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0 pointslxgr4d ago0 comments

> Could just let the device get turned off like literally any other device on earth, and not have to build a whole new fucking OS to get it running.

This is actually quite common in embedded devices and even elsewhere. Every Apple device does this, for example (the Secure Enclave is a completely separate OS running on a separate computer).

If you think about it, most laptops have been doing something like this for decades as well for things like brightness control etc., not with a different CPU but definitely an OS-like thing (i.e. the BIOS, using SMIs etc.)

The idea of the "single OS, single CPU computer" has been a myth for a while now.

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miladyincontrol4d ago

Yeah, CPU + MCU isnt exactly a foreign or strange idea. And they're hardly developing "their own OS", just configuring a default linux distro with various integrations particularly around display, IO and custom applets to interface with existing linux terminal programs and libraries.

rincebrain4d ago

They do appear to be trying to build something a bit more bespoke than that, where they want something like Fedora Silverblue or what systemd seems to want to present, in terms of contained overlays for snapshotting when you make changes and then going "oh no" without requiring a full reinstall.

God knows if they'll end up scaling back their goals, but the vision isn't "just" a few custom integrations.

reaperducer4d ago

The idea of the "single OS, single CPU computer" has been a myth for a while now.

At least since they started running Java on SIM cards.

lxgrOP4d ago

Good point, and quite on topic given that this thing will have a SIM slot, so we're at at least three OSes and CPUs and counting :)

The Bluetooth and Wi-Fi chipsets usually have their own CPU as well.

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