Community UBports its future
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Hello everyone, I am a user of Ubuntu Touch since February 2015, first developed by Canonical, and then developed by UBports since January 2018. I am using and enjoying this OS as my mainly drive. I have seen that UBports team is serious and dedicated to the project, maybe too much, as they are 24/7 working on it, just take a look at the Telegram groups.
UT has evolved and improved a lot until today. Now it has a very good visual and performance level, and thanks to the latest device ports you can use modern mobile phones.It pains me to see that the project could go much better and that most of the users won't fully support it.
We need the whole community contributing and by that I mean the whole community, which is not the reality nowadays. I see that people think donating money is for others, that some other user who has more cash will donate, that we don't have so much money than others. We want a free OS with good apps, and we don't pay for it. Yes, great!Ubuntu Touch could have been based on Ubuntu 20.04 a long time ago and we are still here on 16.04. What is the reason for this failure? Its users… those of us who use Ubuntu Touch, don't make any effort and don't care to fight for this. So, if UT stops being developed it won't matter either, because Android is better, right?
I do not understand it, we are more than 5000 users and the funding of this great project is nearly nothing, about 10% of users donate to UBports. I can understand those who live in countries with low purchasing power, countries mostly located in Asia, Africa or South America, but surely more than half of users live in countries with high purchasing power, even so, the amount of donations received is laughable and this is not a joke. UBports does not finance itself, you think of the expenses: lawyers, developers, servers, etc.
This petition is not only for the foundation, it is also for the app developers. App developers do not receive money for their hard work, I mean only few people have donated to them. Developers need money to eat, not just enough for a coffee. I have seen the money that some developers receive in Liberapay and is shameful: 1000 downloads of 1 app and we donate 20 € a year? Do you want good apps? Apps of all kinds, that are as cool as those of Android?Well, it looks like in reality we don’t. The users of this community do not fork their money out. Developers are discouraged by the huge effort and leave, so we end up with apps that do not get updates and when we'll move to 20.04 will be left to rotten. Don't you think that we could change this?
An OS without apps is nothing. Ubuntu Touch being good is not enough if it is getting behind Ubuntu desktop.I want you to think about another way to earn money, would you like to have ads on the UBports forum, like XDA developers do, or would you like to have ads in the apps you use often? It's a way to finance, others do it, why couldn't they do that?
Personally I don't like that idea, but maybe you do. There is one thing this OS is known about: its privacy and there is nothing private about ads. You go to XDA developers website and you will see the same ads as on the pages you browse, it's not very private, is it?I would like that the 2500 users that live in developed countries would tell me that they can not contribute 5 € per month to UBports and app developers. 5 € you save in beers one day, tell me really… would it ruin you? Would it ruin your holidays?
I understand that there are so many monthly payments to do. You can't help everyone but this OS needs the donations from its users. A fixed donation per month, imagine it is sort of gas or electricity bill but in this case to help to support your favorite OS.
• Do you want privacy?
• Do you want an open source OS?
• Do you want Ubuntu on your mobile?
• Do you want a secure OS?
• Do you want to use desktop apps on your mobile?
• Do you want to use Android apps?
• Do you want your mobile to be your computer?If we don't move forward in 5 years we will continue as today, having an old and left behind OS.
We need more developers for Ubuntu Touch and more cool open source apps.What are you waiting for? You are the solution to the problem, you can enjoy the best OS on your mobile, it can be done in a short time, we all have to support this project.
We need all the users of this community to donate money, those who can't, because of their low purchasing power 1€ a month is also a valuable contribution, those who live in countries with higher purchasing power could donate 5€, 10€, 15€, 20€ or more per month.
Guys, wake up. We have to help Marius, Florian, Alfred and all those community developers who make us enjoy Ubuntu Touch, the project has to go on like any flavour of Ubuntu, specially now that Dalton needs to recover, his exhaustion can only be fixed by himself, spending a lot of time resting, I hope he recovers and comes back to us.
Thank you all...
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@josele13 just to add to this, if you cant donate or dont want to for whatever reason, there are many other ways to contribute to UT. Including testing, translating and so on.
Here is an interesting thread on how to help: https://forums.ubports.com/topic/6991/how-can-i-help
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@Josele13 @aarontheissueguy
I donate regularly. If I could, I would also volunteer. Unfortunately lacking time (& for tech tasks: skills too). -
I fully agree that the UBports foundation and its community developers deserve the best funding from its users.
I would like that the 2500 users that live in developed countries would tell me that they can not contribute 5 € per month to UBports and app developers.
Do you know how many people use Ubuntu Touch on a daily basis? The data is not collected by the foundation, but the last estimates were about 7000 devices if I remember correctly (about 5000 users).
But these figures may be completely wrong...Some users (like me) donate directly into the foundation's IBAN account.
If we don't move forward in 5 years we will continue as today, having an old and left behind OS.
I think this judgment is a bit harsh.
In 2 years I have seen great progress in the development of the OS, although there is still much to do. Don't forget that development has been slowing down for almost a year now due to the work on the move to 20.04.Redmi Note 9S Stable
If God has a computer, it must be a GNU/Linux -
@josele13
hi, maybe a monthly "donation list" would be an idea. Maybe with a monthly target. So you can see what is donated by the "5000 users".
...is perhaps motivating... -
@jOHn-sILVEr : On the website there is already such a thing, at least partially. On the Donate page ( https://ubports.com/donate ), if you click Patreon or Liberapay they show the amount raised and how many people donated. This isn't the case for PayPal and SEPA bank wire transfer. Maybe the information could be presented in 1 monthly graphic (goal/progress bar), but it might be quite a job to make because of all the different sources (for someone with web skills & access to data). If presented in a more prominent place, it could indeed spur people to donate more or more regularly. If you mean a real list with names: personally, I would not like to be mentioned.
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@alter
yes, the progress bar is a great idea....
I wouldn't mention donors unless they request it....
(I'm only talking about user donations here, not sponsors). -
@john-silver: Just edited my post with new info.
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@josele13
Hi,Donation-oriented "companies" (e.g. foundations) do not work for free, they offer their products free of charge, but finance themselves through donations.
However, as with all enterprises, the products must function perfectly or be worth the money, otherwise there is unfortunately nothing with income.So with me it is so that I have bought a smartphone to use in the first place all phone side functions (phone calls, SMS, MMS, Camera, phone car handsfree system, phone memory, calculator, calendar, etc.), in the second place about a chat app (FluffyChat), Internet browser app, weather app, cetera. to use.
It was not meant as a hobby, but it was meant for daily use.
The as good as new hardware (phone) cost me 150.- chf, at launch (2016) the price was about 600 CHF, ergo in the difference 450.- chf are in it to donate. Whereas, I would spend a maximum of 400.- chf for a device, so there is still 250.- chf left. 250/5/12=4.1667 or about 4 years every month 5.- chf.
But only, if the device meets the requirements.
This should definitely be considered when a foundation asks for donations.I came to Ubports because I am an Ubuntu desktop user, so I knew about Ubuntu Touch.
In my opinion, after the upgrade to <Focal Fossa>, the foundation should work out a strategy and tactics (Business Plan) if the project should get staying power.
Mere appeals for donations will not bring a future.By the way, I have so far donated a modest 65.-chf, because just the important for me MMS and phone car handsfree system does not work yet.
Despite all this I love this operating system.
Greetings
Mario
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
📱 Oneplus Nord N100 UT20.40 (OTA5); then Xperia X (since 2020) at last UT 20.04(OTA5), now out of service due to defective camera
🐎 When you realize you are riding a dead horse, get off!
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@alter
Yes thanks...
but the progress bar I still find good...
( somewhere well visible on the forum page ) -
@john-silver : I agree that this would be a good thing, to have donate goal / options prominently on forum.
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@stanwood I asked when I was writing this and those figures are approximate numbers of people using Ubuntu Touch and donors.
We really should have moved to 20.04 at least, before the five years of LTS support was up.
I also donate monthly to the foundation by bank transfer since long time , before the foundation was created I donated by Paypal.
I would like if anyone can contribute ideas or solutions so that we have more developers in our community.regards...
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@mario-ch If appeals for donations have no future, turn off and let's go, because no one will want to contribute anything. Some time ago I talked about this with a friend and he told me, it is not enough what users contribute, I think that 10% of users who donate is too little,
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@josele13, I see it differently, I am of the opinion that a good product or a good idea, which is implemented very well and accompanied top, has prospect of success.
Even if it is financed with and through donations, for example many aid organizations or also Wikipedia.By the way, the entry of UBports in Wikipedia should be revised.
Cheers
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T tchan referenced this topic on
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honestly i don't think we should only focus on what users can donate. there are more ways to contribute, as already mentioned, including volunteering to lessen the load on "the core team".
As Dalton mentioned in the last Q & A "i've seen the mentality change from 'what can we do together?' to 'what can the foundation do for me?'" "foundation" can also be replaced with "the core team" the meaning is the same. If we want to grow we need to adopt the mentality that brought us this far which is "What can we do together?" and there's more we can do that just technical things like contributing code or donating money, we can also promote the project and perhaps interest companies with the same value to become sponsors, like volla, smoose and pine64, or ways to collaborate on the system. The field of ways we can help is huge, let's utilize it!
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@fuseteam I like that idea, that some companies will be the ones to pay the development costs in UBports. I think Ubuntu touch has a long way to go before any strong company wants to use it. I would bet on security companies that can convince big customers that UT is not vulnerable like android,
What kind of companies would be interested in an OS that doesn't have a locked bootloader or unencrypted phone rom?
In those companies will they see that UT is easier to use than android?
Do we have all the android options to be attractive?
Will these companies be able to use our country's banks or government apps?
Will the employees of these companies be able to make video calls?
Will they be able to talk from the car to another employee via bluetooth?
Will they be able to pay for food at the bar from their mobile phones?
All these things that the moderns like must be given to them on a plate. They are not going to accept that things work half-heartedly,
so you have to create a plan for the future where you can promise a company that everything works,
For me UT works pretty well, a company wants everything to be perfect.
if we ask for sponsors for the UT, we must give them guarantees of full operation in the OS.I can dedicate a bit more of my time to help UT, but I couldn't learn how to program because my job makes me spend many hours away from home.
Like me a lot of people.UT always have the option of ads,
More options please...Regards...
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@josele13 Ads would defenitely make me leave UT, thats for sure....
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@dizzy possibly most of us, advertising is bombarding us from all sides, they make a profile of you based on what you are looking for, it's not nice, I hope UT never has ads,
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@josele13 said in Community UBports its future:
if we ask for sponsors for the UT, we must give them guarantees of full operation in the OS.
And yet, we already have some sponsors who support us:
https://ubports.com/sponsorship -
@moem I like that we have sponsors, but it's not enough to move UT forward, you can see that right now, we're still on 16.04. The real problem is that we don't take the step, once you donate monthly you are proud of the help you are offering, 10 € is a good donation to make, we need to move UT to 20.04.
