Robots embrace Ubuntu as it invades the internet of things

by David Meyer - Gigaom, Jan. 20, 2015 – 

Canonical has revealed what I reckon is its biggest announcement in years: Ubuntu is about to invade the internet of things with a minimal version of the Linux distribution that it hopes will provide a standardized platform for connected devices from drones to home hubs.

"Snappy" Ubuntu Core came out of Canonical's mobile efforts (which are yet to go anywhere) and was made available on Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and the Google Cloud Platform at the end of 2014. Now it's available for smart devices, and Canonical has already got players such as the Open Source Robotics Foundation (OSRF), drone outfit Erle Robotics and connected hub maker NinjaBlocks on board.

From mobile to IoT, via the cloud

Unlike traditional, package-based Ubuntu for servers and desktops, the extensible Core keeps apps and each part of the OS securely isolated from one another, and it allows for "transactional updates" - they only need to include the difference between the old and new version, allowing for easy upgrading and rolling-back if needed. In the cloud, Canonical is pushing Ubuntu Core as ideal for Docker and other containerized apps.

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