I think it is pretty clear now: If now wonder happens, we are stuck with Android 4.2 on our FP1’s. I know the Fairphone team is thinking hard about what to do about that. A lot of us have pointed out how sad it is if a phone with perfectly good hardware is out-dated because of missing software updates. I think the problem lies in Mediatek’s software service / policy not supporting low volume/low cost chipsets and not opening drivers and documentation so the community could step in and Google abandoning old Android releases pretty fast without even providing securtiy updates. emphasized text
Apart from that, while Android gets better and better looks and great features each release, Google seems to slowly back of their open source strategy. The core of Android will always be open source, but more and more user applications are left behind - starting with the music player, gallery, camera and email, a lot of the open source apps included in Android are dated.
Now, I have used a Firefox OS phone briefly before my Fairphone arrived and really liked it. On the desktop I switch between OS X on my laptop and Ubuntu Linux on my PC and almost every PC at work. And I also run a Windows 8 for gaming. So you can consider my pretty open minded and i am used to adapt my workflow on different Operating Systems. And i really feel at home with Ubuntu. A few questions aside - which i asked about in the Ubuntu Community - it’s a no brainer for me: I would love Ubuntu on my Fairphone. And i am not only talking about the FP2, i also keep thinking about if there should be a community port (best would be if supported by Fairphone) for the FP1 and FP1U. Both hardware is powerful enough.
There are still a lot of open questions, nobody knows yet if Ubuntu on the FP is ever happening. But as i might be biased and as i certainly curious and enthusiastic enough, i might not be a good representation of the typical FP user. You might have completly different thoughts on that and i am very interested to hear them!
PS: Spontaniously, i think the only apps i would miss is Here/OSM for offline navigation, WhatsApp and the DB Navigator for buying train tickets mobile here in Germany.
I think this would be great myself, although I worry about the mass market appeal of phones that can’t run apps like we’ve become used to on Android/Apple devices. Microsoft really has struggled to get apps in their store since the launch of Windows Phone - and with so many people heavily invested in the Apps technologies it’s becoming a sticking point. That said, if we can run apps via emulation routes, this may well solve all problems!
I’ve not used Linux for many many years, and although it wasn’t Ubuntu, I remember how I clicked with it. I’d love to get back into that.
I would love the day when we’re not reliant on big corporates that see updates as problems and want to get rid of old devices out the market so they can sell more. I’d support this 100%
I believe most of us of try think of the bigger picture and how of “casual” users in a lot of comments here. I’ve done the same in several threads here in actually voted for Android Updates vs Alternative OSes in on the polls here. In my case, it is because i want the Idea of Fairphone to thrive and thought mass market appeal is very important AND that appeal is only reached with a mainstream os with a lot of apps. Maybe we are wrong in one or both of this premises. I don’t know and because of that, i want to stop trying to get my head around what the typical user wants.
Maybe there is a market for a Fairphone with Ubuntu, for example. It might very well be that 100.000 persons per year are wiling to make the compromise. For, it would no longer be a compromise but an additional benefit.
I therefore only tried to answer one question: Would i be willing to a) buy a future fairphone with Ubuntu (almost certainly) and b) what would i think of Ubuntu as a alternative or replacement to the dated Android on the current Fairphone (i would love it!).
I think you’re right, if FP went out with Ubuntu it would attract a different set of people to buy the FP and it’s undeniable that there is a market for this.
I’m very much of the opinion of not limiting options and markets, so the best outcome is one where both OS’s can be run and it’s then up to users to choose what they want. As long as FP are willing to support that would work for me.
I also like the questions you posed a) yes I would and b) I would love it too
I’d absolutely love to try out ubuntu on my FP1. I think that apps suppport wouldn’t be a problem, at least for me, and the idea of a “convergence” brought by Canonical is innovative and great.
That’s, for example, one thing we are very far from here on android (and it’s not just a matter of jelly bean 4.2)
