Will Ubuntu Linux lead the IoT market?
With the rise of the Internet of Things (IoT) and the disruptive technologies it brings, it is only natural that many tech companies around the world would try to take their stake in it and reap the profits in the near future. While hardware companies have already been hard at work improving their products in order to account for it (especially with 5G technologies), there is also another matter to take into account: what is going to run it?
IoT doesn’t really come embedded into the hardware. All of the information gathering and processing, along with the AIs commonly used alongside it, require programming, testing, data storage, and enough processing power. And all of this needs to run on some kind of operating system, in order to make the interface between hardware and software. But, which one would be the best option for that?
That’s where Canonical’s Ubuntu distribution of Linux may come in.
More than just a desktop OS
For some time now, Canonical, the company which maintains and publishes Ubuntu, has been hard at work branching out into other ways of using Linux, adapting its operating system to different applications and doing the necessary changes. Ubuntu Server was one of the first, and has been highly successful. More recently, they also rolled out Ubuntu Cloud, designed to be run on cloud servers such as AWS and Google Cloud, and also Ubuntu for IoT.
Ubuntu for IoT is an operating system designed to be run on small programmable hardware, such as the Raspberry Pi. Its objective is to be fast and flexible: contain just what is necessary to run programs on it, and maybe some quality-of-life improvements, and also interface seamlessly with whatever hardware it is on, being able to connect to whatever other hardware may be interfacing with it, such as lights, buttons, sliders and similar peripherals.
All this being done professionally: while you can just download the OS and try it for yourself, Canonical also offers continuous support and maintenance of your boards for a fee, in case you have a company which plans to depend on it.
Highly flexible and controllable
Ubuntu, like other Linux distributions, comes with the advantage that it is highly flexible. Being open source, you are able to change whatever you want so that it better fits your purposes. You are even free to change the kernel, the part of the OS responsible for accessing the hardware. And also, using a familiar OS instead of a completely new one means that it is easier to develop programs to it, even considering it is not going to be placed inside a desktop. Changing the source code too much may make it impossible for Canonical to give support for it, though, so it should be considered with care.
Even better, Linux is one of the best development environments out there. Many programs and libraries are developed in Linux distributions, being Ubuntu the most popular one, and made with Linux in mind. Linux’s easy access to the command console, configuration files and incredible customization makes it much easier to use for programming than Windows, and it is also distributed for free. Being basically a professional conspiracy theorist, he has already delved into many different subjects along his journey, laying them out in his own website, InfoWars, or through live rants and podcasts of something. Below is a selection of some interesting conspiracy theories of his which involve technological advances which are, well, a bit beyond those which we are used to. You May Also Know: Fungi-based Computers
The future of Windows
Still, a hard-hitting competitor may be emerging soon. With Windows 10, Microsoft already rolled out IoT support – part of its idea of making Windows 10 run everywhere, including phones and tablets. Windows is the standard OS today, most enterprise solutions are developed with it in mind, and Microsoft has certainly many more resources than Canonical in order to make this work.
And now, Microsoft has also unveiled Windows 10’s successor, Windows 11, which aims to be an improvement in every way, starting with better integration to the Microsoft Store and what seems to be a design with mobile devices in mind. An IoT suite is expected to follow it, along with Microsoft’s direct support of it and even hardware developed with IoT in mind – like the HoloLens, which also runs its own version Windows 10.
The IoT scene is sure to see a lot of action in the near future. Ubuntu has been shaping up to be the go-to OS for development and technology, but Windows 11 has the chance to change everything – provided Microsoft does it right. We’ll have to wait and see.