If you're a die-hard fan of retro games, the upcoming new Ubuntu Retro Remix distro might be of great interest. This is an unofficial Ubuntu Linux based operating system for retro gaming on a Raspberry Pi single board computer.
The Ubuntu Retro Remix project was started by Martin Wimpress, Ubuntu office manager and Ubuntu MATE co-founder. You can use it to turn your Raspberry Pi into a retro gaming machine.
The project is totally fresh and still a work in progress. Therefore, you cannot download pre-built images for Raspberry Pi. But you can clone the GitHub repository and use its script to create Raspberry Pi images of Ubuntu for retro gaming.
For the same, you will also need to download the armhf Ubuntu 20.04 server image for Raspberry Pi. According to the project description, Ubuntu Retro Remix supports Raspberry Pi based retro game consoles which include MegaPi, NesPi and SuperPi.
For more information, you can watch a YouTube video by Martin Wimpress where he shows how to build retro gaming machines using the new Ubuntu Remix.
Why another new Linux distribution?
Now the phrase "Stop creating a new Linux distro" must have popped up in some of your minds. Like lately, we have already seen several new Linux distributions, specially based on Ubuntu such as Ubuntu Unity Remix, UbuntuEd and UbuntuDDE.
On top of that, others are also awaiting release, like Serpent OS and Ubuntu Web. So you must be wondering if we really need more new Linux distros. Right?
To know the reason for starting a new project, we need to understand the purpose of the founder. And to tell you, Martin Wimpress is a retro gamer, Raspberry Pi builder, and Ubuntu user / developer who also recently built Rolling Rhino to turn ordinary Ubuntu into a continuous release.
Even though he has built retro Raspberry Pi game consoles in the past using RetroPie, he says he hasn't learned anything new by doing this. Therefore, Martin has started this new Ubuntu remix project, not only to learn, but also for all retro gamers who want to run retro games on Pi out of the box.
Instead of installing Ubuntu for Raspberry Pi then RetroPi, you can just install Ubuntu Retro Remix on your Raspberry Pi and have fun playing retro games.
Do you find this new Remix useful? Make comments and share your thoughts.