14 DAY TRIAL // FairPhone 2 is just one of the phones that are betting on Ubuntu Touch community ports, and it looks like the project is coming along.
The ability to port Ubuntu Touch for various devices has been promoted by Canonical ever since the start of the project, more than three years ago but little has come of it. The community tries to make this happen, but it's not like making Android run on other devices. It's a complex problem that usually revolves around device drivers.
The main problem that developers face when trying to make Ubuntu Touch run on various devices is the lack of driver support. We've seen many popular phones running Ubuntu over the years, but most projects stop when having to implement GSM or Bluetooth support. For example, one of the first phones to get Ubuntu Touch was a Samsung Galaxy S3, but nothing came of it.
FairPhone 2 seems to be doing better
The FairPhone 2 community has been asking for an Ubuntu port for a while now, and someone finally stepped up and it's trying to deliver.
Marius Gripsgård is the developer who is working on the Ubuntu Touch ports for OnePlus One and OnePlus Two. Both of these are more advanced than FairPhone 2, but this model is also coming along.
We even got a fresh screenshot to show how things moving the right direction. With some luck, we might see some of these models at the upcoming MCW 2016 that will take place in Barcelona next week.
There is also a website available right now, Ubports, that keeps track of the Ubuntu Touch ports that are currently worked on. As you can see, some progress is being made with FairPhone 2, but there is a long way to go until this becomes good enough to use.
Other models listed include OpenPlus One, OpenPlus Two, Nexus 10, Nexus 5, and Optimus L90.