Embedded Linux News Roundup
- Dr. Roy Schestowitz
- 2014-03-03 11:52:39 UTC
- Modified: 2014-03-03 13:45:29 UTC
Summary: News about Linux devices and embedded Linux, categorised for easier digestion
Raspberry Pi
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That "blob" is the closed source driver code that the Pi requires today. "In common with every other mobile graphics core, using the VideoCore IV 3D graphics core on the Pi requires a block of closed-source binary driver code (a 'blob') which talks to the hardware," Upton wrote. "Our existing open-source graphics drivers are a thin shim running on the ARM11, which talks to that blob via a communication driver in the Linux kernel. The lack of true open-source graphics drivers and documentation is widely acknowledged to be a significant problem for Linux on ARM, as it prevents users from fixing driver bugs, adding features and generally understanding what their hardware is doing."
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Broadcom has released open-source drivers and documentation for the graphics processor that's used in the Raspberry Pi microcomputer, among other devices.
"To date, there's been a dearth of documentation and vendor-developed open source drivers for the graphics subsystems of mobile systems-on-a-chip (SoC)," Eben Upton, a Broadcom technical director and Raspberry Pi Foundation cofounder, wrote in a blog post. "Binary drivers prevent users from fixing bugs or otherwise improving the graphics stack, and complicate the task of porting new operating systems to a device without vendor assistance."
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In celebrating two years that Raspberry Pi has been around, Eben Upton has announced today that they are open-sourcing their OpenGL ES 1.1/2.0 graphics stack for the Broadcom VideoCore IV 3D graphics subsystem and it will help the Raspberry Pi with having a truly free graphics stack.
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The community of open source mobile developers around the world are a vocal bunch – and here at Broadcom we’ve heard their call.
To date, there’s been a dearth of documentation and vendor-developed open source drivers for the graphics subsystems of mobile systems-on-a-chip (SoC). Binary drivers prevent users from fixing bugs or otherwise improving the graphics stack, and complicate the task of porting new operating systems to a device without vendor assistance.
But that’s changing, and Broadcom is taking up the cause.
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Raspberry Pi super-computing clusters have been attempted before, but usually they don't turn out as nice as this new one that's comprised of 40 Raspberry Pi boards inside of an acrylic chassis.
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Raspberry Pi director of Educational Development Clive Beale questioned whether the DfE is doing enough. He said, "I'm really worried it hasn't been taken seriously enough."
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Usually there are two ways to look forward to buy a Raspberry Pi: first, think about a strange thing to make, and then go to the website; or second, buy the Raspberry Pi board having no idea of what you are going to do with it. Usually, I buy things and only after that I go through the Internet in search of inspiration and creative use cases for my new toys. That was the case with my first Raspberry Pi board: everyone seems to be able to put together his tiny PC with some parts (monitor, mouse and so on), a CPU and a lightweight Linux distribution, but what can we do that is totally crazy, mind-blowing and problem-solving?
Legato
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Called Legato, the embedded platform runs Wind River Linux and comes with pre-integrated and validated components that provide connectivity to any cloud, any network and any peripheral.
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Sierra Wireless recently introduced the Legato platform, an open source embedded platform built on Linux and designed to simplify the development of machine-to-machine (M2M) applications from the device to the cloud.
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THE INTERNET OF THINGS got a shot in the arm today as Sierra Wireless announced Legato, a Linux distribution designed for Machine to Machine (M2M) communications.
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Brooklyn based 3D printer manufacturer MakerBot has launched pre-sales for the second of three Replicator models that appear to be the world’s first commercial 3D printer based on embedded Linux. Almost all 3D printers are compatible with Linux desktops, just as they are with Windows and the Mac, and many, if not most, offer open source hardware and software designs. However, aside from some Raspberry Pi and BeagleBone hacks, the MakerBot Replicator Mini Compact appears to be the first to run embedded Linux.
Rikomagic
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The folks at UK-based Cloudsto have added a new device to their range of small, ARM-based Linux computers.
The Rikomagic MK902 LE is a small box with a Rockchip quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, and up to 16GB of storage. It ships with Ubuntu Linux, and it’s available from the Cloudsto shop for €£94.99 and up, or about $159.
PicoScope
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Pico Technology has released a beta version of the PicoScope 6 oscilloscope software for Linux.
This is intended to support the use of Linux in the scientific and educational fields.
The PicoScope 6 application runs on a PC to create oscilloscope, FFT spectrum analyser and measuring device functions.
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Users can save captures for offline analysis, share them with other PicoScope for Windows and PicoScope for Linux users, or export them in text, CSV and Mathworks MATLAB 4 formats. The only additional hardware needed is a USB oscilloscope.
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USB oscilloscopes are popular - only that the marketable supply is focused almost exclusively to Windows platforms. Pico Technology now redeems the growing flock of Linux users by offering such a software that runs under their preferred operating system.
Cortex
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Newark Element14ââ¬Â²s $79, Linux-ready “SAMA5D3 Xplained” SBC showcases Atmel’s SAMA5D3 processor, with features like dual LAN ports and Arduino compatibility.
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The first is the Hachiko development board for the Renesas RZ/A microcontroller, which is an ARM Cortex-A9-based MCU. This is positioned as a low end design board for applications such as door entry phones, barcode scanners and data communication modules.
Linaro/Yocto/Enea
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Linaro is a not-for-profit company, owned by ARM and some of its top Cortex-A licensees, yet it acts much like an open source project. In addition to its core role of developing standardized Linux and Android toolchain for ARM-based devices, the 200-engineer organization sponsors a variety of Engineering Groups (see farther below).
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Enea launched a free, community-backed Open Enea Linux platform, with Yocto and Linaro contributions, and plans to target various community-backed SBCs.
Misc.
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The trouble is, other big technology companies have been scrambling to capitalize on the so-called Internet of things. In December, Qualcomm, LG, Sharp, and other companies came together with the Linux Foundation for the new AllSeen Alliance. Now AT&T’s Digital Life business division, which focuses on home security and automation, is part of the AllSeen Alliance, too.
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Planet unveiled a Linux-based, 16-channel network video recorder called the NVR-1620, with dual HDD bays, dual displays, and up to 2560 x 1920 resolution.
Recent Techrights' Posts
- GNU/Linux up to 5% in Ireland, Not Counting Chromebooks
- statCounter is an Irish
- The War on Free Software Reporters - Part III - Doxing and LARPing
- LARPing is an issue I've had to deal with for nearly 20 years
- The Media Finally Admits (on a Regular Basis) That LLMs Suck
- They could not replace medical doctors, teachers, lawyers etc.
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- In the Month of May 2024 the OSI's Blog Was Almost 100% Microsoft Lobbying, Microsoft Staff, Microsoft Proprietary Software, and Microsoft Events
- Entryism complete. RIP, OSI.
- An Important Goal Has Been Accomplished Already
- Stubborn activists need to insist on a future where computer users actually control the computers they own
- Gemini Links 02/06/2024: Delayed Disappointment
- Links for the day
- statCounter: GNU/Linux on More Than 1 in 5 Desktops/Laptops
- Desktop Operating System Market Share Norway
- Reminder: The First CEO of IBM (Owner of Red Hat) Was "Convicted on Extortion" (According to Edwin Black, Author of "IBM and the Holocaust")
- Red Hat is not a liberal company
- GNU/Linux Market Share in Turkey Now Exceeds 10%, According to StatCounter
- StatCounter (or statCounter) shows considerable increases
- GNU/Linux in Germany: The Seven Percent
- The historical data shows that it wasn't always like this
- Slovenia: Windows Becomes Minority Market Share This Month
- It finally happened. Android is now measured as bigger than Windows.
- statCounter: Bing Has Lost Market Share Since the Chatbot Hype, in Europe Yandex Nearly Exceeds Bing Now
- Bing also had many layoffs (not that the media bothered covering that); we must debunk Microsoft's baseless claims and deliberate lies/hype
- Microsoft Windows Falls Below 10% in Africa, Down to About 20% in Asia
- The future isn't Windows
- Taiwan Can Defend Its Autonomy Better by Avoiding Microsoft (Back Doors)
- Maybe it's just a coincidence that GNU/Linux "took off" when Hong Kong lost its perceived independence from China
- The War on Free Software Reporters - Part IV - Impersonation and Menacing Behaviour, Defamation Under One's Own Name
- Such serial defamation (that went on for a very long time) is coordinated and relentless
- Links 02/06/2024: Workers' Strikes and a Warming World
- Links for the day
- Microsoft Falls to All-Time Low of 25% in Operating Systems
- If Android is counted, Windows is in trouble as it's down to all-time low of 25%
- Steam Survey: GNU/Linux Up, But Canonical's Ubuntu Declining
- big increases for GNU/Linux, Arch Linux gaining at Ubuntu's expense
- Guardian Digital, Inc (linuxsecurity.com) Leveraging Microsoft Chatbots to SPAM for Microsoft (Googlebombing "Linux")?
- Welcome to the Web in 2024. Search for "Linux" news, get Windows garbage.
- Smallest Number of New Debian Developers in More Than 2 Years
- Maybe Debian should recognise there's a problem instead of trying to censor - at humongous expense - those who speak about the problem
- Slashdot's "Linux" Section is Reposting Press Releases for Red Hat
- Is this being paid for?
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Saturday, June 01, 2024
- IRC logs for Saturday, June 01, 2024
- Links 01/06/2024: Microsoft Chaffbot Broken Out of Control
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- Why We're Taking Things Up a Notch
- Expect about 20 articles a day this year
- Sites That Cover WSL Are Helping Microsoft's Attack on GNU/Linux
- Calling out the typical culprits
- Plans for June
- We'll try to publish Daily Links every time we have enough of these
- Links 01/06/2024: Ukraine Updates, MongoDB Collapses
- Links for the day
- Gemini Links 01/06/2024: MNT Pocket Reform, Gemini and Content Length
- Links for the day
- Links 01/06/2024: WeblogPoMo2024, Pentagon’s Increasing Reliance on (i.e. Bailouts to) Microsoft
- Links for the day
- Twitter is (in Many Ways) Already Dead
- Put an 'X' on it
- Posts About Free Software, BSD, and GNU/Linux
- Focus shifts have occasionally been discussed here over the years
- After Softpedia Pushed Out Its Linux News Editor - and Effectively Killed the Linux Section - it Killed the Whole News Section (Altogether)
- So they've killed Linux coverage, then their whole "news" section died
- Their Goal is Control, Not Security (and Their Staff Advocates Fake Security or Pricey Gimmicks That Disempower the Users)
- Those companies just want control, or simply domination over users (and their computers)
- [Meme] The Lowest Standards of Security
- No need for any qualifications
- IRC Proceedings: Friday, May 31, 2024
- IRC logs for Friday, May 31, 2024
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- Cybersecurity is a structural not behavioural problem.
- Reprinted with permission from Cyber|Show
- Free Software is the Future, Open Source is Just Openwashing (Proprietary With a False Marketing Twist)
- Also see postopen.org
- Society Has Been Destabilised by Social Control Networks
- Is it time to get rid of them, if not by sanctions/bans then simply by popular boycotts?
- Gemini Turns 5 This Month
- As long as Geminispace exists and is accessed by enough people, Gemini Protocol will continue to matter
- Links 01/06/2024: More Crackdowns in Hong Kong, Street Named After Navalny
- Links for the day
- The War on Free Software Reporters - Part II - Antisocial Mobs
- how various GNU/Linux bloggers got "canceled" over the years
- Microsoft's Share of Physical Web Servers Fell From 9.14% to 9.04% in One Month
- What's interesting to us is how Microsoft continues moving down in everything measured
- Links 31/05/2024: Escalations in Ukraine and Russia, National Reporter's Shield Law in US
- Links for the day
- Links 31/05/2024: Generating and Using Identifiers, Why Unicode
- Links for the day
- A 3-Year Campaign to Coerce/Intimidate Us Into Censorship: In Summary
- Some high-profile examples of defamation include Linus Torvalds, Richard Stallman...
- [Meme] Never "Missing Out" in FOSS Conferences
- The sexists who objectify women and bully women are going to FOSS events in pursuit of sex, according to themselves
- Racism, Ageism, and Ableism at IBM/Red Hat and Kyndryl
- IBM's Kyndryl is now accused of "racial, age, disability discrimination"
- The War on Free Software Reporters - Part I - Why Techrights Cannot be Censored (and Won't be Censored)
- Microsoft remains by far the biggest culprit
- In Spite of Boot-locking (Trying to Make It Hard If Not Impossible to Install BSDs and GNU/Linux on New PCs) Microsoft's Grip is Rapidly Slipping
- Escaping the Microsoft prison
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Thursday, May 30, 2024
- IRC logs for Thursday, May 30, 2024
- Microsoft's Problem in Puerto Rico
- Notice how much Windows has fallen
- Gemini Links 31/05/2024: MNT Pocket Reform and Benben v0.5.0
- Links for the day
- "I once preached peaceful coexistence with Windows. You may laugh at my expense -- I deserve it." -Be's CEO Jean-Louis Gassée
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- More people are moving to GNU/Linux