Amazon is making its own Linux distro.

Amazon is making a Linux distro for their Fire TV devices.

 

 

 

https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2023/11/amazon-vega-linux-based-os

 

 

What do you think about this?

As a long term Ubuntu user I'm a bit ambivalent about this. I tend to trust Canonical (and even Shuttleworth) a fair bit. However, I don't trust Amazon at all. Even though, like everyone else, I actually do use them. Many years ago a bloke who lived in California told me that Amazon were 'evil'. I thought he was being immoderate and a tad melodramatic. I'm not so sure now.   

I would have selected OpenWrt instead.  It already supports embedded CPUs that may be used in their tv and IOT devices.

Edited by Dominique1, 12 November 2023 - 02:20 AM.

I would have selected OpenWrt instead.  It already supports embedded CPUs that may be used if their tv and IOT devices.

OpenWRT is for routers not streaming devices.

I bought an Amazon  (Insignia) TV from Best Buy a few years ago, mainly because it was cheap, had an RJ45 network port, analog audio out port, and multiple HDMI ports.  When the grandchildren are visiting, they use it to play their games and watch TV.  It runs on some generic version of Android, and it can access Google Play Store.

 

We have a subscription to Amazon TV, because my wife has an Amazon Prime account.

 

Amazon TV is overrun by advertising.  There are multiple adds and misdirection throughout the menu.  It is very easy for an unwary user to select a "Pay For View" item from their menu.  I put a password on the system to prevent accidental purchases.

 

I find that I avoid Amazon, unless there is something specific that I want to watch.

 

The quoted article did not mention any specific fork of Linux.  It did, however, say that "App developers are being told to use React Native as an application framework" to build the system.  I would suspect, then, that it will be another fork of Android.

 

That would make a lot of sense, as most of their team would be very familiar with Android.

 

Staying with an Android fork might also make it possible to put out a firmware upgrade to existing Amazon hardware.

 

Starting out with a new slate would be more work, even if it was stable to begin with.

 

As an example, many years ago, I installed OpenWRT on a Seagate Dockdrive, and used it as a media and file server in my home network.  It worked very well, and was stable.  I transferred a lot of vinyl and tape to it, including VHS. 

 

The default OpenWRT DLNA server interfaced with any media player, such as VideoLAN.  Samba shares allowed household members to share larger files and phone videos directly through the network.

 

Having the Dockdrive do anything more, though, required too much work.  It wasn't OpenWRT that was the issue, but the amount of CPU and RAM that was available.  In addition, the network port on the Dockdrive was limited to 10Mbps.  Eventually I replaced it with a Raspberry Pi 4.  It allowed me to build the server that I wanted.

 

Cheers!

 

Naught

 

I don't use Amazon.

I don't trust Amazon.

I don't trust Amazon devices.

I don't trust Amazon sidewalk.

It looks like this is specifically for Amazon devices, not for regular desktop use. It looks like it's meant as an upgrade from their existing Fire OS, which seems fine to me. Since this isn't a desktop OS, the fact that Amazon is a terrible company with shady business practices is a little off-topic.

 

Having said that, I do everything I can to avoid Amazon because they're so terrible. Even when I've tried to buy from them, I was never able to find what I was looking for, and I wasn't looking for anything unusual. Then every time there was a "counterfeit product crackdown" or "fake review crackdown," legitimate name-brand products disappeared from search results while all of the unsafe garbage with thousands of obviously fake 5-star reviews remained (because most of those unpronounceable random-letter "brands" are actually Amazon brands).

I don't use Amazon.

I don't trust Amazon.

I don't trust Amazon devices.

 

Me too.

I love Amazon same day delivery, 2 hour delivery, fast delivery on holiday shipments that are gift wrapped to perfection, and great customer service and product support.

Well I guess on the upside this means Linux we'll have better compatibility with ARM CPUs.

Edited by SuperSapien64, 19 November 2023 - 03:11 PM.

Well I guess on the upside this means Linux will have better compatibility with ARM CPUs.

Linux support on ARM isn't an issue. There are many Linux distros available that will work on arm cpus out of box. Debian and Arch being two.

 

Well I guess on the upside this means Linux will have better compatibility with ARM CPUs.

Linux support on ARM isn't an issue. There are many Linux distros available that will work on arm cpus out of box. Debian and Arch being two.

 

Oh yeah, oh well I guess that will make it a bit easier for Amazon to make this new version of Linux.

Have a read

https://www.arm.linux.org.uk/docs/history.php#:~:text=ARM%20Linux%20started%20out%20in,back%20into%20Linus'%20kernel%20tree.

Have a read

https://www.arm.linux.org.uk/docs/history.php#:~:text=ARM%20Linux%20started%20out%20in,back%20into%20Linus'%20kernel%20tree.

Thanks I skimmed though it because I remember watching a video about the history of ARM and RISC CPUs.

Edited by Mike_Walsh, 04 December 2023 - 07:19 AM.
Spelling correction...

"Since this isn't a desktop OS, the fact that Amazon is a terrible company with shady business practices is a little off-topic"
The OS itself might even be perfectly clean, no HIDDEN surprises. Rather it will function exactly as it is supposed to, as a means of running devices which are shady and sinister in their functionality and their very reason for existing.

Regrettably I do use amazon for purchasing of physical goods, I'd never trust any of their devices though, or have anything to do with them other than ordering physical goods.

Edited by rp88, 03 December 2023 - 01:00 PM.