Ubuntu Touch

For the first time ever, Android feels really limited to me.

I wanted to install an XMPP (aka “Jabber”) chat server, but did I have access to Prosody, ejabberd, OpenFire, or any of the other XMPP servers? Nope. There was 1 decent-looking closed source one in the Play Store, but that’s it, and who knows how (in)secure it is…

Now that I think about it, in 2004 I was using the Linux-based Sharp Zaurus PDA and installed Debian on there, where I had access to (and used) nmap, web servers, and more – and this was 11 years ago!

Ubuntu has been shipping stable, high-quality, open source software for over 10 years now (since October 2004). Android and its apps have been non-terrible for maybe 3 years. Perhaps, then, Ubuntu Touch has a chance after all – if it can ship a performant phone and catch up to Android on usability.

(To be clear, I don’t think Ubuntu Touch will ever have nearly the marketshare that Android has – which shipped on a staggering 84.7% of all smartphones in Q2 of 2014 – but I do think Ubuntu could nab 1% of the 1 billion+ annual smartphone market, which would be 10 million devices shipped per year.)