Ubuntu Touch and Convergence (again)
====================================

One of the promised features of the Ubuntu Touch platform was so-called
Convergence. It was expected to be the way to make a phone which can be
converted to a  desktop computer just by connecting a  big screen and a
keyboard and a mouse.

The  execution   of  the  idea  was   relatively  straightforward:  all
applications have had to be written with  use of the Qt 5.x library and
with their GUI defined in the QML  markup language. Then it have had to
make possible applications  with dynamic layout which  should have made
them usable bot on small (phone) and big (desktop monitor) screens. And
on tablet and laptop screens, too.

It has been a sane idea but with one important flaw: very little people
are  eager to  re-write  their  applications for  use  with an  another
strange toolkit.  There is not much  Qt5 applications and even  less of
them use the  QML. Many important open source programs  - like the Gimp
or the Firefox -  use Gtk+ (even the old 2.x  version) and others still
use the Xaw (Athena) toolkit or even the Motif/Lesstif. And probably no
closed-source or even a commercial application  uses the Qt5 (but I may
be mistaken).

So  the Convergence  concept less  or  more failed  with the  platform.
Actually, no  one of  them is bad:  I used the  Ubuntu Touch  phone for
about 4  years and it  was much more  pleasant experience than  one can
have with more mainstream mobile operating systems.

But I initially got my Ubuntu Touch phone (the BQ Aquaris E4.5) because
I wanted  to use  the Convergence  feature (I still  have been  using a
no-SGI desktop  just a second one  - for tasks like  WWW browsing, data
transfer and so - thus having one device for both roles of such desktop
and a phone made sense for me).

Unfortunately, the E4.5  was never able to  be used as a  desktop - its
hardware didn't allowed  to connect a monitor and  the wireless monitor
connection was newer  added to Ubuntu Touch port for  this device. So I
got the BQ Aquaris M10 tablet: it  was big enough to serve as a desktop
monitor (10") and  it had a micro-HDMI connector. It  was ever possible
to connect the device to an  external screen and use such screen. There
were  bugs and  problems (not  all screens  were supported  and use  of
external  screen caused  instability  in some  cases).  After the  last
update  of the  original Ubuntu  Touch system  the external  screen was
totally unusable  because no  native application was  able to  run when
such screen was connected. They simply crashed just after their start.

When the Canonical ceased the Ubuntu Touch development then the UBPorts
people [2] decided to continue  in the platform development. There were
several updates of the system, the  switch from the Ubuntu 15.10 to the
16.04 (it  wasn't so simple  because the Ubuntu  Touch is not  a normal
Linux but  it uses  the Android  base system  with device  drivers) and
continued to remove bugs.

I recently have been started to use my M10 tablet more recently (I have
been using it  for reading of PDF  and other files which  are too heavy
for my SGI O2 or the Kindle reader)  so I also have been trying how the
device is useful for other tasks.

So, there are many improvements in the area of the so-called legacy X11
applications. They often work and there  is now a GUI tool (albeit very
simple)  to  install  them.  An  important  feature  is  that  now  the
Gtk+-based applications (both Gtk+ 2.x and 3.x ones) can use the native
on-board keyboard  (other X11  applications usually  work only  with an
external hardware keyboard  so they are almost useless  in table mode).
There are  issues with modal dialogues  but the X11 application  can be
used in the same way as the native ones. Thus now it is possible to use
the  StarDict  program  as  a  valid  replacement  of  the  native  but
chronically unstable KnownDict program.  It even supports the "sidebar"
mode: in the tablet mode when the device is in landscape it is possible
to see  2 windows - one  occupies about 3/4  of a screen width  and the
second occupies the rest. 

The desktop mode has been somewhat  improved, too. One can use external
keyboard and  mouse easily (both  the Bluetooth nd  the USB ones  - but
there is only one miniUSB port  available so use of USB devices implies
that the  tablet cannot be  charged via this  port). The device  can be
easily  controlled from  keyboard (but  some programs  still require  a
pointing device) and the user experience  - while far from perfect - is
much better  than when  one uses  a tablet.  There are  limitations, of
course:  there are  no  virtual desktops  and  the phone-style  limited
access to file system and  sandboxing of individual programs makes many
UNIX-like approaches  impossible. And if  one closes a  X11 application
then the whole GUI environment often crashes and is restarted.

But the  biggest issue  which is  still here is  a support  of external
displays: this probably  does not work at  all. I tried to  use a cable
(which is proven  to be OK) and nothing happened.  I even restarted the
device with  the cable connected  and without and nothing  happened. So
the "desktop experience" is limited to a 10" screen with a keyboard and
a mouse. It is not unusable but also not too comfortable.

Of course I wrote this post on such setup... I will be very grateful if
anyone can  recommend a good  and durable  Bluetooth keyboard to  me. I
have a HP one here and while it is small, durable and has great battery
life, its keys are terrible.


References:

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu_Touch
[2] http://ubports.com