"NeoTheThird, community manager at UBports"- Nice to know that. That's a
part of what I meant by saying "Russian hackers". I know it well that
nothing is 100% safe nowadays. However if more people would know with
whom they are talking/working with, Ubuntu Touch would get more support?
An Internet site with clear rules, links, description, MILESTONES etc? I
meant that this project needs more transparency so that people who want
to support it know why, what for and who stands behind the steer.
I think they do it very well:
https://ubuntu-mate.org/
Cheers
Marcin
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*From:* NeoTheThird <neo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
*To:* ubuntu-phone@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
*Sent:* Sunday, April 16, 2017 3:48 PM
*Subject:* Re: [Ubuntu-phone] Idea: consider crowdfunding UBports project
Hi,
i can't wipe away your allegations, but i can try to put them in
perspective.
You have a point there. Ubuntu Touch is very unstable in many areas and
that will have to change. Our target audience are Linux users and that
won't change for the foreseeable future. If your grandmother doesn't
know how to bring up a terminal and execute a script to flash her
device, Ubuntu Touch is not for her. UBports only has a very small team
of volunteer developers, so marketing to Dorothy Default and Gabe
Generic does not make sense right now, it would just cause confusion and
disappointment. It's not feasible to make something for everyone without
a large team and lots of funding, at least not right now. Remember the
early days of Android? Then you know what i'm talking about. Ubuntu
Touch devices being sold to consumers too early is one of the reasons
why this project did not take off as planned. I agree with you there: UT
needs *a lot* of polish and testing. Calling, SMS, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS
and AGPS, essential apps - those are all on our to-do list. We won't get
it stable until tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. So until it's really
really good, we're targeting the nerds.
About that russian hacker comment: You can't be sure, i could be lying
to your face right now. Remember that UBports was already a thing before
Canonical ditched Ubuntu Touch. There are devices running our images out
there right now, so we could already be back-dooring a lot of devices,
maybe even yours. I like your shirt, btw, but you really need to clean
your apartment.
The thing is: It would not make sense to put all the effort of
integrating back-doors in such a niche OS. Vault 7 shows that there are
back-doors in many Devices at a layer below the Kernel, so why would we
even bother? Also, it's all free software, so all the code (except the
hardware enablement blobs that are not written by us but by the device
manufacturers) can be checked by third parties and the risk of getting
caught spying on people is pretty high.
No, seriously, you have a point. We understand that it might be
difficult for many people to put there trust in a project run by some
random nerds from the Internet. But we're trying to be as transparent as
possible. All code that ships is open source. We try to answer all the
questions in our bi-weekly Community Q&A
(https://blog.ubports.com/2017/04/15/community-qa.html). We share our
financial details with our Patreon supporters (Except the 10 Million
rubels we recieve from the KGB each month of course).
I hope that answers some of your questions. If you have any suggestions
how we can improve transparency and accountability, feel free to raise
your voice.
All the best,
Jan Sprinz, aka. NeoTheThird, community manager at UBports
On 16.04.2017 14:40, Marcin Xc wrote:
Money is not enough. I think this project died for the same reason as
Ubuntu Edge did: poor organization and managing skills. Programing
consist of a few levels. Some people here seem to completely ignored
them. Someone just wakes up and says "hey, I have an idea:
convergence" ignoring the very basics that would let the idea grow.
I wrote it already once: I wouldn't invest a penny in a project
without clean rules. These rules would be:
1. Ringing, reliable phone with sms, offline/google independent
contact synchronization, alarm clock FOR EVERYONE (also my daughter,
Mother, G-mother, not only for a geek) just like this one:
http://www.computerbild.de/artikel/cb-News-Handy-Nokia-3310-Remake-17350321.html
1a. testing
2. Bluetooth, wifi, etc, etc
2a testing
3. Additional apps + convergence
I would invest in a project like this.^
We should have right from the start a reliable device which would
grow. What happened was development of fully unreliable device.
I will not invest neither my time nor money in a project developed by
people who wake up and code. Try to use "Activity Tracker" on UT if
You want to know what I mean. Full respect for a developer... who
wasted his time because of UT system policies.
Now if the project is not traded through Canonical brand I'm not sure
if one of You will not be a Russian hacker - doing a perfect work but
backdooring devices. Or even if not perhaps again through people
filled with passion but going different ways. Give me the reason to
support this behaviour?
How wil You brush aside my allegations?
Best regards
GTriderXC
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*From:* Vincas Dargis <vindrg@xxxxxxxxx> <mailto:vindrg@xxxxxxxxx>
*To:* ubuntu-phone@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:ubuntu-phone@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
*Sent:* Sunday, April 16, 2017 10:34 AM
*Subject:* [Ubuntu-phone] Idea: consider crowdfunding UBports project
Hi,
I am user of BQ Aquaris E5, which is my actually first ever smart
phone, and I am deeply saddened that Canonical had to
end Ubuntu Phone project. I am very thankful for them for creating
this awesome, free operating system for smart phones,
with convergence with Desktop, which I am really not ready to leave it
in the drawer. Big thanks to them!
I have discovered that UBports project, which is continuing Ubuntu
Phone developing, has Patreon site [0] to collect
funds for it's development, and for the main goal they set to have
full time developer working on system we love.
I am encouraging you to consider funding UBports by becoming patreons
to help them continue Ubuntu Phone development.
There are actually lot's of free software projects and their
supporting organizations that needs our money too, may it
be Debian and Ubuntu, or maybe Free Software, Document and Linux
Foundations, but these mentioned have already their
stones set, meanwhile UBports really needs a kickstart (pun intended?
:-) ).
Thanks for hearing.
[0] https://www.patreon.com/ubports/posts
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