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Transmeta Releases Midori Linux
_Upsilon_ writes "Transmeta announced today that they have released under the GPL their mobile linux as "Midori Linux". It is an x86 compatible version of Linux for internet appliances, residential gateway appliances, wireless web pads, and home audio components." They've got SourceForge project setup for discussion and usage. As well, the download page is ready - the current version is 1.0.0-beta1. And be careful not to drink too much of the distro.
Unless a lot has changed since I saw their marketing material, they either are offering, or are planning to offer a "native" version with a RISC instruction set as well. However, that may be old scrapped marketing "truths"... :-)
Well, it isn't like this distro is in any way in competition with the other distros. If Transmeta ever becomes successful enough to make RH and others do a Transmeta-centric distro, I'd expect he might reconsider things. But as it is, doing this doesn't seem to create much conflict for him- it doesn't look like it is reducing the time he spends on the mainstream kernel, and it isn't going to reduce revenue or opportunities for RH and others. So... I still don't think that he's in much trouble with the conflicts he was worried about at the time he joined Transmeta.
That said, I'd like to see a little more Big Iron development work... but that is (as other folks have pointed out) as much a factor of hardware availability as anything else, I think. We'll see, I s'pose...
IAAL,BIANLY
Looking at the FAQs, Midori is tuned to be runnable in a small environment like a flash rom, though it needs a development system with a couple hundred meg of storage (i.e. probably not the target system, unless you've got a target with LOTS of memfs ram or a USB disk or you're running it on a real PC.) But what's missing that would be in a normal Linux configuration? Presumably lots of development tools, but is the kernel all there, or is it rabidly stripped of any device drivers you don't explicitly configure in? Would it be easy to add something like the FreeSWAN IPSEC system (which is mostly kernel plus a few user-space daemons and utilities, and tends to also want some firewalling tools)? Is building a small linuxrouter configuration relatively easy in Midori?
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
...the name of a porn actress here in the States. I had drinks with her once; she's smart, pretty, well-spoken, and possessed of an infectious sense of fun.
But why on earth would anyone name a distribution after her?
You mean on the very first day they announced Crusoe.
http://midori.transmeta.com/manual/midori_logo_ful l.gif
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- Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set him on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
"It is an x86 compatible version..."
But wait, what business line is Transmeta in? Software or Hardware? Or is this a sign that they are having a hard time with their CPU (hardware) line of business?
I want to know what such a project that takes away valuable resources from the company has to do with their bottom line when it is not aimed directly at their core business line and product.
They better stay focused on their key business line, otherwise they could be history pretty soon.
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Sig
abbr.
Karma stuck at 50? Add 2-5 inches.. err.. 2-5x Karmas Count to your pen1es.. err.. Karma all naturally and private
Cool. Looks like another sucess story for BusyBox too. BusyBox is going to take over the world. Muhahahahahaha!
-Erik -- --This message was written using 73% post-consumer electrons--
"a vodka martini linux.... shaken, not stirred"
were you expecting to see a sig here? perhaps you'd rather see the inside of an ambulance!
Forks are good when it makes needed functionality that wouldn't be appropriate to put in the mainstream kernel available to those that need it.
Forks are bad when the people forking doesn't try to keep their fork as closely synced with the official kernel, and/or doesn't try to get as much as possible reintegrated back into the official kernel when/if it makes sense.
Or in another tangent it could be the name of the violinist... Maybe next we'll have Casals and Horowitz distros. I could get into that.
Am I sharing too much?
FP?
OK,
- B
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http://www.bradheintz.com/
- updated
You know, the release name probably isn't based off of the alcoholic syrup Midori, rather the meaning of the Japanese word midori, which means 'green' ... apart from sounding cool, they're probably trying to point out the low-power-consumption-appliance aim of the distro.
Just my ni-en.
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Somebody please tell Linus what this "transmeta" company is up to so he can stop it!!!!!!!
Trolls throughout history:
Jonathan Swift
...would be pretty simple. A picture of Linus against a black background, with the caption "He works for us, you know." and a logo. Heck, they're paying him, why not?
He who joyfully marches in rank and file has already earned my contempt. - "Big Al" Einstein
Sorry but this has been dicussed it the past.
You can't make a native Cruseo Linux the Cruseo does
code morphing for the x86 you defeat the Cruseo design
by attempting to make a native OS I don't undestand the details
but it just don't work that way
http://Lenny.com
I bet this would run great on the 3com Audrey internet appliance. http://ergo.3com.com/ergo/html/ergo_audrey_product .html?cat=product
Need Free Juniper/NetScreen Support? JuniperForum
Caino
Don't touch my .sig there!
In Japanese, but has pictures
Manufacturers page, with english specs
Now what is 55,000 Yen in decent currencies? Is it around $500? This board also has two Intel network chips, which would cost about $200 for a dual network PCI card. Also has 64MB of memory installed. One PCI slot and one micro-PCI. Two parallel, 2 USB, 2 IDE, 1 floppy and audio. No graphics, you will have to use a PCI card, like a Voodoo5500, if you want graphics.
...for use in low-power consuming electronic music devices. :)
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Tweet, tweet.
Why not simply Linus' Linux?
Check out the list of developers.
I'm sure he had input, but I guess he's not the only programmer at Transmeta. Maybe he finds the low-level x86 translation code more interesting, who knows?
Jon Acheson
All opinions expressed herein are my own, and not those of my employers, who are appalled.
I'd like to see a lot of hardware vendors with their own distribution. A lot of the problems with installs and "user-friendliness" in current distributions is the need to include support for every piece of hardware in existence. This often causes complex error scenarios when trying to autodetect hardware.
However, if Dell, for example, were to do a distribution for Dell computers, they would only include support for the chipsets that they were currently shipping. There would be no need to include code that would make sure that there wasn't a SuperCollosalXX00 Video Controller installed before checking for a VIA 200KX Romtroller (just to make up a bogus example).
People keep saying that 'Linux' can't do everything, but then they don't define 'Linux'. KDE/Gnome may not go everywhere, but there is no reason that the kernel can't be used in most computers, be they server, destop or appliance. And with that basic foundation, computing in general is simplified because all the systems will start behaving similarly. Where we need to differeniate is at the DISTRIBUTION level. Red Hat Linux isn't the solution to all problems. Maybe Mandrake is better for your home destop, Red Hat fits the corporate desktop and Suse is best for the server. (No flame wars please. All examples are contrived.) Currently Red Hat, Mandrake, et.al., have tried to be all things to all people, leading to the idea that Linux is complicated. Linux is not ocmplicated and can do everything if the distributers would catch a clue, define a market, and then design their distribution as a solution for that market.
The point is that all distributions should take the parts of what's being developed out there and package them in an appropriate way for the appropriate application. It will still be Linux, it will just be the parts that apply to the problem space.
So here's KUDOs to Transmeta and any other hardware vendor building a problem space specific distribution. May you live long and prosper.
Aah, change is good. -- Rafiki
Yeah, but it ain't easy. -- Simba
Am I the only one who remembers one of Linus's original reasons for joining Transmeta? Namely that they did not do a Linux distro, and he could therefore not be accused of favouritism towards one distro in his kernel work. I wonder what his stance now is on this.
Stealing a rhinoceros should not be attempted lightly.
I read the documentation for the distribution on the Transmeta Web Site. It is a development environment to easily make an appliance-type device from a Linux kernel. While it has direct support for the features of the Transmeta chip it looks like it will build for a variety of embedded devices. This is a useful tool for anyone looking at a custom embedded device for an end user.
I have discovered a truly marvelous sig, unfortunately the sig limit is too small to contain i
...the ruggedized Webplayer I'm designing for a canoe trip down the Yukon river this summer. The plan is to take a solar-powered Webplayer with me, connected to which is a USB camera and a microphone. The camera will be fitted to a headband, it will see what I see. The mike will be somewhere where it hears what I say. I'll use this gear to make a report of this two-month trip from Whitehorse (Canada) to Emmonak (somewhere near the Bering sea). Pity there is no affordable, reliable wireless datacom coverage yet, or I would be able to beam this data right to my website... Hm, reminds me of the 'gargoyles' from Snow Crash...
--frank[at]unternet.org
Just from browsing that site briefly, I noticed a few things. Obviously "Midori" is the japanese word for green. Then the logo for the product is a typical techno-anime-girl. The looks very similar to the main character from the Bungee/Microsoft game "Oni".
Who exactly are they marketing this new distro to? Anime fans?.
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"Charging a man with murder in this place is like handing out speeding tickets at the Indy 500" -Apocalypse No