Slashdot Mirror
Canonical Launches Internet-of-Things Version of Ubuntu Core
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.
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
...great.
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.
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
First URL should be Core, 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 .
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
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't use hibernate! A basic OS feature.
On the server side, upstart is an absolute nightmare.
Ubuntu launches on every device that gains traction ( Ubuntu for tablets, phones, etc ). But it seems the basic OS is still very rough around basic edges. But I wish they would just give us a polished desktop. Even if it may cost more than Windows I'd personally pay for it.
The problem I have is that it will probably end up far more bloated than it should be. The less bloated stuff there is, the less of a need for updates there is. Why would an IoT device be vulnerable to shellshock when it should have had a lightweight shell like ash instead of bash to begin with? Why would it have systemd instead of an embedded-centric init system like procd? Automatic updates are actually terrible from a usability standpoint because something can quite literally break overnight.
Now all of our devices can exist in a world of Unity.
Though, given the...'quality'... of software released by vendors with no particular software experience that are forced to include some software in their product(and even companies that should know better, like the ones that puke out painfully broken routers year after year), it would utterly fail to surprise me if the substantial majority of exploits under this scheme are based on idiotic behavior in the application, with the underlying OS and stock userland being dangerous mostly because they provide a familiar environment to work with once you've exploited the trivial weakness in the application.
It is true that a terrible application running on top of a linux image bodged together by clueless and apathetic amateurs would be even worse, so I guess this is better than nothing; but even if the OS were perfect, I suspect that overall security would remain at swiss cheese levels.
Light bulb, ceiling fan, thermostat and garage door opener support.
Chewbacon
The Bible is like Wikipedia: written by a bunch of people and verifiable by questionable sources.
"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.
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
Eat your heart out, Fappening!
IoT 'things' have specs competitive with desktop computers of 20 years ago. While current embedded systems will never catch up with current desktops, in a few years they'll easily be powerful enough to run standard Linux installs.
Rampant carbon sequestration destroyed the Dinosaurs' tropical paradise. I'm here to help repair the damage.
In this case your lawnmower shouldn't have anything more electrically complicated than a magnet and a coil for the spark plug. Maybe if you want to get really fancy, an EFI computer or brushless DC motor controller. But once your lawnmower is doing laps of your back yard automatically, and you want to connect to it from work via your house WiFi to check whether you left the pool cover on or not, it's gonna have an operating system.
Rampant carbon sequestration destroyed the Dinosaurs' tropical paradise. I'm here to help repair the damage.
Ceiling iot is watching you masturbate.
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.)
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
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?
Nae king! Nae laird! Nae yurrupiean pressedent! We willna be fooled again!
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.
IMO: that goes for Red Hat as well.
"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 controller would come in two connected parts:
Part 1 would be a very basic box that provided only a very basic connection to the outside world (e.g. a serial port, Ethernet, WiFi, etc.) and the security services necessary to ensure authenticated private communications (SSH or similar). Strictly speaking, the front-end controller would be optional - without it, the fridge or other "thing" would still work but it wouldn't be any "smarter" than today's "dumb" devices. It would also be user-replaceable, because we all know that security and networking technologies change over time.
Part 2 would be a "computer on a chip" that ran apps and optionally provided "real" connectivity to the outside world (e.g. WiFi, a web server, web-based apps, etc.). Since the functions of this device can be handled by any PC, it should be optional and easy for the user to remove or replace.
The physical and logical interfaces between the 3 components will be well-defined, and for the interface from the device to "part 1" of the front-end controller, they would also be simple and designed to not become obsolete for more than the life of the actual "thing" they are controlling.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
Might be great technology. Not a great acronym.
Blasphemy is a human right. Blasphemophobia kills.