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Canonical Launches Internet-of-Things Version of Ubuntu Core 43

Posted by Soulskill from the things-need-love-too dept.
darthcamaro writes: Ubuntu Linux isn't just for desktops, servers and the cloud anymore. Mark Shuttleworth wants Ubuntu to be the operating system of choice for the Internet of Things too. The new Snappy Ubuntu Core is targeted at device developers and it's the basis for an entire new division of Canonical Inc. The promise of Snappy Ubuntu Core is also one of security, protecting the devices of the world, by keeping them updated. "With Snappy there is also a division of responsibilities for updating that can also help protect IoT devices and users. So we could deliver an update for a Heartbleed or Shellshock vulnerability, completely independently of the lawnmower control app that would come from the lawnmower company," Shuttleworth said.
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Canonical Launches Internet-of-Things Version of Ubuntu Core More

Canonical Launches Internet-of-Things Version of Ubuntu Core

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  • yay more cloud stuff (Score:3)

    by Osgeld ( 1900440 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2015 @09:24PM (#48861865)

    snappy core doesnt seem to be what I thought it was, I thought "hey here's a lightweight linux that runs on embedded things better" nope, its just a cloud service it seems from their 2 paragraph icons the size of postcards page on the ubuntu site

    • What Snappy and Core really are (Score:5, Informative)

      by billstewart ( 78916 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2015 @09:50PM (#48862045) Journal

      Core is a lightweight version of Ubuntu, intended so you can build it on small systems like cloud VMs or ARM boards or embedded devices. (That's an Ubuntu-ish use of "lightweight", which seems to be "of course you've got a huge disk drive even though you don't have much RAM or CPU, but I haven't yet loaded all the pieces to find what it takes to get a minimally useful system. It ain't Puppy Linux, but it's at least a JeOS replacement.)

      Snappy is a package manager. It's designed for doing transactional updates to apps and frameworks, so you can load things that you really want to either succeed completely or else fail completely and clean up after themselves, without getting into trouble like dependencies or having to wait until the next semi-yearly Ubuntu release to have all their pieces. It's a replacement for apt/yum/ports/etc.

      Snappy Ubuntu Core is an implementation of Core with a Snappy package manager on top of it. You'd typically load a framework like Docker on top of that, but you don't have to if your apps don't need it (or if you just don't have room.) Almost all the "Snappy Ubuntu Core" articles, including at Ubuntu.com, are mostly about Snappy package management, not actually about Core. Sigh.

      • First URL should be Core [ubuntu.com], and also in the second line of my post there's a missing quote mark after "of course you've got a huge disk drive even though you don't have much RAM or CPU .

  • Uses systemD like upstart.

  • I use Ubuntu as my workstation OS, and manage quite a few Ubuntu cloud instances ( among others ). There are so many small issues we have to deal with everyday. On the desktop side there minor "polish" issues, like settings that reset on reset ( e.g. Bluetooth radio ). There are random lockups ( I've tried several common systems, including one that came with Ubuntu). I have a brand new Dell XPS 15 coming in a week I hope fairs better.

    The fact that there is no way to use hibernate. It's 2015 and we can'

  • Now all of our devices can exist in a world of Unity.

  • Light bulb, ceiling fan, thermostat and garage door opener support.

    • The installation instructions says that logging isn't one of the services included in Snappy Ubuntu Core by default; you have to install syslogd or equivalent if you want it. (Presumably it's not just because it saves space, but because the system can be more flexible about whether or where to have writable storage if it's not logging things, and because one of the typical behaviours of Internets of Things is that they're for consumers who aren't going to bother reading logs anyway.)

      • The installation instructions says that logging isn't one of the services included in Snappy Ubuntu Core by default; you have to install syslogd or equivalent if you want it.

        Well, that is an epic superfail. Logging needs to be a core component of any IoT system. If my light doesn't go on, I want to know why.

  • "So we could deliver an update for a Heartbleed or Shellshock vulnerability, completely independently of the lawnmower control app that would come from the lawnmower company" Shuttleworth said.

    ... then I can have one system with both a patched container and an un-patched container. "Is your system up-to-date?" ... "Sort of." Now I can look forward to downloading the same patches N times, once for each container - thanks Mark, that's snappy!

  • Eat your heart out, Fappening!

  • Maybe Canonical should stop their Not Invented Here Syndrome. If something works for at least 90%, they invent something worse and force it into the main Ubuntu distro. Have the Canonical guys never tried one of their own updates?
  • Something to look forward to: constant software updates for my front door. And if the power goes out, sorry - you can't get in!

  • Just a chrome-os ripoff.

    As I see it: windows is desktops, BSDs are for servers, android or ios is for handhelds. Linux does not fit in anywhere - not since systemd.

  • "Things" like the Fridge or Thermostat should be extremely lightweight. If you need "apps" use a user-replaceable front-end-controller.

    The "thing" itself should be so lightweight that, at least for "things" like those that existed 20 years ago, they could run on an ASIC no more complicated than a mid-1970s desktop calculator or even with just a very simple circuit similar to that of a simple "dumb" home thermostat. The only complexity would be the optional front-end controller.

    The optional front-end contr

  • Might be great technology. Not a great acronym.

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