Comment 99 for bug 650498

As a fellow linguist, who also dabbles in typography and font-design and is from Switzerland, I think the problem has nothing to do with a Swiss rejection of the 'ß' (even though German orthography works perfectly fine without it and even though it is but an extraneous remnant of fraktur), but rather with the typographic uncertainty about the proper form of the (upper-case) 'ẞ'. The form preferred by most proponents of the (upper-case) 'ẞ' is
 the so-called "Dresden form". Typographically, it is based on a (lower-case) 'ß' that is shaped like a 'ſʒ' ligature. The Ubuntu (lower-case) 'ß' has a different form, though. It is shaped like a 'ſs' ligature.

Consequently, the (upper-case) 'ẞ' form that typographically fits the Ubuntu typeface (a form based on a 'ſs' ligature like the one used in the Ubuntu typeface's lower-case 'ß') clashes with the form the proponents of the (upper-case) 'ẞ' prefer (a form based on a 'ſʒ' ligature). I can very well understand how, given the choice between matching either the proponents' preferences or Ubuntu's typography, you would opt for waiting until the question of proper form has been settled.

(Sure, maybe I am mistaken and the reason for the delay is totally different.)