Bill Weinberg
MontaVista Software

When embarking on an embedded Linux design project for the first time, "old school" developers need to readjust their expectations of how development proceeds and what tools they use. Key areas for reexamination include: allocation of host and target capabilities, cross loading, device programming, debugging, and target resource use. This article serves as an introduction to how embedded Linux systems depart from conventional embedded architectures, and why you shouldn't panic!!