LinuxDevices.com readers often ask whether there are any books on the subject of Embedded Linux, so we've put this book list together to make it easy to locate books on this hot subject. In the list below, we have included links to summaries, reviews, and publication announcements on each book — as well as easy-click links to where you can purchase the book online at Amazon.com. Enjoy!

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Embedded Linux Primer: A Practical Real-World Approach This book aims to help solve specific technical issues product designers are likely to face when using Linux. begins with a general overview of the anatomy of an embedded Linux device, before delving into specifics such as Busybox and CONFIG_RT. Additional specific topics include the Das U-Boot bootloader, the JFFS2 filesystem, GDB, KGDB, hardware JTAG debugging, and development environment tools such as TFTP, DHCP, and NFS. Read the full description of this book. Download Chapter 7: Bootloaders (PDF file).

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Embedded Linux System Design and Development by P. Raghavan, Amol Lad, Sriram Neelakandan This book targets systems architects and software developers, and covers the MTD (Memory Technology Device) Flash storage device model, POSIX.1b real-time extensions, uClinux, and porting from traditional real-time operating systems to Linux. The book is said to offer practical advice about writing, debugging, and profiling embedded Linux applications and drives. Read the full description of this book.

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Building Embedded Linux Systems by Karim Yaghmour Most books on Embedded Linux rely on the use of pre-packaged development tools or cover only one very precise aspect of running Linux on an embedded target. In contrast, Yaghmour's book shows readers how to design and build their own embedded systems based on using Linux as the kernel, along with freely available open source tools as the framework. Read the full description of this book. Read a review of this book by Jerry Epplin.

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Linux for Embedded and Real-Time Applications, Second Edition by Doug Abbott This new edition of Doug Abbott's solid introduction to embedded Linux still provides a reader-friendly overview, together with updates that significantly bolster coverage of the basics. Completely revised to reflect the 2.6 series kernel, the second edition adds 100 pages of new material, including new chapters on uCLinux and the Eclipse IDE. Read the full description of this book.

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Embedded Linux: Hardware, Software, and Interfacing by Dr. Craig Hollabaugh This book is one of the first books available that teaches you development and implementation of interfacing applications on an embedded Linux platform. In this book, you will find a comprehensive discussion of platform selection, cross-compiling, kernel compilation, root filesystem creation, booting, remote debugging, real-world interfacing, application control, data collection, archiving, and presentation. Read the full description of this book. Read an introduction to this book by its author. Read a review of this book by Jerry Epplin Read reviews of this book by Joel Williams and Dr. Ian McLoughlin.

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Embedded Linux by John Lombardo This book is intended for designers of embedded systems and information appliances, as well as for general Linux programmers. It describes in great detail how to marry your tiny Linux distribution to the hardware to a do-it-yourself MP3 player. With specific suggestions on how to build the smallest possible Linux system and advice on choosing the right hardware for your ultimate goal (better, faster, or cheaper), this book teaches you how to build your first embedded device. Read the full description of this book. Read a review of this book by Rick Lehrbaum.

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The Linux TCP/IP Stack: Networking for Embedded Systems by Thomas Herbert This book provides a detailed guide to implementing and using the Linux TCP/IP stack in embedded systems projects. It begins with a general overview of TCP/IP networking, with background information on applicable networking standards. After the basics are covered, the book takes programmers on a detailed tour of TCP/IP implementation in Linux and TCP/IP sources by following a packet of data as it flows through the stack from the sending system, out the wire, and back through the input side of the stack in the receiving machine.

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Hacking the TiVo by William von Hagen This book provides a central, readable, and detailed guide to upgrading, maintaining, and enhancing TiVo systems. Included are detailed operating system and hardware upgrade information for more experienced users who are comfortable working with system software and operating systems. The book explains how to obtain the operating system source code, how to build and enhance the operating system, and how to log in on and use the TiVo as a computer system. Read an introduction to this book by its author.

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Practical Linux Programming: Device Drivers, Embedded systems, and the Internet by Ashfaq A. Khan Written for engineers and students, this book is about designing and developing embedded systems using Internet technology as a user interface. The book emphasizes the use of three different technologies for embedded system design and development: the Web, the Linux kernel, and SQL queries. From a software design point of view, device driver design, interprocess communication usage, Perl programming, shell programming, HTML tags, and SQL queries are covered in detail. Read a (rather critical) review by Marty Leisner of this book here.

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