Ubuntu released the 21st for devs. Can jolla beat them with the SDK?

Probably not, but they'll likely beat them by a long mile with their OS on "final target" hardware, not just dev hardware/env.
And that final target hw is (supposedly) premium/top-end, whereas Ubuntu has said theirs will be targeting low-end (initially).

So umm, is this thread going to get back on-topic soon-ish, & be (somewhat) productive again?
I'm the first to admit that my own posts lately haven't helped in that regard...
Perhaps what's been discussed lately can be turned into something that's within the charter/intended_spirit of this thread?

Ubuntu will be available for the Nexus 4. Is that already low end?

And it will be available for Nexus 4 less than one week from today.

Really, & totally end-user complete... I think not, it'll be very much "tinkerer territory"...
As I said, Ubuntu themselves have said they're targeting low-end (initially) for their smartphone(s).
Ubuntu on Nexus (or other top-ends) is not for Joe Bloggs the avg phone user, it's about attracting/leveraging the Android dev community.
Which I'm the 1st to admit is a very good way to go, why on earth Jolla aren't going for a similar approach, is beyond me.
Perhaps it has something to do with the different models they're planning for Sailfish_Alliance, maybe it wouldn't work going that route.

Have to admit, I don't come by too much any more, even though i still use my N9 as a daily driver.
Having just grabbed a quick look at the last 3-4 pages of this thread, I'm reminded why i don't.
I'm surprised to see (especially amongst some who i assumed would know better) so much of the "me too" crap about hardware specs, as though keeping up with the current generation of hardware shipped on android devices is, by any measure, a determination of the performance of an OS like Meego/Mer/Sailfish.
that the OS appears (to all extents, as seen on the previews thus far shown) to run as smooth as it does on 2+ yr old hardware like the n950, is itself indicative of what high quality optimised code matched to the right hardware can do.
I'd be more concerned about application development for the OS and the integration of key services.
A great SDK, with a range of options to automate and assist with porting of existing apps, will do more for Jolla in the long run than the hardware on their initial device(s).
The Chinese market is far less interested in the hardware pissing competition that is being bandied about in the Western World...

True, and may I remind you of the N900. The hardware wasn't the best but runs Maemo 5 smoothly. Even runs Quake :P

N900 was mostly competitive when it 1st came out, same can't be said for the N9, but yeah, that's never been an issue for me personally.

PocketNow Interview with Jolla :
pocketnow.com/2013/02/14/jolla-sailfish-interview

Interesting part : "So we’ll start with one device, which we’ll announce soon, and afterward other devices will follow."

I just noticed that one of the questions I asked in the document has already been answered.

This was my question:

This is the response:

I realise that the primary customers of Mer are device vendors but as a developer/end-user I can't help but feel hugely disappointed by this stance.

It's sad that coreutils and other packages will be left outdated and will require extra porting effort to work around the differences between versions but my main concerns lie with compatibility.

I hate to think about what sort of tivoized coreutils a device vendor might conjure up and the incompatibilities that could be introduced as result.

Having an old version of coreutils in Mer make also makes it difficult to target Plasma Desktop and Plasma Active with a single package given that most Plasma Desktop installations will be using a more recent version of coreutils.

The Yocto Project doesn't seem to have a problem with GPLv3 in coreutils.