UBports' Ubuntu Touch Unlikely To Move To Ubuntu 18.04 Anytime Soon

Given that it was only earlier this summer when UBports' Ubuntu Touch OTA-4 upgraded to an Ubuntu 16.04 LTS base, you might be wondering when they intend to transition to Ubuntu 18.04 LTS... But don't hold your breath.

During the latest Ubuntu Touch Q&A, the matter came up of if/when they will transition from Ubuntu 16.04 to Ubuntu 18.04 as the newest Long Term Support release. But long story short is they have no immediate plans to do so.

The resources of the community-driven UBports is limited as is and the migration to Ubuntu 18.04 would require systemd, among other changes, as well as 18.04 using newer versions of Mir, Unity 8, and libhybris that would conflict with the current UBports work.

They might end up skipping Ubuntu 18.04 as a base entirely and eventually migrate to Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, but that has yet to be determined. They will though be experimenting with Ubuntu 18.04 in Ubuntu Touch as time allows to determine its viability.

Those interested in the latest UBports notes can find them here.