Two items of news related to Linux support on the Menlow platorm  have caught my attention in the last 24 hours. Both news items are related to the Ubuntu Linux distribution.

Menlow is the Intel platform that many MIDs, UMPCs and even netbooks and laptops have been built around in the last 12 months. It’s focused towards very low power consumption, video playback acceleration and 3D support in the smallest possible size.

Up until now, the only official operating systems that have supported the platform have been Moblin 1 (via Intel. Largely a static project now) and Windows XP, Vista and 7. Trying to use any of the latest popular Linux distributions on any of these devices results in problems.

Ubuntu, the Linux distribution run by Canonical, has always had a close relationship with UMPCs and MIDs. They did some work on Moblin 1 with the Ubuntu-MID distribution but that project is now static. Then there was Ubuntu-Mobile which turned into Ubuntu UMPC. Again, this project stopped. The Ubuntu Netbook Remix project also started and this is the one that has been focused on over the last 12 months. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have any support for the graphics/video part on Menlow known as ‘Poulsbo’. The same is true of Moblin 2. Intel dropped support for the MID platform.

The good news is that there are people out there working to fix the problem. The latest information is that one  ‘lucazade’ has rolled up everything that is needed into a few scripts and has even set up a repository that can be used to pick up the correct drivers. Full information at the bottom of this post.

The second bit of good news is that Jolicloud, the Ubuntu-based distribution targeted at netbooks, is also checking out support for GMA500. This message went out yesterday:

team is testing internally the poulsbo (gma 500) support in the next jolicloud release, we will look soon for testers.

Naturally we’ve already been in contact with the Jolicloud team about this and plan to bring you some more information shortly.

Despite all this third-party activity and end-user requirement (about 30 Menlow-based devices exist in the market right now) Intel has never really talked about Menlow support. We’ve seen Moblin 2.1 for handhelds running on Menlow and seen the Linux Foundation demonstrating it but I can’t get any statement out of them on the subject.

Based on what we’ve seen and heard I would put money on being able to run the open source beta release of Moblin 2.1 for handhelds on Menlow (purely because there’s no other platform available for developers to test on) and that is supposed to be coming within the next month. I’m also convinced that Moorestown will use the GMA500 so there’s another reason to have drivers available.

Finally, check out some of the emails in the Moblin Developer mailing list. This is an interesting one for example. (from 15th Nov.)

If you know of other Linux distributions that either work with or are planning GMA500 support (I hear rumors that Mandriva supports GMA500?) let everyone know in the comments. Likewise, if you’re running Linux on a Menlow platform, let us know what you think.

Update: 18th Nov 2009. Jolicloud have announced out-of-the-box support for the GMA500.

Considering the SmartDevices Q7 isn’t a true UMPC and it’s going to be a relatively slow browsing device, it’s getting a lot of coverage on UMPCPortal this week.

Read the full story

Looks like we have an interesting mystery device here. The SmartQ 5 MID has been captured in the wild. The background image of the device immediately reminded me of the background of the Nokia N810 [Portal page]. At first I thought it might be running Maemo, but seeing as this device is not from Nokia, I’d say that is highly unlikely. It appears to be running a simple Linux distro. The hardware itself seems very simple, with a 4.3” 800×480 screen, WiFi, Bluetooth, and just four hardware buttons on the top of the device. The source puts the price of the unit at $132 which prompts Chippy to assume that it is Arm 11 based. So far there aren’t many more details other than some images of it running FBreader, a Linux based e-Book reader. Considering the fact that it is Linux based, I’m sure it will be able to plenty of common Linux tasks, but it will all come down to a matter of how quickly, and how well the interface is adapted for touch. After seeing that the stylus is featured in many of the photos, I don’t have my hopes up for a finger usable interface, and the lack of keyboard probably means this device will turn out to be more of a toy than a productive pocket computer. Does that sound a bit pessimistic?

Swing by the source for more images. via [Engadget]

Somehow, somewhere, there seems to be a problem getting quality Linux drivers out for Poulsbo’s GPU. First we hear about the delays with Moblin V2 on MIDs  and now we get this story from an experienced Linux contributor. Adam’s article explains problems with the source code and how difficult it is to get working in a new distribution. Clearly the work on the Poulsbo drivers for Linux is delayed.

Building your own distro is exactly what Moblin is all about. 12 linux distributors have signed up to use Moblin  but if they can’t work with the Poulsbo chipset there’s little hope for any Linux distro on MIDs and Z-series netbooks in the near future. Let’s hope that Intel are working hard behind the scenes and that clean, usable GMA500 drivers will be available soon

AdamW on Linux and more » Intel GMA 500 (Poulsbo) graphics on Linux: a precise and comprehensive summary as to why you’re screwed.

ARM, Sony, ASUSTek, Garmin. These and most of the other 10 companies that have just joined the OHA are big names. The OHA is becoming a must-join, 47-member organisation!

Its difficult to work out what it all means though. Many of these members will be offering code and resource but how many of them are committed to building devices based on OHA code, Android? ARM and Intel for example, will be there because they want their platforms to be used by as many people as possible. Offering code and contact points for developers makes total sense. Vodafone may just be their so they can connect with the OEMs and have a chance to view the ecosystem and possible device in order to make strategic decisions. The entry-ticket for OHA doesn’t appear to be too expensive and the marketing advantages seem to be good so I hope they’re not just in it for the press releases!

[more below]

Read the full story

You might not have seen the announcement that Ubuntu-mobile had a last minute name change to Ubuntu-UMPC based on the fact it was targeting mobile computers rather than the lower-spec Intel-based MIDs. Oliver Grawert, one of the lead guys on the Ubuntu-UMPC project, explains on his blog. It was just in time for the release of version 8.10 (AKA Intrepid Ibex) which was went live today.

Before I give you the links to the 8.10 versions (that I’ll be trying out ASAP) though, let me quickly give you an overview of the two distributions…

Read the full story

Thanks to everyone that replied to my cry for help on mobile operating systems. I’m trying to take a developers view on the mobile platform market and work out why a developer might choose a particular OS or platform. Coming from an X86 world myself, I find it difficult to understand how Moblin, one of the first X86-only mobile operating systems, might fit into the big, carrier-influenced, ARM-focused, 100million-device-per-year world of converged mobile devices.

Since my article, Nokia announced that Symbian and related projects will be pooled and gradually turned into open-source operation. This article at GigaOm has some good thoughts. Given that they have 65% of the global market it’s obviously a significant move and I’ll be watching closely to see what happens. In the meantime, here’s a list I created of the choices that are in the market. The top 4 basically take the whole of the 100million+ per year smartphone market with LiMo carrying most of the rest. The most shocking thing is the list of Linux options. What on earth are they thinking? Open Source Linux appears to translate to a lack of focus and if I was a commercial development house right now i’d be looking to the top 4. LiMo appears to have some traction with good carrier support and penetration. Android on OHA has a lot of backing and media attention and Moblin has a number of distribution deals although at the moment, these are non-voice netbook distribution deals. It remains to be seen if the X86-focused Intel can stimulate smaller-screen distribution and make the conversion to being a voice platform when their smartphone-focused Morestown cpu comes into play in 2010.

So here’s the list of platforms, systems and methods i’ve put together. i’f i’ve missed one, please let me know!

Top 4 – 95% penetration of mobile device (*1) market.

• Symbian (65%)
• Windows Mobile (13%)
• Blackberry (10%)
• iPhone/ OS-x (7%)

Linux flavours

• LiMo (now includes LiPS)
• Android – OHA
• Moblin – Linux+Gnome+Hildon
• Meamo – Nokia. Linux+Gnome (GtK+, Gstreamer, Matchbox, Hildon)
• Mobilinux – MontaVista Linux
• Acces Linux Platform (LiMo compliant?)
• OpenMoko – Linux+Gnome
• TuxPhone
• Qtopia

Others

• Garnet (Palm, Access)

High-level languages, kits and methods:

• Ajax
• j2me
• Adobe air
• Silverlight
• Flash
• Flex

(*1) % Figures from Canalys

Fresh news from Computex!

IVT has just announced that they have ported the Bluesoleil 5.0 bluetooth stack found on lots of computers to Linux. The program retains its GUI and user friendliness and is supposedly ported specificaly for UMPCs. However with all the naming confusion thats around and the fact that very few UMPCs actually run linux, we assume they mean Netbooks and MIDs. Expect this to provide a good experience with bluetooth on quite a few devices in the future.

Source.