Canonical's Mir 2018 Plans Include Some Potentially Interesting IoT Features

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Canonical's Mir 2018 Plans Include Some Potentially Interesting IoT Features

When Canonical announced they would be dropping their Unity 8 plans but that Mir would still be maintained, their reason at the time for maintaining it were "Internet of Things" (IoT) use-cases. While not yet clear, Canonical is privately working on Mir IoT plans for 2018...

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Mir-IoT-2018-Secret

[bregma]

Our use of Mir for Internet of Things deployment has identified a number of opportunities we are keen to exploit. (But I cannot talk about them yet.)

My guess is it's something that could rhyme with "binstrument fluster" or "in-bar infopainment" but then again I could be wrong since I can't think of anything out there that might have multiple millions of dollars of active funding, is gobbling up as much Linux tech as possible, and that could possibly rhyme with those phrases.

[WolfpackN64]

IoT sounds more like an excuse for Mir's existance than something real and concrete.

[starshipeleven]

IoT sounds more like an excuse for Mir's existance than something real and concrete.

IoT here is horribly generic. They mean mid-high end embedded hardware, which usually needs to interact with humans.

More and more devices are switching from hardware buttons and leds (and crappy simple LCD screens like calculator's) to touchscreens, and writing the software to run that becomes more and more complex to do on your own.

If you want anything remotely fancy it makes sense to buy a SDK-like thingy providing most of the leg work already done.

While it's true that there is also Android, it can still compete with Ubuntu in single-use embedded products (that don't need apps and Google Play).

[WolfpackN64]

IoT here is horribly generic. They mean mid-high end embedded hardware, which usually needs to interact with humans.

More and more devices are switching from hardware buttons and leds (and crappy simple LCD screens like calculator's) to touchscreens, and writing the software to run that becomes more and more complex to do on your own.

If you want anything remotely fancy it makes sense to buy a SDK-like thingy providing most of the leg work already done.

While it's true that there is also Android, it can still compete with Ubuntu in single-use embedded products (that don't need apps and Google Play).

Then I don't see what Mir can do that Wayland doesn't.

[starshipeleven]

Then I don't see what Mir can do that Wayland doesn't.

Wayland is a protocol, a specification. If you want to run some GUI on Wayland you need a compositor (either Weston or whatever), which is a software that actually does stuff following the spec.

Mir is a compositor, and while it is using some wayland-inspired knockoff protocol because of NIH syndrome, it is still one of the best out there if you need something fancy (others being Kwin for KDE and Mutter for GNOME).

For an embedded device you don't care much about being compatible with third party applications since the device will likely only run your own stuff, so even if Mir keeps using his own protocol and not Wayland proper, it's not a major issue as it is for Linux desktop distros where you MUST be able to run all software in the repos or it is a fail.

[bregma]

Then I don't see what Mir can do that Wayland doesn't.

Provide a closed-source-licensed version for patent-happy megacorporate lawyer ranches.

[Vistaus]

My guess is it's something that could rhyme with "binstrument fluster" or "in-bar infopainment" but then again I could be wrong since I can't think of anything out there that might have multiple millions of dollars of active funding, is gobbling up as much Linux tech as possible, and that could possibly rhyme with those phrases.

Not sure about the first one, but in-car infotainment is currently powered by either a custom OS, Apple CarPlay or QNX. Esp. the last two are pretty dominant right now, so I don't see Mir being used there, except for the ones running a custom OS.

[bregma]

Not sure about the first one, but in-car infotainment is currently powered by either a custom OS, Apple CarPlay or QNX. Esp. the last two are pretty dominant right now, so I don't see Mir being used there, except for the ones running a custom OS.

Truthfully, you'd be a fool to put Linux behind your instrument cluster but AGL (Automotive Grade Linux) is quickly taking over the IVI (in-vehicle infotainment) space. You don't need to shell out the big bucks to license a real-time ISO-26262-certified OS like QNX Neutrino in non-safety-critical applications like a GPS display or an audio playlist selector, and there's plenty of cheap programmer labour out there who can slap together a Java or even JavaScript app that isn't any worse than any of the crap already out there (just go to Google Play for proof of that). Shaving pennies is what business people do, and cars are big business indeed.

See, the big draw to in-car Linux for manufacturers is commodity pricing. Developers who know Neutrino are not commodities, but developers who know JavaScript and Linux certainly are.

[Vistaus]

Truthfully, you'd be a fool to put Linux behind your instrument cluster but AGL (Automotive Grade Linux) is quickly taking over the IVI (in-vehicle infotainment) space. You don't need to shell out the big bucks to license a real-time ISO-26262-certified OS like QNX Neutrino in non-safety-critical applications like a GPS display or an audio playlist selector, and there's plenty of cheap programmer labour out there who can slap together a Java or even JavaScript app that isn't any worse than any of the crap already out there (just go to Google Play for proof of that). Shaving pennies is what business people do, and cars are big business indeed.

See, the big draw to in-car Linux for manufacturers is commodity pricing. Developers who know Neutrino are not commodities, but developers who know JavaScript and Linux certainly are.

QNX is used by some big companies like Ford and even some Mercedes models for infotainment displays in cars. Apple Carplay is used in so many new cars as well and Carplay runs primarily on QNX. So don't go telling me it's not popular.