What's the projected timeline for rebasing Ubuntu Touch from 16.04 to 20.04? And in preparation for 20.04, would you consider an "edge-systemd" branch while still on 16.04?

As you know, Mir will eventually drop all support for clients using the mirclient API.

Does the edge channel of UT still rely on the mirclient API? If so, what are the largest hurdles to fully removing reliance on the mirclient API and moving fully to Wayland?

How is Unity8+Mir upgrade development going?

And with what version of Mir will OTA-11 ship?

I get that "Libertine allows you to use standard desktop applications in Ubuntu Touch." But would you please explain (preferably ELI5) :

1. Why Libertine is needed, and
2. How Libertine does what it does.

Also, once UT fully supports Wayland (using new Mir and new Unity8), will UT need Libertine for running desktop Wayland applications?

@Leppa said in Ubuntu Touch Q&A 55 Is Saturday 27th Of July At 19:00 UTC:

Samsung's been working on deX for a long while now, so you'd have to convince them to give up all of their desktop related work.

I think maybe you're referring to Samsung Dex, for which, as you mention, Samsung has invested heavily in their own desktop.

But I'm referring to Samsung's Linux on DeX project, which runs a modified version of Ubuntu (developed by Canonical) in a container, and already has a Unity-like desktop, which if I'm not mistaken, is based on MATE. Also, Samsung Linux on DeX allows installing at least a few other distros and DEs.

You also have to get Mir & Unity8 working on android, which would in itself be a huge task.

Yep, 100% agreed. I'm under the impression that the above mentioned Unity-like desktop (because it's based on MATE) doesn't support Wayland, and so can't (yet) rely on Mir as a compositor. Whether Linux on DeX is currently capable of using a DE that supports Wayland, I don't know. But I imagine that if it's not yet possible, Samsung is working on it.

@UniSuperBox and @Flohack :

Thanks so much for addressing my questions regarding Unity8 in the Q&A. Much appreciated!

Also, sorry for relentlessly pestering you regarding desktop. I realize that your top priority is (and should be) the phone. But I'm thinking that getting Unity8 on the desktop may be a good way to grow your user base.

As you know, convincing potential users to buy a specialty phone to test Ubuntu Touch is a heavy lift. But I suspect that, once Unity8 is working on the desktop, those who like what they see on the desktop will be much more inclined to buy a specialty phone for further testing. So that's why I'm so eager.

You mentioned in the Q&A that UBports could use more financial/developer support. I wonder if you'd consider the following:

How about reaching out to SAMSUNG to ask if they'd be willing to support your Unity8 desktop efforts? They may have an interest in offering Unity8 as a shiny alternative DE for their Linux on DeX project.

Yes, I know that Linux on DeX is antithetical (and maybe even heretical) to your goal of convergence. But hear me out...

If SAMSUNG provided enough financial support, that may be a good way to fund Unity8 desktop development. And as an added bonus, Samsung's huge user base would be introduced to the goodness of Unity8, which, ultimately, would attract users to Ubuntu Touch. A win-win.

Too heretical?

Regards,
GizmoChicken

@dobey said in Ubuntu Touch Q&A 55 Is Saturday 27th Of July At 19:00 UTC:

The changes go to the xenial_-_edge branch, which you will get if you use the unity8 install tool to install on 16.04. At some point the features will get synced to the xenial branch when the updates are released to the devel channel on the phone, and after the stable update with the changes, we could probably get the bionic branch synced up, so the changes would be in 18.04 unity8 as well.

Thanks for the info. Much appreciated!

@sh4nks said in Ubuntu Touch Q&A 55 Is Saturday 27th Of July At 19:00 UTC:

Whats the status of the Unity 8 Desktop?

As a followup to the above quoted question for the Q&A:

Regarding development of Unity8 for the desktop, are the fixes that are being pushed to the "edge" channel for phones currently being pushed to the repository for the desktop? If not, could we get an "edge" channel for the desktop?

I'll just add that I'm eager to have Unity8 working on the desktop. My thinking is that many will want to try Unity8 on the desktop first, and if they like what they see on the desktop, they'll be more likely to install UT on a phone.

@Louies said in Ubuntu Touch Q&A 55 Is Saturday 27th Of July At 19:00 UTC:

Will the UT of the 18.04LTS version be built in the future or continue to develop the UT of 16.04?

As a followup to the above quoted question for the Q&A:

If I recall correctly, one of the reasons for sticking with Xenial on the phone was that moving to systemd (needed for 18.04 and later) would require lots of work. Do you plan to start using systemd on Xenial in anticipation of eventually building for 18.04/20.04?

The show notes from Q&A 40 include the following:

The possibility of the project Treble as a solution.

That could use a uniform API, via a binder, instead of going through bionic and libhybris as we do now. A Linux hardware interface definition layer uses C++ to create an interface. A service starts a device side server and connects to a vendor server. This is in a way similar to the way desktop systems operate.

Is UBports still contemplating whether Project Treble will be of any help to UT? If so, what are the current thoughts?