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Raspberry Pi runs ported version of Mozilla's web-based Firefox OS

Raspberry Pi runs ported version of Mozilla's web-based Firefox OS

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Firefox OS on Raspberry Pi
Firefox OS on Raspberry Pi

While smartphones running Mozilla's web-based Firefox OS aren't expected to ship until 2013, that hasn't stopped enthusiasts from porting the open source operating system to other platforms. The latest device to get a version of the system — formerly known as Boot to Gecko — is the Raspberry Pi, the $25 card-sized computer designed to promote computer science in schools.

In the video below, developer Oleg Romashin demonstrates the device performing some basic functions such as swiping through the OS's menu. It doesn't look like a particularly smooth experience, but, then again, the Pi only contains a relatively meager 700MHz CPU and 256MB of RAM, shared between the CPU and its Broadcom GPU. Mercifully, the latter seems more than capable of handling hardware-accelerated 3D graphics using WebGL, just as it performs well playing high-definition video.

If you're interested in trying out Firefox OS for yourself, nightly builds are available via FTP from Mozilla — but, as the swathes of green text in Romashin's video suggest, the setup process is not for the faint of heart.