Ushby have released an official Review on UT.

[Lakotaubp]

@jin-diggs We do have sponsors and donors detailed on the webpage and then the rest is from donations from Community members. We are a Charitable Foundation incorporated in Berlin, Germany. Most definitely not a business operation.

https://ubports.com/
https://ubports.com/sponsorship

[jin.diggs]

@lakotaubp It has been edited.
New Review Score is 9.625/10. WayDroid and a 20.04 note been added as well.

[arubislander]

@jin-diggs I would like to address two things, the perceived focus on security of Ubuntu Touch and its claimed superior third party device support compared to Android.

To start with the second point, I am not sure where you might have gotten that impression, but to my knowledge it is not claimed on any official channel anywhere that Ubuntu Touch is superior to Android in any particular field, much less hardware compatibility in any form. Different? Yes! Distinctive? Yes! Superior? Very unlikely seeing that on Android devices Ubuntu Touch depends on the Android kernel and drivers that the device vendors shipped with them. If however you have seen that claim in print somewhere, please link to it, so that it may be addressed.

Regarding the first point. True, there are texts on official community websites that could be construed to claim that the OS is security focused. These texts are typically created by the marketing volunteers mostly or others not directly involved in the daily development of the OS, and reflect their current understanding of the project. But it might be more convincingly argued that this project is focused on producing a privacy respecting OS. Any security features or advantages that happen to be present are more of a side effect of, or a necessary means to, that primary goal of respecting the user's privacy.

[jin.diggs]

@arubislander I'll tell you the allegations link, but please.. can you first tell me what's the difference or similarity between Security and Privacy ? Maybe we come from different worlds !

And, are you saying that the marketing people don't matter ? or are you saying they are ignorant ? or maybe something else ?

Hmmm..

[kugiigi]

Security is a broad concept. You can say that UT isn't secured because currently you can't lock the bootloader therefore, it's vulnerable to physical access. It however is secured in terms of privacy because the whole system and apps are open sourcr and don't send or track your data. In reality, UT isn't focused on security nor privacy or at least not the priority for now but it doesn't mean it makes effort those two. The thing is you need time and effort for those two and the manpower of the community isn't enough so other things have to be the priority.

BTW, it's also incorrect that you can remove everything in UT. Well technically of course you can but not without breaking the system. For example, most of the core apps such as the browser are installed via deb instead of click. You can't really remove them. Again, this isn't exactlt intentional. It's just that no one has done or figured out how to make them into click or in a removable state.

[jin.diggs]

@kugiigi You have the right to say that. Doesn't make it compatible with my beliefs. I think we're on the same side though.

[cliffcoggin]

@jin-diggs said in Ushby have released an official Review on UT.:

The review needs modifications, I have anxiety disorder, so yes I shouldn't have given it 5, just a rough morning so excuse me. I thought this was a funded project.

Thank you.

I can not take seriously a review based on incorrect information, written by an anonymous author who admits bias on the basis of feeling ill. I suggest the review is removed until a more objective one can be written.

[Moem]

@cliffcoggin said in Ushby have released an official Review on UT.:

I suggest the review is removed until a more objective one can be written.

Let's cut the author a little slack. They're allowed to voice their opinions, even if their opinions are based on a misunderstanding; as for feeling ill, the world would in my view be a better place if everyone was this open and honest about what influenced their mood at a certain time.

[arubislander]

@jin-diggs said in Ushby have released an official Review on UT.:

... can you first tell me what's the difference or similarity between Security and Privacy ? Maybe we come from different worlds !

As @kugiigi mentioned, they are not the same thing.
Respect for the user's privacy is achieved by the app constraints in place in the OS. Apps typically only have acces to a very limited range of folders on the filesystem. They cannot typically access files from other apps. This makes it difficult for apps to access information behind the user's back. In this way your information remains private from other apps.
Another example of respecting the user's privacy is the unofficial slogan of the UBports community: "We don't know who you are, and we want to keep it that way!"
Meaning, no user metrics are gathered. We don't know how many active installs there are of the OS, simply because such metrics are not gathered. We can have a very rough idea, but it is just that, a rough idea. This makes things difficult, and it might become necessary to gather some kind of metrics as the project grows, but the default stance is, our users are anonymous.

Security entails things like how difficult is it to steal the user's data. Because of the first privacy example, the user's data is fairly safe from being stolen by a random malicious application that is installed, so long as the user never installs random unconfined apps.
But as @kugiigi mentioned, if a bad actor acquires physical access to the devices, then it is game over, since the files are not encrypted and the bootloader is not locked (except on the JingPad, where it is possible to relock the bootloader, thanks to Jingling leaving the keys to us.)

And, are you saying that the marketing people don't matter ? or are you saying they are ignorant ? or maybe something else ?

I am obviously saying something else! I have the highest respect and appreciation for every member of this community, especially those, both paid and volunteering, that put their time and effort into bringing this project forward, be it in coding, blogging, marketing, giving user support or brainstorming.
All I am saying is that with a large enough group of people looking at a large enough project, their perceptions of that project, while correct, will vary. Some pick up on the security aspect, while other pick up on the privacy aspect. Some like the niche-ness, while others would like to see it go more mainstream. None of these views are incorrect, they are merely emphasizing some different aspects of the project, at a definite point in time.

[jin.diggs]

@arubislander

Wherever there is privacy, security has been implemented. I think Privacy is a subordinate element and a byproduct of Security.

It's hard for me to understand some of your last explanation. Nevertheless, I have no hard thoughts, so let's just leave it at that.