Linux

X-ES supports Linux on its product line of x86-based and PowerPC-based embedded processor boards.  Linux has quickly become the operating system of choice for many embedded system applications due to its flexibility, breadth of hardware support, and open nature.

Linux Board Support Packages (BSPs) from X-ES contain the following components:

• Patches against the mainline Linux kernel providing support for X-ES hardware
• Bootable kernel images that work out-of-the-box
• Root filesystems compiled specifically for target hardware:
  
  • Small flash filesystem based on BusyBox
  • Larger development NFS filesystem based on Gentoo Linux
• GNU cross-compiler toolchain for target processor
• Documentation for getting up and running with the included kernels and filesystems

The supplied kernel patches provide a Linux port for X-ES hardware, including driver support for on-board peripherals (flash, Ethernet, serial, etc.).  All ports are developed against the mainline kernels available from kernel.org to allow for maximum flexibility in integrating application-specific software and patches.  Patches also include a default kernel configuration file created specifically for the target board.

The X-ES Linux filesystem is based on the Gentoo Linux distribution.  Gentoo is a good fit for embedded Linux applications as it allows for a high degree of customization and source-based package installations.  The fully-functional filesystem can be booted via NFS and should provide everything needed for basic development including a target-native GNU toolchain.

Support for compatibility with other major distributions (e.g., Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), CentOS, Wind River Linux, MontaVista, etc.) may be available at customer request.