Re: embdebian usable now?
Peter Vandenabeele <peter.vandenabeele@mind.be> writes:
[ Please CC replies to me - thanks! ]
> > I'm considering some different possibilities to use for an
> > embedded Linux distribution, and as a long-time Debian developer,
> > my first instinct is something connected with Debian.
> > It's not a "deeply embedded" system - we have at least 32 megs to
> > play with, and it has to do soft real time, but I don't see these
> > as particularly difficult requirements.
> First question is what is your CPU platform (x86, ARM, PowerPC,
> MIPS, ...). It matters, since the efficient _cross-compilation_ of
> Debian packages is one of the issues that is tackled in emdebian.
The target is a pretty normal x86 system, although there may be others
in the future.
> > I think initially getting something up and working is more
> > important.
> > So:
> > 1) Are people using embdebian in production systems now?
> We have no customers using emdebian (yet). Most of our work is based
> on Debian (unstable) on the host and the standard combo of
> Linux/glibc/uClibc/busybox/thttpd + custom applications on the
> target.
I see...
> > 3) (If you care to respond) What are the advantages and
> > disadvantages compared with other systems?
> The main advantage should be the reuse of the massive amount of well
> maintained Debian packages for an embedded context.
Our system will most likely have a relatively small amount of software
installed. A few large packages are all that are really necessary.
> > 4) Anything else that you can think of that's cool or useful about
> > embdebian :-)
> If done well, it could become the major source of user land packages
> for embedded systems from a community source (like Debian already is
> in the server/desktop world). And we see customers that require
> widely supported community (non-commercial) sources for their
> packages.
It looks like a cool effort. If we decide to go that route, I might
be able to participate some in the future, but for the moment I'm
afraid I need to pick something, and quickly too!
One of the other contenders is snapgear - any opinions on that?
> Hoep this helps,
Oh, it certainly does! Thanks for taking the time to answer.
--
David N. Welton
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