Hi Martin Martin Michlmayr @ 03.05.2011 16:00:
* Meike Reichle <meike@debian.org> [2011-05-03 15:43]:those are very good hints, thank you! I didn't realise the mx53 and the Panda run well with Debian. I even have those on hand here.They are not supported by the Debian installer. Debian will work fine but you'll have to install it manually. I think you didn't fully explain what you're looking for. The SheevaPlug is a good device if you want to show the installer in text mode via the serial console. If you want to do a demo with graphics, mx5 might be a better option but they are currently not supported in the installer (this will probably change in a few months).
Sorry for being too vague, I'll try to give some more details. I work at this company that does a lot of Linux kernel work. We do embedded devices, typically consisting of a board, a display and a couple of interfaces, usually using the mainline kernel and custom built images. However we've forever been playing around with the idea of also using a "proper" distro for the larger/faster/bigger devices. Since Debian is everyone's Distro of choice here (Yay!) it seems obvious to also go with Debian for the embedded devices, and since I am the company's local DD the task of evaluationg that possibility fell to me.
So, I now have a bit of time and money on my hands and the task to find out if using Debian on Embedded Devices is a good idea or not. Ideally I'd come back with the answer "Yes!" and some device that has all interfaces supported, boots awfully fast and comes up with some really nifty GUI. Realistically I'd hope to come back with a device that has most interfaces supported and boots reasonably fast and also to be able to give some rough estimation of the effort necessary for achieving above described ideal situation. :)
-Meike