It sounds much more complicated than it actually is

Jan 22, 2015 08:34 GMT  ·  By

Canonical announced the launch of Snappy Ubuntu Core, which is described as a transactionally updated Ubuntu for clouds and devices. Most importantly, it also fits perfectly into the "Internet of things" idea and it's growing as we speak.

You might have heard before about the "Internet of things" and you've probably wondered what that is. Don't worry, you're not the only one. The idea is that we're living in a world that's becoming more and more interconnected. All kinds of things are now actually smart and they communicate through the Internet.

The fact is that processors and chipsets are getting smaller and more powerful, and this enables the makers of these devices to actually install operating systems on them or to provide users with means of having control over them. We're not yet there yet, but our homes are getting smarter and the Internet is no longer used only by people, it has become an Internet of things.

Where does Ubuntu fit into the Internet of Things?

As you can imagine, Canonical is not the first company to realize that this is actually happening, right now. So they want to provide a system that is easy to install and to manage, and that provides much better security than everything done until now.

"Ubuntu Core presents a single identical platform from cloud to device. “It has never been easier to develop for embedded devices. Ubuntu Core on the cloud is a perfect platform for test and dev, I can simulate my device online and launch thousands of simulated devices on demand. Canonical ensures that Ubuntu Core on the cloud and on devices present the exact same APIs and receive identical security updates," said Alexander Sack, who leads device engineering at Canonical.

This is not a thing of the future. Ubuntu for the "Internet of Things" is already being used by the Open Source Robotics Foundation, which now has a new app store for open robots, Erle Robotics, which is a drone maker, and numerous other enterprises.

Basically, if you have any kind of X86 platform, like an old laptop for example or an ancient PC, you can turn it into a development platform, a virtual machine, a store, private cloud, and pretty much anything you can imagine. The system itself requires only 600 mhz processor with 128 MB RAM and it only occupies 40 MB of RAM.

More details about Snappy Ubuntu Core can be found on the official website.