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The Embedded Debian Project http://www.emdebian.org/
Emdebian GNU/Linux Crush 1.0 released press@debian.org
February 14th, 2009 http://www.emdebian.org/News/2009/20090214a.html
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Emdebian GNU/Linux Crush 1.0 released
The Emdebian Project is very pleased to announce the official release
of two flavours of Embedded Debian - Emdebian Grip 1.0 and Emdebian
Crush 1.0, each based on Debian GNU/Linux version 5.0 (codenamed
"lenny"), after several years of constant development.
Emdebian GNU/Linux Crush 1.0 (based on Debian 5.0 "lenny").
==========================================================
The smallest Emdebian installation
Limitations of selecting Emdebian Crush 1.0:
============================================
1. Crush 1.0 (lenny) is a developer-release, full support is
expected in Crush 2.0 (squeeze).
2. Support is only available for ARM in Crush 1.0 (lenny).
3. No pre-built installation images - Crush supports customisation
for each machine type and variant.
4. Installing and maintaining Crush requires significant user
involvement but provides complete flexibility to achieve the smallest
installation sizes.
5. Emdebian Crush requires Debian to build - using Debian
derivatives or other GNU/Linux distributions is unsupported.
6. Emdebian methods are Debian methods, so a knowledge of Debian
packaging methods is also required.
7. Uses glibc until uClibc can be reintroduced into Debian 6.0
"squeeze".
8. Some library packages in Crush 1.0 have had functionality (and
therefore symbols) removed, so care is needed when building
applications.
Release names
=============
Full release title:
Emdebian GNU/Linux Crush 1.0 (based on Debian GNU/Linux 5.0
"lenny"). Short release name:
Emdebian Crush 1.0 (lenny)
Common release names:
Emdebian Crush or Crush (lenny)
Please use these names if promoting the releases elsewhere.
Grip and Crush are a play on words for the next Debian release -
"squeeze". Emdebian will continue to use the Grip and Crush titles for
future releases and will continue to use the unstable, testing and
stable suite names. Future releases are intended to continue following
Debian in the codenames (lenny, squeeze etc.) and be tied firmly to
Debian release schedules.
More information: http://www.emdebian.org/crush/
Features of Emdebian Crush 1.0
==============================
Busybox based root filesystem and cross-built packages to support the G
Palmtop Environment based on GTK+2 or any workable package selection
in-between. Kernels and kernel modules are not provided directly but
support exists to add custom kernels to the installation tarballs.
Packages are heavily modified and then cross-built from Debian source
packages - functional changes do exist between Emdebian Crush and
standard Debian. Emdebian Crush 1.0 (based on Debian 5.0 "lenny") is
only available for ARM - adding more architectures is non-trivial.
Debian GNU/Linux 5.0 (Lenny) includes the new ARM EABI port, "Armel".
This new port provides a more efficient use of both modern and future
ARM processors. As a result, the old ARM port (arm) has now been
deprecated in Debian. Subsequent Crush releases will migrate to armel
instead of ARM and include i386, mips and mipsel. Powerpc support can
be considered, if there is sufficient interest.
Emdebian Crush does not support building packages on Crush itself, all
work to develop packages for Crush must be done on a normal Debian
machine using cross-building support provided by Emdebian. There is no
migration path from Debian to Emdebian Crush due to functional changes
in the core package set of standard Debian. In particular, the
emdebian-tools package used to build packages for Crush cannot work on
a machine already running Crush (or packages from Crush) because Crush
does not include perl or perl scripts.
Installations of Emdebian Crush will require significant user
involvement, images will not generally be available for direct
download. Instead, each installation is customised from the available
package set using the scripts in the emdebian-rootfs package and
possibly a few custom packages cross-built using scripts in the
emdebian-tools package.
Debian GNU/Linux 5.0 "Lenny" contains the emdebian-tools package to
allow Debian source packages to be cross-built and shrunk for Crush and
updates to emdebian-tools on lenny are available via Emdebian.
Users will need to customise Crush for their respective machines,
including configuring the base system (including inittab and boot
sequences, configuring and cross-building appropriate kernels and
fitting the Crush root filesystem into existing installation methods.
This release includes numerous updated software packages, such as the
X.Org 7.3, GNU Compiler Collection 4.3.2, Linux kernel version 2.6.26
and more than 700 other ready to use software packages. With the
integration of X.org 7.3 the X server autoconfigures itself with most
hardware.
For non native English speaking users the package management systems
now support translated package descriptions which will automatically
show the description of a package in the native language of the user if
available. About Debian
Debian GNU/Linux is a free operating system, developed by more than a
thousand volunteers from all over the world who collaborate via the
Internet. Debian's dedication to Free Software, its non-profit nature,
and its open development model make it unique among GNU/Linux
distributions.
The Debian project's key strengths are its volunteer base, its
dedication to the Debian Social Contract, and its commitment to provide
the best operating system possible. Debian 5.0 is another important
step in that direction.
Contact Information
===================
For further information, please visit the Debian web pages at
http://www.debian.org/, the Emdebian web pages at
http://www.emdebian.org/ or send mail to <press@debian.org>.
--
Neil Williams
=============
http://www.data-freedom.org/
http://www.nosoftwarepatents.com/
http://www.linux.codehelp.co.uk/
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