Rudolf J. Streif - Embedded Linux Systems with the Yocto Project

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Rudolf J. Streif

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ISBN-13: 978-0-13-344324-0
ISBN-10: 0-13-344324-8
Text printed in the United States on recycled paper at RR Donnelley in Crawfordsville, Indiana.
First printing, May 2016

To Janan, Dominic, Daniel, and Jonas

The embedded Linux landscape is a little bit like the Old West: different outposts of technology scattered here and there, with barren and often dangerous landscape in between. If youre going to travel there, you need to be well stocked, be familiar with the territory, and have a reliable guide.

Just as people moved West during the Gold Rush in the mid-1800s, developers are moving into the embedded Linux world with the rush to the Internet of Things. As increased population brought law, order, and civilization to the Old West, important new open source software projects are bringing order to embedded Linux.

The Yocto Project is a significant order-bringer. Its tools let you focus on designing your project (what you want to build) and devote only the necessary minimum of your time and effort to putting it all together (how you build what you want to build).

This book is your reliable guide. In logically ordered chapters with clear and complete instructions, it will help you get your work done and your IoT project to market. And with some luck, youll have fun along the way!

Enjoy your adventure!

Arnold Robbins
Series Editor

Smart home. Smart car. Smart phone. Smart TV. Smart thermostat. Smart lights. Smart watch. Smart washer. Smart dryer. Smart fridge. Smart basketball. Welcome to the brave new world of smart everything!

The proliferation of embedded computers in almost everything we touch and interact with in our daily lives has moved embedded systems engineering and embedded software development into the spotlight. Hidden from the direct sight of their users, embedded systems lack the attractiveness of web applications with their flashy user interfaces or the coolness of computer games with their animations and immersive graphics. It comes as no surprise that computer science students and software developers hardly ever think of embedded software engineering as their first career choice. However, the smart-everything revolution and the Internet of Things (IoT) are driving the demand for specialists who can bridge hardware and software worlds. Experts who speak the language of electric schematics as well as programming languages are sought after by employers.

Linux has become the first choice for an explosively growing number of embedded applications. There are good reasons for this choice, upon which we will elaborate in the coming chapters. Through my journey as an embedded software developer for various industries, I have learned Linux for embedded systems the hard way. There is no shortage of excellent development tools for virtually any programming language. The vast majority of libraries and applications for Linux can easily be built natively because of their tooling. Even building the Linux kernel from scratch is almost a breeze with the kernels own build system. However, when it comes to putting it all together into a bootable system, the choices are scarce.

The Yocto Project closes that gap by providing a comprehensive set of integrated tools with the OpenEmbedded build system at its center. From source code to bootable system in a matter of a few hoursI wish I had that luxury when I started out with embedded Linux!