Open Source Summit + AI_dev Japan 2024

Security is paramount in today's online world. To enhance security, most small routers have a read only operating system and read write storage for configurations and general storage. Adding functionality usually requires uploading new firmware to the device which can be costly in both data charges and time. Wouldn't it be great to be able to maintain the security of a read only filesystem, but still be able to install new features? Containers are isolated from the host system, maintaining security, but are able to be installed in the read write portion of storage, or even run completely in RAM. The problem with containers is the resource requirements just to run said container. In this talk, we will demonstrate how a minimal, but fully functional container subsystem can be run on a small, resource constrained embedded device. We will show how containers enable edge computing where the user can run their own software on the device without compromising security, or needing to integrate their application with the host operating system. Containers can turn even the meekest of devices into an edge computing powerhouse!