Other observations

Notably absent from BlueCat is a tool for selecting packages to be included in the target root file system. The competing toolkits all have ways to specify what components are to be included, though with varying features and usefulness. Although this would seem to be a serious deficiency, BlueCat's lack of this type of tool is mitigated somewhat by the large number of… sample systems provided; most users will find a sample close enough to their needs to serve as a basis for their own system.

Support for multiple system configurations is easily provided in BlueCat due to its simple and intuitive structure. One need only recognize that a BlueCat target consists of a kernel and a root file system, and that the kernel is defined by its .config file and the root file system by its mkrootfs configuration file. Then you can save a target configuration by simply setting aside the kernel .config file and the root file system configuration file. BlueCat provides a large number of sample systems, all defined in exactly this concise way.

I found working in the BlueCat environment exceptionally easy and intuitive despite (some might say because of) its command-line orientation. The tools are well thought out with intuitive naming and behavior, and backed up with documentation of the highest quality. I hope that if in the future LynuxWorks chooses to follow the rest of the market by tacking a GUI onto the front of the product, they either do it very carefully, or continue to support the command-line interface fully.

— The end —
More to come . . .

Watch for future articles in this series, in which we will investigate additional Embedded Linux toolkits, examining their architecture, ease of use, and overall usefulness.

---

Story navigation . . .

• Part 1: Toolkit strategies
  
• Part 2: The “less is more” approach to Embedded Linux toolkits
  
• Part 3: Development Process
  
• Part 4: Other observations

Be sure to read all the articles in this series . . .

• A developer's review of the leading Embedded Linux toolkits
  
• A developer's review of Lineo's Embedix SDK
  
• A developer's review of MontaVista's Hard Hat Linux SDK
  
• A developer's review of Red Hat's Embedded Linux Developer Suite
  
• A developer's review of LynuxWorks' BlueCat Linux SDK
  
• A developer's review of REDSonic's RED-Builder Embedded Linux toolkit

---

About the author: Jerry Epplin has written embedded software for the past fifteen years, primarily for medical devices. He can be reached at [email protected]

---

---

Other related stories . . .

• The Embedded Linux Overview Quick Reference Guide
  
• The Embedded Linux Distributions Quick Reference Guide
  
• The Real-time Linux Software Quick Reference Guide
  
• The Embedded Linux GUI/Windowing Quick Reference Guide
  
• Book review: John Lombardo's Embedded Linux
  
• Embedded Linux Workshop — an open source Embedded Linux toolkit

 
This article was originally published on LinuxDevices.com and has been donated to the open source community by QuinStreet Inc. Please visit LinuxToday.com for up-to-date news and articles about Linux and open source.