The Ubuntu community is set on providing proper support for the Pebble smartwatch, and it looks like the RockWork project is going really well.

The support for Pebble started with just a simple notification on the watch about an incoming call, but it turns out that there are a lot Ubuntu users out there that also have a Pebble smartwatch and they want to use them. Some developers are now working to provide much better Pebble support, in the absence of any kind of official support.

It's possible that Pebble will notice the increased enthusiasm of the Ubuntu users and made some changes that would allow better control of the watches from Ubuntu systems, or maybe they will pick the job themselves, but that doesn't seem likely. That job now falls on the shoulders of the community, which is already doing an amazing job.

No official support, but great community effort

Even if Pebble is not an open watch, the developers who are working on the RockWork project have made some amazing progress. They won't be able to have full support, but they are getting pretty close.

The other problem is that Ubuntu doesn't allow apps to access push notifications, due to security reasons, but that's being worked on. For now, users will have to get the application from the unofficial store and run it from there.

For now, the supported features in RockWork include incoming notifications, voice call control, sync calendar, music control, app management, watchface management, Pebble app store integration, taking screenshots of the watch, and firmware upgrades.

Even if this seems like it's all you would ever need, the project still has some shortcomings. The app engine, the remote services involving pebble.com don't work, and the health app is disabled after reboot.

You can check the progress made with the app on Launchpad.