This portends some good things to come for operating systems that can run on new Apple Silicon hardware.
A group of security researchers at Corellium have ported a version of Linux to the Apple Silicon M1 chip that will ultimately be released under an open-source license.
The Linux version is a full Ubuntu desktop operating system that can be booted from a USB device, per Corellium’s Chief Technology Officer Chris Wade. While details as presently scarce, Wade has stated that Linux is now “completely usable” on Apple Silicon hardware.
Even though there are some limitations to the port, the operating system can take full advantage of the M1’s CPU, but won’t presently support GPU acceleration. This leaves graphics to be set to software rendering mode, which will mean slow graphical performance versus native performance in macOS.
The Corellium team had first teased the Linux port on Apple Silicon hardware earlier this month, but offered few additional details. Earlier builds of the Linux port were made available on Github, but were for “advanced users only,” given that they lacked support for USB and other key systems.
Corellium is a software virtualization firm focused on emulating ARM-based technologies. The firm is also known for its legal battle with Apple. The Cupertino tech giant levied a copyright infringement lawsuit against Corellium in 2019 because of its iOS emulation software. In December 2020, Apple lost that lawsuit.
Corellium has pushed the latest changes of the Linux for M1 port to its Github account, and Wade stated that a tutorial would arrive on Friday.
It’s not for the faint of heart, but it does indicate that some very cool things are en route for the new hardware.
If you’ve had a chance to try Corellium’s offerings, please let us know about your experience in the comments.
Via AppleInsider, Twitter, and Github