Mozilla ports Firefox OS to Raspberry Pi

Mozilla is in the process of porting its Firefox OS mobile operating system to the Raspberry Pi. Currently, the operating system still runs as a virtual machine, but Mozilla claims that Firefox OS on the Raspberry Pi should grow into a full-fledged OS.

The first ports of Firefox OS were shown by Mozilla at the MozFest development meeting in the UK last weekend. The test versions still run as a virtual machine within the Raspbian operating system. Mozilla advises not to physically connect the virtual machine to the internet because many commands are still handled at the root level.

In the longer term, Firefox OS should also be able to run as a native operating system on the Raspberry Pi. The OS must also be suitable for hobbyists by supporting the reading of, for example, sensors and controlling accessories that can be connected to the mini-PC. There are also plans to add media player functionality to Firefox OS on the Raspberry Pi, while robotics projects should also be possible on the OS.

It is not yet clear when an easy-to-install version of Firefox OS for the Raspberry Pi will be available, although several sprints have been announced for next year to further make the operating system suitable for the mini PC. With the announcement that the Raspberry Pi Foundation will soon come with a touchscreen for its hardware, it seems that Firefox OS will also be operated by finger touches on the small computer.