Ubuntu desktop on Raspberry Pi 4 could be the perfect development PC for Java with Visual Studio Code.
Last Thursday evening, Ubuntu announced the release of Ubuntu 20.10 “Groovy Gorilla” with desktop support for the Raspberry Pi 4 (4 and 8Gb). So I took it for a quick test drive!
When opening the Raspberry Pi Imager tool, the new Ubuntu Desktop OS is already available. You can burn it to an SD card, but as I wanted a faster and more reliable disc, I reused the 32Gb Flash Drive from this earlier post about USB Boot and flashed the new Ubuntu OS to it.
Once the Imager tool has finished burning the OS to the disc, you just pop it into the Raspberry Pi and power it. And yes there it is, straight from the USB Flash Drive, no additional steps needed (EEPROM of my Raspberry Pi was already up-to-date)! A full 64bit Ubuntu OS which is now even more in-line with my daily Linux work-PC. SKDMAN, Visual Studio Code, Java 15 (AdoptOpenJDK)… all installed in a matter of minutes.
I will need more test time and really start using it for some Java development, but it seems the inexpensive Raspberry Pi can compete with much more costly laptops.
