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Ubuntu Linux Eyes Gadget Apps

An anonymous reader writes "Three developers have launched a project to turn Ubuntu into an embedded Linux distribution, according to a story on LinuxDevices.com. The resulting "EmbeddedUbuntu" OS aims to simplify the creation of embedded software for gadgets such as mobile phones, PDAs, and web tablets, and provide their owners with easier access to sophisticated open source desktop applications, such as multimedia streaming software. What do you think: will they call the mobile version Mobuntu?"

63 comments

  1. Re:FP Linux l00zers by TKBui · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Wishful thinking... l00zer! I broke down and made an off topic post. What are you going to do? Reduce my upstream bandwidth?

  2. Ubuntu? Why? by TheWanderingHermit · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Why not something more stable? I don't use it because everyone I hear from who has installed it has found a number of bugs in any stable version. If I were going to embed something and go with a Linux distro, I'd at least go for Debian Stable.

  3. Geyes by 4D6963 · · Score: 1

    I only hope it means you could have Geyes on your Palm. Geyes is the only reason why I use Linux, well among others.

    --
    You just got troll'd!
    1. Re:Geyes by BadAnalogyGuy · · Score: 2, Funny

      I heard that geyes like to use Mac. Is this true?

    2. Re:Geyes by 4D6963 · · Score: 1

      huh? is the lack of sense of your comment intentional? :-?

      --
      You just got troll'd!
    3. Re:Geyes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    4. Re:Geyes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'll give you a hint. what begins with "g", has a letter thet makes the same sound as the first "e" makes in "geyes", has a "y", ends in "s".
      And another hint, it rhymes with "gayz".

    5. Re:Geyes by 4D6963 · · Score: 1

      Haha thanks for the hints I got it now.

      --
      You just got troll'd!
  4. Re:Who? by gbobeck · · Score: 1

    It appears to be an officially sponsored Ubuntu project.

    --
    Navicula hydraulica plena anguilarum est. Omnes castelli tuus nostri sunt. Ed elli avea del cul fatto trombetta.
  5. Re:Ubuntu? Why? by MadJo · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Ubuntu indeed does not give you root access through the GUI and quite frankly it isn't necessary, running Linux as root is the same as running Windows as administrator, especially in the GUI!
    At home, I run my Breezy as a normal user (I'm the only one on that machine), and I've never had to resort to the root user. 'sudo' _is_ enough for all your tasks, or if you prefer GUI password box 'gksudo'.

    I don't understand why peopl gripe about this structure.. on the one hand they scream at the tops of their lungs that running admin in Windows is bad, but on the other hand, they do expect to have root (and nothing less) when running in Linux. Why?

  6. Re:Ubuntu? Why? by gbobeck · · Score: 1

    They could have gone with Gentoo... although the wait for it to compile could possibly be longer than the expected lifetime of the device.

    The only reason why I can see them using Ubuntu is the fact that you can have it do a very minimum install. The "server" install of ubuntu doesn't install anything unless you tell it to. In theory, you can do a whole install, and have a machine lacking such normal apps like make or sshd. Compare this to Fedora which is at the bare minimum a 5 CD distro due to how they manage their portage and other stuff.

    As for Ubuntu being buggy... The AMD64 port really really sucks (I noticed that LDAP and NFS support is very borken.) Also, their portage is very out of date. On my Ubuntu (x86) desktop, I just upgraded from 2.6.12 to 2.6.14... meanwhile, Gentoo is using 2.6.15-r(something). I can only wonder what version of OpenSSH is installed on my Ubuntu box (Gentoo is up to 4.3 already). They really need to get their crap together on that.

    --
    Navicula hydraulica plena anguilarum est. Omnes castelli tuus nostri sunt. Ed elli avea del cul fatto trombetta.
  7. Re:Ubuntu? Why? by ChunderDownunder · · Score: 1
    I whole heartedly agree.

    With what? I fail to see how your rant about the lack of a root user has any relevance to the parent post about system stability.

    Ubuntu uses sudo instead of an explicit root. So does OS X. It's designed as a security measure so that users don't have to remember their own password and the root password. Or worse, permanently login to their machines as root and expose themselves to security concerns.

    To avoid prepending sudo to each command, you could always start a "root shell" with

    sudo -s
  8. Huh? by Brandybuck · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Maybe I've been asleep too long and missed the news... but haven't they had embedded Linux for a decade now? What makes this one newsworthy?

    --
    Don't blame me, I didn't vote for either of them!
    1. Re:Huh? by arodland · · Score: 1

      You just have no reading comprehension skills.

    2. Re:Huh? by Brandybuck · · Score: 1

      You may be right. So please explain to me slowly why this is news.

      --
      Don't blame me, I didn't vote for either of them!
    3. Re:Huh? by arodland · · Score: 1

      The news isn't "embedded linux!". The news is "Ubuntu is doing embedded linux!". Some people are interested in Ubuntu. Some people are interested in linux gadgets. Some people, like me, are interested in both, and interested in finding out whether Ubuntu can bring anything interesting to the table.

      Maybe it's not huge, but it's a hell of a lot more newsworthy than bullshit like sore thumbs and useless uses of brainscans.

  9. Ubuntu derivative naming by c0d3h4x0r · · Score: 1, Funny

    Why stop with "Mobuntu?"

    I want to create a really screwed up version of Ubuntu so I can call it "FUBARuntu".

    --
    Moderator hint: a comment is neither "Flamebait" nor "Troll" if it is true.
    1. Re:Ubuntu derivative naming by BadAnalogyGuy · · Score: 0

      I think you would call it FuckUtu.

  10. Hopefully it's not brown by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Is it racist to say that a brown desktop looks like shit? Ubuntu is OK but why on EARTH would they make that the default color?

    1. Re:Hopefully it's not brown by hey! · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Well, people who study this sort of thing say that colors and color combinations send different messages. Light colors suggest ease of use; dark colors suggest power.

      Contrasting color combinations are attention getting and suggest fun. Saturated colors have the same effect. Think the baby isle of the toy store with its bright blues, reds and yellows. Adjacent, analagous color combinations, or tints and shades of the same color, suggest subtlety.

      Decoding this, the typical Microsoft look is cool (as in temperature) and saturated, it is meant to be attention grabbing and suggest ease of use and fun, but it not so much fun and ease of use we are in Playskool territory. The Ubuntu look, in dark earth tints, suggests warmth, subtlety, and power, but not one that intrudes on the user's attention. It is a kind of power at rest. Perhaps a kind of latent power that the knowledgeable user can draw on. Now we know where Radagast got himself to, I guess. He works for Ubuntu.

      My boss and I have frequent disagreements over color choices. He favors what to my eye are garish, oversaturated triadic color schemes. As a sales guy, getting attention is what he thinks of all day; however I believe that this Playskool look is tiresome for the users. I prefer neutral tones, shaded of gray, perhaps with subtle blue shades mixed in, although in truth I rather like a look of old, brownish red gall ink on parchment. My main motivation however is not aesthetic. I want background things to be readily seen, and when I choose a bright blue or red I want it to stand out. Too many bright colors produces visual confusion; you can see the background details but you eye is drawn aay from them; the foreground details are lost.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    2. Re:Hopefully it's not brown by DeafByBeheading · · Score: 2, Interesting

      One man's meat, as they say... I changed my Win2k theme to brick (brown/beige/tan) after trying out Ubuntu. The blue began to feel like it's out to stab my eyes after a while. I agree with sibling, use color to provide contrast for important things. I want my core UI to be subtle.

      --
      Telltale Games: Bone, Sam and Max
    3. Re:Hopefully it's not brown by The+Wicked+Priest · · Score: 1

      I prefer to think of it as chocolatey goodness!

      --
      Share and Enjoy: 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
  11. Too ressource-hungry... by Chaffar · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Well I use Ubuntu on the desktop and think it's probably the best OS in terms of efficiency (what you can do with it) Vs. effort (how much time you must spend in front of a screen to get your sound card/printer running)... but it is very ressource hungry compared to other *nix distros, so I don't see HOW they would like to translate their success in the desktop market to the phone/PDA market, where ressources are still a luxury.

    1. Re:Too ressource-hungry... by Dolda2000 · · Score: 1

      The resource hungry programs are all part of Gnome, and I'm having a very hard time imagining that they'd use Gnome in an embedded distro.

    2. Re:Too ressource-hungry... by Directrix1 · · Score: 1

      Yeah, they'd probably use GPE.

      --
      Occam's razor is the blind faith in the natural selection of least resistance and in universal oversimplification. -- EF
  12. Re:Ubuntu? Why? by EzInKy · · Score: 2, Informative


    I whole heartedly agree. Nothing was more irritating to me than to install Kubuntu ( the 'Breezy Badger' distro ) than to find out that I couldn't graphically interface as root, even though it would prompt me with the *psudeo*-root password.


    Why didn't you just run "sudo passwd root" and edit your kdmrc to enable root logins if you felt the need for a graphical login?

    --
    Time is what keeps everything from happening all at once.
  13. Not racist, but by Flying+pig · · Score: 2, Interesting

    You're clearly a victim of cultural conditioning. Most human beings who don't live in cities see a mixture of browns and greens whenever they look outside, and don't have a problem with it. We tend to go for the same colors inside houses, too. Brown wood panelling for walls has up-market associations, but the lobbies of expensive hotels presumably don't remind the visitors of shit. There is no a priori reason why computer screens should have blue backgrounds.

    --
    Pining for the fjords
    1. Re:Not racist, but by Bushwuly · · Score: 1

      I tend to change my desktop background in Ubuntu to a shade of blue, as it reminds me of open sky... green works as well, because it make me think of living things. What I don't understand is why people are interested in various shades of black and white; why depress yourself even more?

      --
      Get over yourself.
    2. Re:Not racist, but by NekoXP · · Score: 1

      Because blue is relaxing, Windows etc. have all aimed to show the aimless waltz of clouds sky and running water, rolling hills and the occasional pretty dance of some kind of plasma.

      When you're greeted with your desktop for the first time they've determined that "clouds and trees and bunnies" are more pleasing to people than a bunch of cogs, dark oily substances, and coffee.

    3. Re:Not racist, but by hey! · · Score: 1

      You're clearly a victim of cultural conditioning. Most human beings who don't live in cities see a mixture of browns and greens whenever they look outside, and don't have a problem with it.

      What I'm surpised is that mice made from wood, or covered in leather or some other natural material haven't caught on. Makers of high end automobiles often have wood shift knobs, or cover their plastic knobs with leather (which to extend the joke running in another thread might appeal to the Mac crowd). Not having to touch plastic is one of those subliminal things that suggests luxury.

      I've seen at least one wooden mouse; it looks like it's made from pine finished with polyurethane. That'd be as close to plastic as you can get and still be wood. I'd choose a heavier hardwood with an interesting grain like cherry. Urethane is of course ideal from a cleaning standpoint, but possibly a less polymer-ish finish might be practical with a naturally dark wood like black walnut. Ash or hickory finished like a tool handle might be a good choice.

      I think it would be interesting to make a mouse out of a hollowed out beach cobble. I once saw work by an artist who took beach cobblestones and ground/polished one or two faces in them. The interiors of the rocks were surprising transluscent. I'd select stones just the right shape, cut a flat surface and put the usual teflon pads on it, and hollow out a space of the electronics. I'd drill out holes for the buttons and insert carefully cylinders of granite for buttons, the polished button surface making a pleasing textural contrast to te roughness of the stone. The wireless antenna would be a narrow bead of wire along the front edge.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    4. Re:Not racist, but by joeljkp · · Score: 1

      I have to agree. When I first started with Ubuntu, I liked the earthy tones. But now a year or so in, every time I looked at it, it just brought me down. So now that I've switched to a nice blue Firefox background, the world is happy again.

      --
      WeRelate.org - wiki-based genealogy
  14. Re:Ubuntu? Why? by binford2k · · Score: 1

    WTF?

    Do you have any idea what portage is? I'll give you a big hint. Fedora doesn't have it. Neither does Ubuntu.

  15. colours by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I have a black desktop, and I like it ;-)

    I use colours to indicate something (syntax highlights, buttons I often use, etc). If it's not important, it doesn't need a colour. I like having a pretty picture as a wallpaper, but it only ever distracts me, in that little chink visible between windows.

    And yes, I prefer reverse video (white on black) too. Brightness hurts my eyes.

    To see sky...I stand outside and enjoy real clouds that look completely different to yesterdays clouds.

  16. Re:Ubuntu? Why? by PeterSomnium · · Score: 0

    I'm using Ubuntu since the first version now, and even though I like the distro for my daily need (just surfing, watching movies/dvds and webdesign), but let's be honest, Ubuntu is secure enough (sudo makes it that way) for normal users and it has some neat apps, but it still isn't stable enough.
    If I had to use a distro for embedding, I'd go for Debian, since that one has proven to be very stable and secure. My servers are running Debian, and I never had any problem with it at all.

    --
    I rm -rf /*, therefore I am?
  17. Re:Ubuntu? Why? by tka · · Score: 1

    I don't believe gp was login in, it's the gksudo equilevant in kde that doesn't work. I've had the same problem with gksudo.

    Your advice is way too complex for any regular user.

  18. Re:Ubuntu? Why? by EzInKy · · Score: 1


    I don't believe gp was login in, it's the gksudo equilevant in kde that doesn't work. I've had the same problem with gksudo.


    Perhaps, but he also stated the cli was crippled.


    Your advice is way too complex for any regular user.


    He said he wanted to be root, not a regular user.

    --
    Time is what keeps everything from happening all at once.
  19. Re:Ubuntu? Why? by advocate_one · · Score: 1

    what's really nice is the first user created has sudo priviledges, all others do not by default...

    so if you've got any sense, then you create the first user as something like "admin" and give it a sensible password, then give your normal users their logins as required. If someone has to have sudo access, then you can give it to them otherwise, you switch user to "admin" and do the admin task

    --
    Donald 'Duck' Dunn: We had a band powerful enough to turn goat piss into gasoline.
  20. Re:Ubuntu? Why? by tka · · Score: 1

    >> I don't believe gp was login in, it's the gksudo equilevant in kde that doesn't work. I've had the same problem with gksudo.
    >Perhaps, but he also stated the cli was crippled.
    So? He was talking about different things.

    >> Your advice is way too complex for any regular user.
    > He said he wanted to be root, not a regular user.
    Regular as in average joe, not in as joe$. Most regular users run their own machines so they have to be root sometimes.

  21. Re:Ubuntu? Why? by Nicholas+Evans · · Score: 1

    ...or you could just turn the root account back on...

  22. Re:Ubuntu? Why? by moranar · · Score: 1

    >>> Your advice is way too complex for any regular user.
    >> He said he wanted to be root, not a regular user.
    > Regular as in average joe, not in as joe$. Most regular users run their own machines so they have to be > root sometimes.

    I'd guess his point was that if you want to use ubuntu as an average joe, you can get by perfectly with sudo. Indeed, I did and I could. If you really want to unleash the power of root, well, be prepared to do a bit of work.

    --
    "I think it would be a good idea!"
    Gandhi, about Internet Security
  23. Re:Ubuntu? Why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And then accidentally type 'rm /* -R'

  24. Re:Ubuntu? Why? by EzInKy · · Score: 1


    I'd guess his point was that if you want to use ubuntu as an average joe, you can get by perfectly with sudo. Indeed, I did and I could. If you really want to unleash the power of root, well, be prepared to do a bit of work.


    Exactly. I've only played a little with Kubuntu but even in Gentoo I find it very rare to actually need to login as root for anything.

    --
    Time is what keeps everything from happening all at once.
  25. Um by TallMatthew · · Score: 1
    I love Ubuntu and I love Linux, but this doesn't make any sense. Look at their sample use case from TFA:

    Maria and her class mates of a primary school need to make up a report on how to protect the environment of dolphins, digitally recorded by them. They ask assistance from Jeff who selects a suitable subset of Ubuntu applications. He then generates an Embedded Ubuntu system image for the Internet Tablets they have and flashes it on the devices. The kids use Gstreamer, for example, and through WiFi connection they send their 5 minutes content to a 3G mobile phone of their teacher, which sends the content to other children in another city who have never seen a dolphin in their lives.

    Ok, I hope Maria's in graduate school because I'm not sure I could pull that off.

    I still don't understand the necessity for a full-featured OS on a cell phone or PDA. Sure it's cool and all, but being the features required for devices like those are a small subset of what you need on a PC, their OS is perfectly fine from my point of view.

    1. Re:Um by jonbusby · · Score: 1

      Whose maria? is she fit? Surely a video camera would work just as well, oh low and behold, a text book. Seeing a dolphin on a PC monitor is not going to be _THAT_ amazing to a bunch of kids that havent seen one before.

    2. Re:Um by Yosho · · Score: 1

      Ok, I hope Maria's in graduate school because I'm not sure I could pull that off.

      I believe that would be the point of this sort of project -- to make it easy enough that Maria could do it even if she's just your average user.

      --
      Karma: Terrifying (mostly affected by atrocities you've committed)
  26. Re:Ubuntu? Why? by tkiesel · · Score: 1

    ...or just use "sudo su" to login to root whenever you want without needing to activate the account. (This only works as a user with appropiate sudo priveleges of course.) If people's gripe is that you can't get a root shell in Ubuntu without fully enabling the root account, they're mistaken.

  27. Re:Ubuntu? Why? by TheWanderingHermit · · Score: 1

    The only reason why I can see them using Ubuntu is the fact that you can have it do a very minimum install.

    When I installed most of my systems with Debian Sarge, I used the Net Install disc. I forgot the actual size of the .iso, but I have it on a mini-CD, which means it's no more than 60MB. It takes less than 20 minutes to install, and I can specify to install just a barebones system, which means it does not have ssh, rsync, or a number of other basic utils that I normally use. It's faster to install the bare-bones and apt-get the few other utils I need than to do a larger install. If the intent is a minimal install, that is about as minimal as one can get and certainly is a heck of a lot more stable than Ubuntu.

  28. Ubuntu vs. Debian by Directrix1 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Call me crazy, but wasn't the premise of Ubuntu to concentrate on making a great desktop OS on a select few platforms, with the argument that Debian is more for having universal portability across a wide array of platforms? I know there is already embedded Debian, not that I mind there being embedded Ubuntu. I just hope they don't spread themselves too thin. And secondly, instead of making another Linux that runs embedded, why don't they make a small handheld platform with touchscreen and USB host support so we can cheaply and easily make our own embedded projects easily from commodity parts?

    --
    Occam's razor is the blind faith in the natural selection of least resistance and in universal oversimplification. -- EF
    1. Re:Ubuntu vs. Debian by RevAaron · · Score: 1

      Call me crazy, but wasn't the premise of Ubuntu to concentrate on making a great desktop OS on a select few platforms, with the argument that Debian is more for having universal portability across a wide array of platforms?

      That was my first reaction, too. My second thought was that I sure wouldn't say no to having the Ubuntu polish on the likes of the sad-excuse-for-a-pda that is the Zaurus Linux-based PDAs. If anyone can do it in the community now out of these existing distros, I'd put my money on Ubuntu.

      --

      Working toward a usable PDA environment in the spirit of Newton OS: Dynapad
  29. Deserving... by hummassa · · Score: 1

    every person that deserves to have a root session just does sudo su - on Konsole/(ya)kuake/GNOMEterminal and goes by... :-)

    Seriously, if you can't grok something that simple, stay on the "not root" zone the most time you can, please.

    --
    It's better to be the foot on the boot than the face on the pavement. ~~ tkx Kadin2048
  30. Re:Ubuntu? Why? by gbobeck · · Score: 1

    I used portage to refer to all of those damn packages in .rpm form that are on all of those damn install CDs.

    --
    Navicula hydraulica plena anguilarum est. Omnes castelli tuus nostri sunt. Ed elli avea del cul fatto trombetta.
  31. Re:Ubuntu? Why? by fak3r · · Score: 1

    Why? It's simple to get a base install with little cruft with only two steps:

    http://phil.cryer.us/ubuntu/

  32. Re:Ubuntu? Why? by Geraden · · Score: 1

    sudo passwd root

    At least I can then log in as root should I need to...

    Sometimes sudo just doesn't cut it, I've found. It's rare, but it happens.

  33. Re:Ubuntu? Why? by binford2k · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    You could just as well say, "I use the term night to refer to the period between morning and evening" or, "I use the term black to refer to the color with the code #ffffff."

    Trying to redefine words, especially proper names, to make it look like you knew what you were talking about only makes you appear more foolish. Just be a man and admit that you have no clue wtf you are talking about.

  34. Re:Ubuntu? Why? by advocate_one · · Score: 1

    yes, very nice, but the point is, every machine has a root account, it's a given, but not having a root password means they have to obtain an account name for the machine and that's harder, especially if things have been set up correctly so that any exposed services are chrooted. That way, they can't get access to the /home directory to learn any account names. this is of course conditional on keeping up to date with security patches so that any exploits are blocked, otherwise, a simple buffer overflow could give them what they desire most, access sufficient enough to get a rootkit installed.

    --
    Donald 'Duck' Dunn: We had a band powerful enough to turn goat piss into gasoline.
  35. Re:Ubuntu? Why? by idonthack · · Score: 1

    "Portage" is Gentoo's package management system. He was using it to refer to all package management systems in general, much in the same way some people use "Kleenex" to refer to all facial tissue products.

    --
    Why is it that when you believe something it's an opinion, but when I believe something it's a manifesto?
  36. Re:Ubuntu? Why? by binford2k · · Score: 1

    "Portage" is Gentoo's package management system.

    Which is why I referred to it as a proper name, yeah? (I'm typing on a Gentoo box right now, btw) Regardless of which, it's wrong. You don't refer to all small cars as Sentras, do you?

    When Gentoo's been around as long as Kleenex, then you can make the argument that it's a genericized trademark.

  37. Re:Ubuntu? Why? by gbobeck · · Score: 1

    My responce to your statements will be in latin:

    Nil bene cum facias, facias tamen omnia belle, vis dicam quid sis? Magnus es ardalio. Es vilior et levior. Odiosus mihis. Nates pilosas, fili, non potes asse venditare. Indiligens cum pigra familia. Discinctaque in otia natvs. Non ego tvam empsis vitam vitioso nvce. Lingva factois, inertes opera.

    --
    Navicula hydraulica plena anguilarum est. Omnes castelli tuus nostri sunt. Ed elli avea del cul fatto trombetta.