ubuntu-phone team mailing list archive

[David Marceau <uticdmarceau2007@xxxxxxxx>]

On 04/29/2014 06:25 PM, Selene Scriven wrote:
> * David Marceau <uticdmarceau2007@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
>> why is it that we have to show an extra panel to have access to the
>> tabulation key?  When within the terminal on the Nexus 4, the extra
>> panel takes a great deal of screen real estate.
> 
> In general, I find the Ubuntu Touch keyboard painful to use since 
> I'm accustomed to SwiftKey or GO Keyboard on Android.  There are 
> some pretty major UI concepts we're not taking advantage of, so I 
> hope we'll either spend a lot of time on it before release or 
> make it really easy for third parties to provide alternative 
> keyboards.
> 
> 
> -- Selene
> 
Thank you Selene for sharing my pain with the ubunt-touch on-screen
keyboard.  It's really hard to use emacs with the current OSK.
I'm also wishing the precious screen real-estate would be preserved.
How hard is it to produce a full keyboard/mouse for a cellphone.
Motorola Milestone was the closest one, but even that one didn't have
the ctrl/alt/window/caps lock keys in their original positions.
Bluetooth keyboards are interesting accessories, but I would have
preferred a fully-integrated keyboard into the phone with no bluetooth
involved.  Why can't there be some standard keyboard manufacturer for
all phones with a standard connector for all future phones?  Shouldn't
clamshell keyboards/mice on phones be a standard?  The fact that
bluetooth keyboards exist hint to the inadequacy/inefficiency of simply
having a touch screen phone/tablet.  I do hope developers alike will
admit to that.

TANGENT-FULL ARM-based GNU/LINUX on UBUNTU-TOUCH HARDWARE.
-----------
Android developers have admitted to that by bringing in more external
usb/bluetooth input device support.  Android's GUI is crippled because
it doesn't offer the full GNU/Linux software repository and everything
has to be based somewhat on java/adk/ndk, but UBUNTU shines in that
respect an all the software already compiled for ARM devices, but not
completely functional/tested.  On GNU/LINUX, You can build apps/gui
using a limitless supply of computing languages rather than the
restrictive adk/ndk of ANDROID and the restrictive UBUNTU-TOUCH
UBUNTU-SDK Qt/QML APIS.

I honestly prefer full-feature UBUNTU GNU/LINUX over ANDROID and over
UBUNTU TOUCH.  Is it too much to ask for full-feature GNU/LINUX with
some new touch apis on UBUNTU TOUCH HARDWARE rather than just UBUNTU
TOUCH and just QT/QML?

You could ask Firstview to manufacture 2GB/4GB/8GB DDR3 RAM versions of
the following ultrabook:
http://www.efirstview.com/en/productshow.php?cid=45&id=97
FirstView S1162 Ultrabook with 1366*768 LCD capacity touch panel
RK3188 Quad Core Cortex-A9@1.6GHz, with Mali-400 MP
Android 4.4 RAM 1GB DDR3, Storage: 16GB Flash, 86-key keyboard, touch
pad, 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth

and offer the consumers two different versions:
-full Ubuntu TRUSTY GNU/Linux enabled with some extra touch apis and all
the regular desktop ubuntu software repositories available.
-constrained UBUNTU Touch with only click software repositories available.

That would be the best of both worlds.  I would definitely install the
full Ubuntu Trusty GNU/Linux in order to choose to use GNOME/KDE/X
rather than just use UBUNTU TOUCH/QT/QML(ARGH!).
UBUNTU TOUCH QML is still very immature as observed by the
key-field-navigation/datepicker/timepicker.  Other opengl/3d libs exist
like ogre that solve many problems but aren't available with ubuntu
touch.  Blender would be available to use from the regular desktop
Ubuntu GNU/Linux.  Forget Blender on Ubuntu Touch.

I love alternatives to the constraining Android/iOS/WindowsPhone but if
the developer api for Ubuntu Touch is just as constraining, it is going
to be disappointing to those used to all their digital freedoms on the
Desktop GNU/Linux that UBUNTU Trusty GNU/Linux and Debian Wheezy
GNU/Linux currently offer.

We need to empower the buyer to be a creator and not just a media
consumer.  Sell them powerful-enough hardware to put the
software(GNU/LINUX) that empowers them to record/create anything.  Don't
sell them hardware that constrains them to consume media(tv
boxes/android phones/ebook readers/mp3 players).  Ubuntu Touch as it is
seems targeted for consuming because it certainly fulfill the
requirements of developers and the disappearing APIs(no
X/GNOME/KDE/GTK/OGRE/BLENDER/etc..) swept from under our feet don't help
the matter either.

The more the hardware opens up, the more the developers will eventually
realize all their freedoms.  I just hope Ubuntu doesn't get in the way
by making the "constraining" Ubuntu Touch their one and only distro
because that would be their mistake which would make developers jump
distros again.