Few hours ago, Ubuntu launched a new project called Ubuntu Appliance. Basically, it is a project for Ubuntu core for the Internet of Things (IoT) with one goal in mind, to create smart and secure gadgets using «Pictures of specialty appliances that do one thing: beautifully. Transform a Raspberry Pi or PC into a production-grade IoT device, for free«.
The Ubuntu Appliance images are compatible with computers, but also with Raspberry Pi boards. More specifically, with the Raspberry Pi 2 board or higher, but Canonical mentions that the best experience will be noticed if we use it on a Raspberry Pi 3B + or the 4. Installing them on a raspberry board is possible if we use the pre-made images that can be record to microSD cards using tools like Etcher (as we explained here) nor Imager Raspberry Pi official.
Ubuntu Appliance will work best on a Raspberry Pi 3
Right now, at the time of its launch, there are 5 Appliances (translated as "appliance"):
- AdGuard ad blocker.
- OpenHAB home automation.
- Plex media server.
- MQTT mosquito server.
- The Nextcloud private cloud application.
All these "gadgets", "applications" or Appliances are available as Snap packages, which can be run on Ubuntu Core 18, but will be updated later this year to work on Ubuntu Core 20. As many of you already know, Snap packages are next-generation packages that are isolated in containers and that contain all the necessary software and its dependencies in the same package. the same ubuntu-core it's a snap and comes with ten years of guaranteed support. Additional Snap Packs can be installed by the user for use in Appliances.
Although they have been released with support for the Raspberry Pi, none of the five options available initially are designed for use in the Raspberry Pi Camera or GPIO, but the Ubuntu Appliance team assures that they will be able to be added with future "gadgets".