Skip to main content

Look it up, Bookworm - the Raspberry Pi 5 just got its first OS(es)

A brand-new microcomputer from Hell needs a brand-new OS. Enter the Raspberry Pi Foundation with Bookworm, the latest (un)cool product label for the next version of the Raspberry Pi OS.

While not surprising, or even exciting news, we still think this is a neat release. It’s a port of the Linux distribution Debian’s latest release, and is thus named after the immortal star of the Toy Story franchise, rather than the world's greatest PopCap game.

Teasing us all with that 'nothing and yet everything has changed' snake oil, the Raspberry Pi Foundation explained that the new OS features significant changes to its software architecture.

All change

Crucially, this means a move from the ancient X11 protocol to Wayland, promising increased performance for Pis 4 and 5 while the Foundation works to support Wayland on lower-power boards - presumably the Pi 3 at the very least.

Our sister site Tom’s Hardware has more on the technical side of Wayland’s implications, as well as this genuine sentence:

“[...]we had early access to a beta of Bookworm and found it to be a great OS. There were some bugs, and we noted this in our review, but that is what happens with beta software.”

Well, we don’t work in sales. Unless you’d like a different mini PC altogether?

Bookworm is a slur

In practice, Wayland in Bookworm offers two useful plugins for the power user: a power plugin reporting under and over voltage readings, as well as a plugin reporting the load and temperature of the Pi 4 and 5’s Videocore VII GPU.

Some applications may be incompatible with Wayland, but the implementation of XWayland, an X11 display server, “automatically” passes graphical elements of X11 apps to Wayland, without the need for additional tinkering from developers.

But wait, there's more

Naturally, just as I log off to forget the barren hole that the Raspberry Pi microcomputer has left in my heart, our brothers in arms in the ecomm wars broke the news that Ubuntu now supports Raspberry Pi 5 (or will, when you can get your hands on one).

This is good and expected: Ubuntu is probably the Linux distribution most people have heard of, and is something I’d like to explore, perhaps, in a Raspberry Pi 5 review for TechRadar Pro - because I’m currently not touching my current set-up with a barge pole.

 Ubuntu sounds just that bit more straightforward, with an App Center (think ‘app store’, yeah?) for searching for applications via the Canonical App Store (other implementations of this I’ve seen use Flathub as a repository, which also works well).

Ubuntu is just the second domino to fall. Tom’s Hardware predict that ‘a range of Ubuntu respins’, with world-music-infused-electronica-at-Glasto-’93 sounding names like ‘Kubuntu’ and ‘Xubuntu’, will surely follow.

Breaking kayfabe

It may surprise you that I’m about zero to zero point one percent percent joking when I write stuff like “I’m going to throw this stupid machine in the ocean”. There are cool things to appreciate about the Pi (other microcomputers are available). Some of these are even relevant to this article.

 Installing an operating system on it, for instance, can’t really get easier, thanks to the Raspberry Pi Imager, a lightweight programme allowing for easy download and configuration of various Linux distributions, including the RPi OS Bookworm port, sorted by use-case.

I like that about it, it engenders the reckless “mess around with a new project” feel that the Pi always gives off.

More from TechRadar Pro

• Installing an OS on your Raspberry Pi is about to become a lot simpler

• Windows 11 on Raspberry Pi? It’s possible thanks to Tiny11

• Raspberry Pi Code Editor wants to help the next generation of programmers



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The latest Apple TV 4K test lets you watch four sports streams at once

Apple is trying something new with the latest beta version of tvOS 16.5: the option to watch up to four simultaneous streams at once. Right now it's limited to live sports streamed through the Apple TV app on the Apple TV 4K , specifically MLB Friday Night Baseball and the MLS Season Pass. A multi-view option was spotted in the tvOS software last month, but the code was hidden and not enabled. MacRumors reported that the feature would be enabled this weekend, and beta testers have since been able to use it. As yet multi-view hasn't been officially announced by Apple, but it's expected that tvOS 16.5 is going to be pushed out in its final form within the next month or so. WWDC 2023 is around the corner as well, when we should be hearing about the next major updates for Apple's various operating systems – including tvOS 17. How it works Over at 9to5Mac there's a hands-on demonstrating how the multi-view feature works, and it's pretty much as you would expe...
Post a Comment
Read more

Garmin's new radar-equipped tail light will keep you safe on your e-bike

Garmin's Varia bike radars are some of the most popular pieces of cycling tech around – and now the company has delivered its first rearview radar to have been specially designed for some of the best e-Bikes .   Garmin's Varia range mounts to the back of your bike and broadcasts a radar signal behind you, so you can get visual and audible alerts when something's overtaking you. Even better, the new Varia eRTL615 plugs directly into most e-bikes, with no battery required. Because the catchily-named Varia eRTL615 is also a tail light, it'll also make sure you're visible to other vehicles too, promising to emit a flashing or solid light that's visible from up to a mile away in daylight. To connect Garmin's new radar tail light to your e-bike, you'll need to pick the right Garmin adapter cable (which isn't included). You can buy power cables compatible with Bosch, Shimano, or USB-A terminals or connections, with more info on those available on Garmin...
Post a Comment
Read more

Nvidia RTX 4080 GPU could get cheaper with a new version – but don’t get your hopes up

Nvidia’s RTX 4080 is purportedly getting a new spin on the GPU which could reduce the cost, but any price reduction will likely be very minor, sadly, if it happens at all. Tom’s Hardware flagged up this rumor – and treat it with caution, as with anything from the ever-spinning mill – that originated from HKEPC (a tech site in Hong Kong), claiming that while the current RTX 4080 graphics card is built on the AD103-300 chip, Nvidia is going to use a slightly different GPU in the future, namely AD103-301. There’s now more evidence this is actually happening, Tom’s points out, courtesy of a graphics card maker, Galax, which under its RTX 4080 product details lists the GPU as ‘AD103-300/301’. Furthermore, VideoCardz , which also picked up on this, informs us that Gainward, another card maker, has also listed the updated GPU variant AD103-301 in its product specs. With two separate third-party graphics card makers mentioning this new spin on the GPU in their specs, it seems pret...
Post a Comment
Read more