SUSE has released the first 64-bit Linux-based operating system for Raspberry Pi 3 to allow users to take full advantage of their device.
The new version has been packaged as an image which can be easily copied to an SD Card, features GCC and popular development tools.
It also has btrfs file system which can allow simpler administration and allows users to boot through easier graphical user interface.
Special adaptations were required to get SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) up on the RPi 3 including devising a way to use uboot to offer an EFI boot environment, as well as adaptations and patches to get things such as WiFi and Bluetooth working.
SUSE said in a blogpost, “Because there have been several ARM enhancements in the latest levels of gcc, you should use gcc-6 instead of gcc for compiling programs.”
However, not all SLES capabilities are enabled like Docker support.
SUSE used the ICE Window Manager as the default for the Pi because of the limited memory resources on the Pi.
Raspberry Pi 3, with its quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 processor, is the computer’s first 64-bit product. It supports ARM’s A64 instruction set and the ARMv8-A architecture.
Raspberry Pi uses an ARMv6 userland with selected ARMv7 fast paths enabled at run time.
SLES for the Raspberry Pi requires registration to download patches and updates. A free, one-year, self-service registration is also offered for SLES for the Raspberry Pi.
SUSE is, however, not offering commercial support for SLES for the Raspberry Pi.
Raspberry Pi, which was first released in 2012, has recently sold 10 million units.
The credit card sized computer has seen continuing success since it started out with the goal of increasing the number of people applying to study computer science at Cambridge.
