MontaVista Software has invited current customers to join an open beta program for its next-generation Eclipse-based embedded Linux development toolset. Codenamed Tsuki (“moon” in Japanese), the program promises high-quality monthly releases leading to general availability of Dev Rocket 5 before mid-2007, concurrent with MontaVista Pro 5, based on Linux 2.6.18.

Version 5 of the Dev Rocket toolset will depart significantly from previous releases in two key ways, according to Director of Product Management Oren Teich. First, it aims to go beyond the “edit, compile, debug” cycle, delivering utility throughout more of the device development workflow. Second, it will be available for the first time entirely as Eclipse plug-ins, rather than solely as a monolithic IDE.

Beyond “compile, edit, debug”

MontaVista has adopted a more “agile” development process, with its Tsuki releases, according to Teich. He explains, “Instead of delivering feature-complete, but function-limited betas, as is traditional, we plan to produce regular releases of GA [general availability] quality, but which add only one or two new features at a time.”

And, says Teich, new Tsuki features will be driven by customer feedback, and will aim to add utility throughout more of the typical embedded developer's workflow, as depicted below. Teich noted that “there are 10 different Eclipse plug-ins, from different vendors, all focused on embedded Linux 'compile, edit, debug.' We think there's an opportunity to go beyond that.”

Typical MontaVista customer workflow
(Source: MontaVista. Click to enlarge)
Monthly releases are planned through January, possibly moving to quarterly as the over-all GA date approaches, Teich added.

New Dev Rocket feature additions now or soon-to-be available, according to Teich, include:

• MontaVista Linux Edition Management (LEM) — This plug-in enables a single Eclipse-based IDE to be used with any or all of MontaVista's previous Linux distributions. Teich said, “The LEM will find every distribution installed on the system. It makes porting light years easier.”
• One-click Debugging — This capability is based on the IBM-contributed RSE (remote system explorer) used in the newly available Target Manager plug-in developed by IBM, Wind River, and MontaVista. Teich said that MontaVista's contribution was developing support for SSH as a transport protocol. He explained, “Before, you had to open a remote shell, go back to your host, launch a debugger, set up the connection, and so on. It only took 1-2 minutes to do this manually, but it was annoying, and you had to do it every time. Now, it's just one click, and you type in some details like username and password the first time.” MontaVista's Linux distribution comes standard with OpenSSH, with a teeny third-party embedded SSL/SSH stack available from Mocana for deeply embedded systems, Teich noted.
• Platform Image Creation and Configuration (PICC) — resembling the popular “Platform Builder” in previous Dev Rocket releases, PICC has been rewritten for greater interoperability and universality, Teich said. It helps developers create filesystems, by keeping track of software dependencies, among other data.
• A host of advanced analysis tools — Teich said, “Advanced analysis tools topped the list of customer requests by a factor of two-to-one.” Hence, Tsuki offers currently available plug-ins that wrap a graphical interface around tools such as MPatrol, OProfile, and LTT.

Teich said that future Tsuki releases would focus on feature additions in the following areas, pending customer feedback:

• 6-12 months
  • Carrier Grade Edition
  • Mobile
  • Hardware debugging
  • Security
  • Kernel

• 12 months to one year
  • Java development

  • Certification and testing
  • Middleware
  • Remote device management
  • UI design

Dev Rocket 5 as a set of plug-ins

Starting with the Tsuki beta releases, Dev Rocket will be available either as a monolithic IDE, as in the past, or entirely in plug-in form. The plug-in version will facilitate best-of-breed toolsets sourced from multiple vendors, MontaVista says. This resonates with the Eclipse project's original design goal of serving as a cross-vendor, cross-function framework for tools aggregation and integration.

Teich said, “Our customers are demanding best-of-breed tools. They want to integrate our tools with plug-ins from ClearCase, plug-ins that support BDI's JTAG debugger [story], UML modeling plug-ins, and static code analysis tools.”

He adds, “Some of our customers use a pre-integrated, company-mandated IDE.”

Teich notes that MontaVista's decision to focus on adding value at the plug-in level reflects the growing quality of the Eclipse framework in general. “In the past, we felt we had no alternative but to ship a monolithic IDE. Now, the state of Eclipse's foundational pieces has progressed to the point where we believe that it's good enough,” he said.

MontaVista says customer preference was another reason it chose to focus on plug-ins. It cites recent VDC research showing that 55 percent of embedded developers would prefer using Eclipse tools from multiple vendors. (Also of note: 17 percent said they use Eclipse-based tools currently, while 43 percent expect to in two years).

Interestingly, tool vendors outside the device market have long focused more on plug-ins, and less on monolithic IDEs, according to Teich. He explained, “Out of six software development markets where Eclipse is commonly used, the embedded tools market remains the only place people are still focused on monolithic IDEs.”

Teich adds, “But there's a shift happening, and we expect that you'll see similar announcements from everyone else, in the future.”

Teich also hinted that MontaVista's next operating system release, MontaVista Linux Professional Edition 5.0, might be designed — like Dev Rocket 5.0 — for greater interoperability, with a 2.6.18 kernel closer to mainline Linux. He said, “Almost all of the real-time extensions we use have been accepted in mainline, as of 2.6.18. So, I don't want to say too much, but it's possible that the next release of Pro will take after Dev Rocket in certain regards.”

Dev Rocket 5.0 will also be usable with kernels other than MontaVista's, Teich confirmed, adding, “Of course, we'd like to see you use our kernel.”

MontaVista expects to reveal additional details about Dev Rocket 5.0, as well as MontaVista Pro 5.0, in January, Teich said.

Another embedded Linux tools vendor, Wind River, has long touted the purity of its kernel.org upstream sources, and the care with which it documents any patches or modifications. However, its tools no longer support exotic distributions, for reasons recently explained by newly hired product line manager Sven Dummer.

Availability

The first Tsuki beta release was unveiled on Nov. 14 at the Embedded Technology conference in Tokyo. Current MontaVista subscribers are encouraged to apply for inclusion in the Tsuki beta program; details can be found here.

Ultimately, Dev Rocket will be available as part of MontaVista Linux Professional Edition (“Pro”), in the first half of 2007, either as a “Platform Development Kit” that includes MontaVista's kernel and system packages, or as a less expensive standalone “Application Development Kit” that makes interesting use of VMware virtualization technology (perhaps bundled as a VMware “player”).

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