Canonical’s Ubuntu is best known for its Linux desktop, but the company really makes it money from the cloud. And, founder Mark Shuttleworth has said, the Internet of Things (IoT). So, it comes as no surprise that Ubuntu Core is bringing Ubuntu 18.04 Long Term Support (LTS) codebase to embedded devices.
Ubuntu Core, with an image size of 260MB, is the smallest Ubuntu Linux release to date. This makes it ideal both for IoT devices and cloud containers.
Of course, it takes more than size to make an operating system good for IoT. It doesn’t hurt though. Besides making it possible to run on devices with minimal system resources, its tiny size gives it a minimal attack surface.
In addition, to install programs on Core, the operating system uses immutable, digitally signed snaps. Indeed, Core’s entire platform is made of strictly confined snaps.
Snaps are Ubuntu’s containerized software packages. These are corruption resistant. Even if a snap is compromised, Ubuntu Core snaps are confined to a sandbox. This limits potential damage. Ubuntu Core’s snaps are also scanned regularly for known vulnerabilities.
Another plus for developers is the same Core snaps will run on Ubuntu server, desktop, and cloud. Snap’s one platform, one format, and one process methodology means you can use your workstation, build farm, cloud, and servers to build your IoT snaps. Which ever works for you, will work for IoT development.
Source: https://www.zdnet.com/article/ubuntu-core-doubles-down-on-internet-of-things/
Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht
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