, to show the degree of effort and or the 'criticality' of the effort.
In other words, the parts, without which, there would be NO UT on portable devices, would be in RED. (and maybe the unmodified stuff could be light yellow, instead of green, so the RED would really contrast).

ALSO, it might be good for the work of core developers to be a different, deeper shade than device porters.

It just occurred to me that an image of a tree would probably make more sense than wall or pyramid of bricks.

Anyone know how to create this, or have a better idea for a graphical representation ?

[Moem]

@oldbutndy said in Where does Ubuntu Touch come from? And why clarify it?:

I have never tried to give prompts to these type AI systems, so maybe someone here could do that, and post image results.

Personally I'd much rather someone create an image themselves, using their own brain and skils.

[libremax]

@arubislander imho, what is unhelpful is obscurity not clarity.
Heard again today at restaurant: "Windows is produced by a very large company... Linux is produced by independents; they do what they can."

With the current communication about Ubuntu Touch (which doesn't make explicit the extent of the resources involved in building it), the newcomer may believe that it's something cooked up by a dozen or so guys and therefore has no chance of getting anywhere near the competitors.

It would also be good for UT users to know that they are using a complex and valuable system.
Properly informed, donors could be more numerous or more generous.

A more realistic presentation of Ubuntu Touch and its scope could also help to attract more developers who would be proud to be involved in building a cathedral rather than a shack.

[gpatel-fr]

@libremax

It is my understanding that:

1. the development of the graphical environment, Mir, that sits between the shell (Lomiri) and the operating system, is still led by professionals developers from Canonical (I think Canonical are using it for IOT)

2. a big chunk of packages are coming unmodified from the corresponding Ubuntu distro, so callling it 'noble' for example is not an abuse of words.

This said, what's left is still a big effort for few devs, although I think that several are funding their Linux efforts (including UT) with a company serving mostly schools with a special distro based on Lomiri - even if schools are not especially the kind of customers paying a lot for their IT.

[oldbutndy]

@Moem said

Personally I'd much rather someone create an image themselves, using their own brain and skils.

Yes, if I had the knowledge, time, and skills.
The original post listed a large number of contributors for the base of the whole UT system.
I really had no idea it was so many, before seeing the list !
Add to that the parts done by UT Mobile core developers - THEY know all those parts, but who besides them ?
Then add the parts modified by the porters - I imagine they overlap with parts of the above - as relates to specific device hardware.

So, IF I had that giant list of details (hundreds, thousands ?), I could create a large spreadsheet, fill in all the cells with components, then shade them according to some map key.

Probably take hours or days, or more.

I tried Google just to see if it would / could come up with anything, to get an idea.
To see if the concept might be helpful to people.

[oldbutndy]

For perspective, I just googled 'top 10 core linux facts".
It pointed out things such as top 500 fastest supercomputers in the world are based on Linux kernel, and over 90% of net infrastructure.

[When I tell people I want to run 'real' Linux on my phone, and they look at me blankly, I mention things like that, and the fact that android phones run modified linux kernel...]

Then I googled "top 10 Ubuntu Touch Mobile facts".
More good info. The more important - comparing to Android - might be 'No data mining'.

The point I am trying to make with my various comments is to build on / combine the original post, and Arubislander, and others comments.

Ubuntu Touch mobile would be a stronger healthier community IF there were a few clear graphical pages that new potential users could see, so they quickly understand just how gigantic the Linux base is, and how Android is a part of that and so is UT.

I think a related point to make is total installs (according to Google): Linux 10 billion (installed devices, all types), iOS 2.5 billion, Windows 1.4 billion monthly users.

Major problem as I see it, comparing PC & laptops to mobile devices is ease of install on almost ANY PC, (even 15 years old), versus somewhat more difficult install on mobile, and EXTREMELY limited number of USABLE mobile devices.

Most everyone who has been here a while knows this, but it takes a while for a newbie to figure it out.