According to an article posted on xda-developers.com, developer Erfan Abdi, has "successfully created a GSI-esque, platform-agnostic Ubuntu Touch image that can be installed on any Project Treble compliant device."
Would you please talk briefly about the UBports Generic System Image (GSI) project and what the project may mean for the future of UT on modern (Android 9+) Android devices?
Not a question, but I just want to say...
Congratulations on your progress toward completing OTA-12! Amazing work!!
@nexus5 said in future ubuntu touch:
Please do 3 versions of Ubuntu touch: lite, normal, maximum.
To be direct, I do NOT support your proposals. Even so, I want to THANK YOU for taking time to express your thoughts here. Again, THANK YOU!!
Also, I’m very SORRY to see that a few have “down-voted” your post, especially given that “down-votes” are anonymous on this site. Please don’t let them deter you from expressing you thoughts here. 
As for those of you who (anonymously) down-voted this post, WTF? If you don’t like a post, take a few minutes to explain what you don’t like.
As an aside, I think this site should rethink allowing anonymous down-votes. Either show who down-votes, or eliminate the option to down-vote. Just my opinion, for which I suspect that I’ll receive at least at few anonymous down-votes for expressing.
I suggest waiting a few months (preferably at least six months) to gauge whether GitHub will change for the worse in any way. If you notice changes for the worse, then plan an orderly exit at that time. But if you don’t notice any changes for the worse, no need to divert precious time from development.
Mir 0.32 release candidate discussed here. Note the logind support is nearly complete.
@totalsonic said in Ubuntu Touch Q&A 90 Saturday 5th December At 19:00 UTC:
Seems to me Volla Phone, PinePhone, OnePlus 3/3T, Sony Xperia X series, PineTab, perhaps Google Pixel 3A, and whatever Xiaomi/Redmi device is looking to be easiest to fully support, would all make sense
Agreed that the focus should move toward newer phones. But I think that your list may be a bit too ambitious for the near term. Sometimes less can be more.
I realize that most won't agree with me on this, but in my opinion, in the near term, UBports should focus on making the upgrades needed for rebasing UT to 20.04 (and also moving to a more recent version of Mir).
Then, once UT has been rebased on 20.04, UBports should focus on (1) the PinePhone, and (2) working the kinks out of the UBports Generic System Image (GSI) project on just a few modern Android devices, with the goal of eventually supporting many more modern Android devices using the GSI approach.
Oh, and Lomiri on x86-64 devices. Don't forget Lomiri on x86-64 devices.
QUESTION for Q&A: Honest question (and not an attempt to troll), but why is UBports devoting valuable resources to bringing Halium 7.1 to old devices when those resources could, instead, be devoted to working the kinks out of the UBports Generic System Image (GSI) project, which has the potential to, eventually, bring UT to a great many modern Android devices?
@rik said in Ubuntu Touch Q&A 86 Saturday 10th Of October AT 19:00 UTC:
Is there any consideration in having a separate build that is not a read-only filesystem, e.g. more of a standard Ubuntu install? If there were something like that, I would think it could stand as the main development branch that would allow faster upgrade to 20.04 / wayland / systemd / etc. Then it could be a testing ground that new releases of the "stable" or "consumer" read-only system would come from.
It would also not frustrate any potential developers who want "standard Linux on a phone" (mobian, manjaro, fedora, etc.).
In summary, I understand a lot of the reasons behind the read-only system for stability, for security, for end users, etc. but I fear it keeps away possible developer interest that would benefit Ubuntu Touch in the long run if it were more "traditional Ubuntu" on a phone?
Based on the reactions to comments that I recently posted in the "The road(map) explained" thread, what you (and I) suggested doesn't seem likely, or at least not likely in the near future. However, Manjaro Lomiri may fit your needs.
Would you please talk a little about the goals of the Waylandify project? In particular, is a complete migration away from the mirclient API among the goals of the Waylandify project, or will some of that migration work require a separate future project?
I'm not at all clear what Canonical is planning for their "Anbox Cloud" project. But if the project aims to offer a way to run some Android apps in the cloud (rather than directly on a Linux device), the project seems like a good thing for Ubuntu Touch.
Your initial thoughts on "Anbox Cloud" project?
@erlend said in Ubuntu Touch Q&A 67 Saturday 11th Of January At 19:00 UTC:
I hear last time that.. Mir is going to be replaced with Wayland....
The devs can clear this up better than I can, and so I defer to the devs for a more complete explanation.
But in the meantime, suffice to say that it's not quite correct to say that "Mir is going to be replaced with Wayland." (Mir is a display server, and Wayland is a protocol.) Rather, UBports is replacing the "old" Mir display server with the "new" Mir display server.
The "old" MIr display server used its own (non-Wayland compliant) protocol, while the "new" Mir display server is now Wayland compliant. As of about Mir 1.6, in addition to being Wayland compliant, "new" also supports the legacy protocol that was used by the "old" Mir display server. However, that legacy support will eventually be removed from Mir (probably starting from about Mir 1.7), hence the need to "Waylandify" Ubuntu Touch.
Questions for Q&A: Regarding your efforts to "Waylandify" Ubuntu Touch, have you had a chance to experiment much with moving libertine to use xwayland? And if so, what are your initial impressions regarding the difficulty of the project?
@povoq said in Ubuntu Touch Q&A 98 Saturday 10th Of April At 19:00 UTC:
@shouko Yes I noticed that. I was rather wondering if there is a chance for more official support, maybe via the Ubports installer.
Honestly, I haven't tried to install UT to a newer Android (9+) phone hanving A/B slots. So I have no idea what A/B options are even possible with the current installer. But, yep, I'd really like to have a way to install to a "B" slot, while leaving Android in the "A" slot untouched (or vice versa.)
@UniSuperBox If not already possible (which it doesn't seem to be), I hope that, sometime in the future, the UT installer will allow for installing UT to a "B" slot, while leaving the factory-shipped Android in the "A" slot untouched (or vice versa).
If that's already possible, that would be welcome news to me, and so I hope that you'll discuss in this (or maybe a future) Q&A.
@shouko said in Ubuntu Touch Q&A 98 Saturday 10th Of April At 19:00 UTC:
@povoq You can unofficially dual boot A/B devices if you have UT installed on one slot and any other OS installed on another slot. You can switch slots easily using bootclt commands or use a GUI app like https://open-store.io/app/switch-my-slot.shouko to do that.
@shouko Awesome! Thanks!!
According to the project management and issue tracking page for the PinePhone:
Applications running on the PinePhone use the Wayland protocol, not MirAL, to speak to Mir. Therefore, all of the issues posted in the Waylandify project on UBports' GitHub affect Ubuntu Touch on the PinePhone.
I notice that the referenced Waylandify project hasn't been updated since July 8, 2020.
Question: Do the issues posted for the Waylandify project still affect Ubuntu Touch on the PinePhone?
If selected to become the first Norwegian in space, will @mariogrip develop UT from the Moon?
Regarding Lomiri on Manjaro ARM for the PinePhone, in your view, what are the biggest issues to be overcome?
During Q&A 93, @mariogrip mentioned that you've made much progress with systemd. Which is great news!
QUESTION: For Halium devices, are you considering the possibility of transitioning from upstart to systemd while still based on 16.04? Or will you continue using upstart until re-based on 20.04?
Speaking for myself (and only myself), I greatly enjoy hearing about your progress with the technical foundations of UT.
So...
QUESTION: With the transition to Qt 5.12 (a huge accomplishment!) nearing completion for the release of OTA-16, what will be your primary goal for OTA-17?
On Twitter, @mariogrip asked:
Ubuntu for me, please.
Also, I was surprised (and intrigued) to see someone request Lomiri on Fedora SilverBlue.
QUESTION: I realize you have many things on your plate now, and so I'm not asking about your immediate plans, but would you consider bringing Lomiri to Ubuntu Core sometime in the future?
@mariogrip shared Lomiri desktop running on Manjaro https://twitter.com/Mariogrip/status/1349884746806009856.
@mariogrip Awesome!
@totalsonic said in Ubuntu Touch Q&A 90 Saturday 5th December At 19:00 UTC:
Seems to me Volla Phone, PinePhone, OnePlus 3/3T, Sony Xperia X series, PineTab, perhaps Google Pixel 3A, and whatever Xiaomi/Redmi device is looking to be easiest to fully support, would all make sense
Agreed that the focus should move toward newer phones. But I think that your list may be a bit too ambitious for the near term. Sometimes less can be more.
I realize that most won't agree with me on this, but in my opinion, in the near term, UBports should focus on making the upgrades needed for rebasing UT to 20.04 (and also moving to a more recent version of Mir).
Then, once UT has been rebased on 20.04, UBports should focus on (1) the PinePhone, and (2) working the kinks out of the UBports Generic System Image (GSI) project on just a few modern Android devices, with the goal of eventually supporting many more modern Android devices using the GSI approach.
Oh, and Lomiri on x86-64 devices. Don't forget Lomiri on x86-64 devices.
QUESTION for Q&A: Honest question (and not an attempt to troll), but why is UBports devoting valuable resources to bringing Halium 7.1 to old devices when those resources could, instead, be devoted to working the kinks out of the UBports Generic System Image (GSI) project, which has the potential to, eventually, bring UT to a great many modern Android devices?