A vendor of extended temperature-range x86 SBCs (single-board computers) is bundling an embedded Linux 2.6 implementation with its EPIC, PC/104, PC/104-Plus, and EBX boards. WinSystems says “Blue Collar Linux” provides a starting point for machine control, instrumentation, COTS/military, machine-to-machine… communications, transportation, pipeline, and homeland security applications.

(Click for larger view of “Blue Collar Tux”)

WinSystems specializes in rugged SBCs with wide operating temperature ranges. Its recent products include an EPIC board targeting M2M, a low-cost PC/104 board, and a Via C3-based EPIC board. The company previously bundled a Red Hat and 2.4-based Linux based implementation with select SBCs.

Blue Collar Linux CD (Click to enlarge)

WinSystems says its new 2.6-based Blue Collar Linux implementation includes web, telnet, ftp, and serial console servers, along with board-specific drivers and documentation. An included tutorial provides a brief overview and step-by-step procedure to recreate the sample operating system from soure code, it says.

SBCs supported by Blue Collar Linux include:

• EBC-C3, a 733 MHz/1GHz Via C3 EBX board
• EPX-C3, a 733/1 GHz Via C3 EPIC board
• EPX-GX, a 500 MHz AMD GX2-based EPIC board
• PPM-TX, a 266 MHz PC/104-Plus module
• PPM-520, a 133 MHz AMD 520 PC/104-Plus module
• PCM-SC520, a 133 MHz PC/104 module
• SAT-520Plus, a 133 MHz AMD 520 SBC with PC/104-Plus expansion

Vice president Bob Burckle said, “Linux is a fast, low-cost, and widely accepted operating system well-suited for robust embedded applications. Using a standard distribution for development and the Linux 2.6 kernel, we have created a small, royalty-free embedded operating system for use on our various SBC platforms. It can be easily recreated from the source files using most distributions, and does not require any special or proprietary development tools. Designers can start with our sample image on a proven hardware platform, and modify it to fit their specific needs, or simply add their application software to the existing system.”

Availability

Blue Collar Linux is available now, configured and packaged for each supported SBC. The SBC development kits include two distribution CDs, DRAM, CompactFlash, power supply, and null modem cable, and are priced starting at $995. Delivery is stock to three weeks, and there are no additional OS royalties or runtime license fees.

 
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