Ubuntu-on-ARM to Target Handhelds
Linked by Thom Holwerda on Thu 13th Nov 2008 18:12 UTC, submitted by DeviceGuru
Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu Canonical Ltd., commercial sponsor of Ubuntu Linux, says it's porting Ubuntu to the ARM RISC processor architecture. Ubuntu on ARM will target netbooks and other emerging device categories requiring a "rich, always-connected, mobile computing experience, without compromising battery life." The ARM version of Ubuntu, due next April, initially will support the ARMv7 RISC architecture, including SoCs (system-on-chip processors) based on ARM Ltd's Cortex-A8 and Cortex-A9 cores.
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Nice
by Parry Hotter on Thu 13th Nov 2008 19:19 UTC
Parry Hotter
Member since:
2007-07-20

Perhaps this stuff will finally breath some life into my basically useless Neo Freerunner.

Reply Score: 1

RE: Nice
by l3v1 on Thu 13th Nov 2008 19:42 UTC in reply to "Nice"
l3v1 Member since:
2005-07-06
RE: Nice
by hobgoblin on Fri 14th Nov 2008 08:37 UTC in reply to "Nice"
hobgoblin Member since:
2005-07-06

more likely, this could have interesting effects on the use of ARM in things like netbooks.

and it could also mean that one can run full blown ubuntu on the pandora!

Reply Score: 3

RE: Nice
by Ithamar on Sat 15th Nov 2008 18:52 UTC in reply to "Nice"
Ithamar Member since:
2006-03-20

Heh, RTFA, they are targeting the ARM Cortex based SoCs, so that excludes the ARM9 that's in the FreeRunner ;)

Reply Score: 1

Haiku first!
by mmu_man on Thu 13th Nov 2008 20:37 UTC
mmu_man
Member since:
2006-09-30

I need moral (and other) support to beat them at it ;)

Reply Score: 2

A port?
by 3rdalbum on Fri 14th Nov 2008 09:17 UTC
3rdalbum
Member since:
2008-05-26

It's not much of a port, is it?

Everything in Debian can be compiled for ARM, and all the Ubuntu-specific parts of the system are written in Python anyway and will "just run" on ARM.

I am, however, concerned that Canonical is stretching itself thinly. The market for ARM-based netbooks is roughly zero, because they can't run Windows and they can't run proprietary Linux programs like Flash Player and Google Earth. I thought Canonical was in bed with Intel anyway on the handheld front?

Reply Score: 1

RE: A port?
by rcsteiner on Fri 14th Nov 2008 19:32 UTC in reply to "A port?"
rcsteiner Member since:
2005-07-12

My Nokia 770 runs Maemo Mapper, which is a *wonderful* mapping package supporting Google Maps, Yahoo Maps, and Virtual Earth amongst others.

Dunno if a modern Ubuntu would ever be able to boot on a 64MB device, though. :-(

Reply Score: 2

RE: A port?
by rcsteiner on Fri 14th Nov 2008 19:39 UTC in reply to "A port?"
rcsteiner Member since:
2005-07-12

I might as well add that Google Maps for PalmOS 2.0.2.0 works just fine in the Garnet VM on the 770, and seems to be able to link via wifi just fine.

It's only real advantage is the ability to interact with the GVM address book -- and maybe also the traffic overlay. Otherwise, Maemo Mapper kicks its butt three ways from Sunday (higher res, more maps, etc). :-)

Edited 2008-11-14 19:39 UTC

Reply Score: 2

Interesting
by motang on Fri 14th Nov 2008 12:46 UTC
motang
Member since:
2008-03-27

I would like to see what they come up with. Hopefully some cool stuff. ;)

Reply Score: 1

Comment by BSDfan
by BSDfan on Sat 15th Nov 2008 11:41 UTC
BSDfan
Member since:
2007-03-14

And yet again, the world is ignorant.. I thought the Linux kernel already supported ARM?

So.. what exactly are they porting? bash shell scripts? I'm fairly certain those will run unmodified.

Linux users are silly.. the all share the same kernel, and a slightly modified user land, when someone changes one line of shell code they announce it to the world and demand a royal leg hump.

:-)

Edited 2008-11-15 11:42 UTC

Reply Score: 1

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