On Thursday, January 21st, Canonical released the Ubuntu Touch Preview tailored specifically for the Nexus devices (Galaxy Nexus, Nexus 4, Nexus 7, Nexus 10). Up until recently, those were the only devices supported by the platform, or at least proven to run the Ubuntu Touch Preview.
Thanks to a long list of resourceful developers and tinkerers, the amount of supported devices is growing considerably.
Instead of designing the core apps for Ubuntu in-house, Canonical turned to the community for help with the task. Any able developer can contribute to the core software that will be pre-loaded on Ubuntu Phone devices. As it would seem, Canonical is taking this same approach in porting the OS to various devices.
Canonical has kicked into gear a movement they call the Ubuntu Touch Port-a-thon. The goal is to get Ubuntu Touch working on as many devices as possible.
There is quite a bit of work to be done, we all know that, but it’s a giant opportunity for us, the Ubuntu community. Everybody can contribute to the effort and we can show the world how we believe software should look like.
They’re essentially calling for anyone who is up to the task, to port Ubuntu Touch to an accessible device. As a side note: this is a terrific opportunity for HP Touchpad owners to put that tablet to good use, finally.
Ubuntu Developer Daniel Holbach wrote in a dedicated blog post:
“If you don’t mind some tinkering, maybe some kernel building, some configuration meddling, and flashing your device repeatedly, you might just be the person we’re looking for.”
Canonical also provided some key resources that will help in porting Ubuntu Touch. An in-depth porting guide, for example, details how Ubuntu Touch works, how it’s structured, and how to manage images and port them for use on alternate devices. Of course, you will need a comprehensive understanding of how to port software, which includes software development and programming expertise.
As I mentioned above, there is already a large number of developers working towards porting Ubuntu Touch to their device of choice. A complete list of devices successfully running Ubuntu Touch can be found here.
Currently, the list includes 25 additional devices other than the originally supported Nexus products. Some notable mentions included on that list are the Motorola Xoom, Sony Xperia, Huawei Ascend, Samsung Galaxy Note II, Asus Transformer Pad TF300T, HTC One X, and the Verizon Samsung Galaxy SIII. Of course, there are plenty of other devices listed, as well. I suggest you keep checking back with the list, linked above because it’s a work in progress and more devices will be added over time.