Embedded guru Bill Gatliff is teaching an “Embedded Linux Jumpstart” class at the Embedded Systems Conference in San Francisco next week. The all-day class is intended to help get new embedded Linux users up and running on real embedded hardware as quickly as possible, Gatliff said. In the class, Gatliff will conduct several embedded Linux lab exercises and demonstrations while the participants observe and ask questions. The class will take place on Wednesday, April 23 from 8:30 am to 5:15 pm in Room 307.

Covered topics will include . . .

• How Linux licensing affects embedded applications
  
• Detailed review of the kernel's startup process
  
• How to build a complete, uClibc- and Busybox-based root filesystem (including a working dynamic linker and loadable kernel modules!)
  
• Kernel and application debugging techniques
  
• How to write character device drivers
  
• Tips on porting Linux to custom embedded hardware

The resulting kernel image is about 1MB in size, and the root filesystem is about 6MB as configured, Gatliff said. The target system used in the class is the Cogent CSB250 single board computer based on a MIPS Au1500 embedded processor.

The ESC class is a condensed version of a five-day course, having the same name, that Gatliff teaches throughout the year.

Gatliff has more than ten years of embedded development experience, including porting Linux to custom embedded systems based on ARM, MIPS, XScale, and PowerPC processor architectures. Gatliff has written numerous articles on embedded development and is currently writing two books, “Embedded GNU Jumpstart” and “Embedded Linux Jumpstart”, which are due out later this year.

 
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