Canonical Ports Ubuntu on ARM Platform
End of last week ARM Ltd and Canonical Ltd announced that they would port Linux to the ARMv7 processor architecture. If all goes well, the two collaborating firms should provide further hardware manufacturers with the basis to develop new, energy-efficient mobile devices, especially for the popular netbooks and so-called hybrid computers.
According to their announcement, Ubuntu sponsor Canonical wants not only to customize the Linux distro for certain devices with ARM technology, but provide commercial support services. The goal is to offer a complete Ubuntu desktop distro for ARM systems with integrated graphics and video on system-on-chip (SoC) technology, with less energy expenditure. Meanwhile ARM, known for its mobile phone chips, also promises that the resulting devices will be more energy efficient, with longer up-times (up to a day) to make them virtually online continuously.
The partnership between ARM and Ubuntu is supposed to be mutually beneficial. ARM hopes for increased market share against Intel with its Atom platform, and Canonical expects opportunities not only for Linux, but hopes to expand its own distro market. The partners also believe that their work will encourage third parties to develop their mobile devices more quickly.
The ported Ubuntu desktop should run on systems with ARMv7 architecture, with a focus on the Cortex-A8 and the newer Cortex-A9 processors with multiple kernels. (A Cortex-A8 kernel is already humming along in Pandora game boxes.) Canonical's implementation seems to hark back to the Armel (ARM endian little) porting of the Debian project that, in turn, is based on the new ARM embedded ABI (ARM EABI). The developers are currently starting Ubuntu on the old ARMv5 platform and will optimize it for the corresponding ARMv7 libraries and applications in the second development phase. Meanwhile Canonical is working with manufacturers on hardware drivers for a number of ARM-based devices. The complete porting should be available officially through the usual Ubuntu distro channels in April 2009, concurrently with the next Ubuntu version 9.04.
Canonical recently gained some experience on small, energy-efficient devices with its special distro for netbooks such as the Ubuntu Netbook Remix and Mobile Internet Device (MID) Edition,
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Canonical Releases Ubuntu 24.04
After a brief pause because of the XZ vulnerability, Ubuntu 24.04 is now available for install.
-
Linux Servers Targeted by Akira Ransomware
A group of bad actors who have already extorted $42 million have their sights set on the Linux platform.
-
TUXEDO Computers Unveils Linux Laptop Featuring AMD Ryzen CPU
This latest release is the first laptop to include the new CPU from Ryzen and Linux preinstalled.
-
XZ Gets the All-Clear
The back door xz vulnerability has been officially reverted for Fedora 40 and versions 38 and 39 were never affected.
-
Canonical Collaborates with Qualcomm on New Venture
This new joint effort is geared toward bringing Ubuntu and Ubuntu Core to Qualcomm-powered devices.
-
Kodi 21.0 Open-Source Entertainment Hub Released
After a year of development, the award-winning Kodi cross-platform, media center software is now available with many new additions and improvements.
-
Linux Usage Increases in Two Key Areas
If market share is your thing, you'll be happy to know that Linux is on the rise in two areas that, if they keep climbing, could have serious meaning for Linux's future.
-
Vulnerability Discovered in xz Libraries
An urgent alert for Fedora 40 has been posted and users should pay attention.
-
Canonical Bumps LTS Support to 12 years
If you're worried that your Ubuntu LTS release won't be supported long enough to last, Canonical has a surprise for you in the form of 12 years of security coverage.
-
Fedora 40 Beta Released Soon
With the official release of Fedora 40 coming in April, it's almost time to download the beta and see what's new.