Choosing an operating system (OS) for an embedded system is one of the most complex and critical tasks. It has significant long-term ramifications that affect both development and the market success of a product. There are several factors that make choosing a Linux-based OS a smart choice such as:
- acquisition cost
- source code availability
- broad architecture support
These factors lead to a significantly improved time-to-market and a reduction in platform design risk and effort. However, choosing a specific Linux-based OS can be confusing.
Many ask: “With so many Linux-based platforms available in the market, why use the Yocto Project instead of a standard non-embedded binary distribution such as Debian or Ubuntu?”
Alex González, Digi software engineering supervisor, is a leading authority on Embedded Linux platforms and the author of Embedded Linux Projects Using Yocto Project Linux. In Digi’s latest technical brief, Yocto Project: The Right Choice for Embedded Systems Design, Alex provides an overview and answer to that fundamental question.
The Yocto Project is often described as an umbrella project, that is, a group of different open source projects hosted by the Linux Foundation that come together to collaborate on tools, best practices and software to help create custom Linux-based embedded operating system platforms.
