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tinlyx
Asked: 2020-07-19 16:49:24 +0800 CST

Ubuntu distro for MIPS archeticture?

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How would one create a Ubuntu distro for a different architecture such as MIPS?

I understand that it is possible to create a customized distro for the x86/x64, and the Linux 5.7 Kernel has support for MIPS. I am just wondering how a Ubuntu-based distro can be created for a different architecture such as Ubuntu ARM or MIPS.

-- Edit --

The main question I have is about the additional steps that's needed to build a distro for a non-x86 architecture. I haven't used Linux in any other ARCH than x86/x64, so I am very new here.

According to wikipedia, Debian has official ports for MIPS. So

What are the steps to get from Debian to Ubuntu?

(e.g. Do I need an actual MIPS machine, or can this be done on a virtual machine? If I am able to run a Debian on the MIPS, then how to go from there to build Ubuntu MIPS packages?)

There are related questions (e.g. How to customize the Ubuntu Live CD?). But they start from a working Ubuntu installation, which isn't available for a new arch such as MIPS.

architecture custom-distributions

1 Answers

  1. First, you must run through all of the thousands of packages that you want to include and check that they build for both MIPS architectures (big-endian and little-endian) in Debian. You chase the bug reports, investigate (or upstream) packages that fail to build, and generally glidepath the set of packages toward completion.

    Second, you must persuade the Ubuntu Foundations Team that the MIPS architectures are a worthwhile addition to the Ubuntu Repositories. That's why you did all the Debian work -- to persuade the Foundations Team that a MIPS build is both possible and affordable. If they agree that it's worthwhile, then you must help shepherd all those packages through another build cycle, this time for Ubuntu.

    Finally, you and some MIPS-using friends must volunteer to test the pre-release version of the Ubuntu MIPS build. If volunteers don't step up to do pre-release testing, or if volunteers don't step up to provide support, that architecture gets dropped. Ubuntu dropped PowerPC and i386 architectures when volunteers became too sparse.

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