Mentor.com :: Embedded Software Resources :: Tagged Linux

Blog Post:In an open-source world, it’s all about integration

Colin Walls — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 20:24:24 GMT

I have historically been somewhat skeptical about open source software [OSS]. I am always wary of anything that is “free” and subscribe to the TANSTAAFL ["there ain't no such thing as a free lunch"] principle. It has taken me quite a few years to understand that open software is not free – it is just a different business model from the usual “we make it, you buy it” approach. I

Blog Post:ESC imminent

Colin Walls — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 15:00:28 GMT

Well, tomorrow is the big day. ESC San Jose 2012 [now part of DESIGN West] runs for 3 days and looks set to be an excellent show for anyone interested in embedded systems software or hardware. I recently outlined our plans for the Mentor Embedded booth, but we now have more details … Our booth is set to be a hive of activity, with a continuous program of technical briefings in the theater and

Blog Post:Not the Embedded Systems Conference

Colin Walls — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 17:42:45 GMT

Next week, the Embedded Systems Conference will take place in San Jose, California. Except that it has a new name: ESC is now part of DESIGN West, which is an aggregate of a number of conferences. Personally, I do not care for the new name, as the word “design” has a very broad meaning way beyond electronic systems. But I guess I will get used to it. The event will be interesting from many

Technology Overview:Creating & Debugging Linux Apps Using CodeBench for ARM

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 09:00:00 GMT

Learn how to use Sourcery CodeBench to develop and debug embedded Linux applications. This video shows how to create an application for a target that is running Linux, download the application to the target, and remotely debug an application that is running on a target using Sourcery CodeBench.

Blog Post:What is the plural of Linux?

Colin Walls — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 02:03:28 GMT

Somebody asked me: “What is the plural of Linux?” Maybe it is Linuxes. That sounds a bit messy, which seems rather appropriate really… If we think about the desktop world and buying application software, you might have a Windows PC or a Mac or perhaps you run Linux. It is typical for the spec for an application to discuss hardware and OS compatibility. There will normally be ridiculously

Blog Post:Dennis Ritchie and C for embedded

Colin Walls — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 16:56:26 GMT

I was, of course, saddened to hear the recent news of the death of Steve Jobs. Since then, the Internet has been buzzing with stories, anecdotes and speculation about him. As a result, the news of the death of another key figure in the computing world barely got a mention: Dennis Ritchie died on 12 October 2011. Although not so much of a household name as Jobs, there are many [including myself] who

Blog Post:C libraries

Colin Walls — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 16:50:18 GMT

For a software developer, the idea of a library is quite simple: It is a file containing a [typically large] number of functions/procedures/subroutines in a special format. At link time, the linker looks in the library [or there may well be more than one, in which case it checks each in turn] to resolve any references to functions not satisfied by the supplied object modules. This means that the programmer

Blog Post:Web seminar

Colin Walls — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 15:00:27 GMT

Just a quick “heads up”. If you are interested in the selection of an operating system for embedded applications [a topic I discussed briefly here] you might like to attend a Web seminar that I am presenting later this week. The session will be less than one hour, including live Q&A. The live session will be on Thursday at 9:00 Pacific and an archive recording will be available after

Blog Post:Monolithic or not

Colin Walls — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 07:00:00 GMT

All my working life, I have had a challenge with explaining to people what I actually do. It all starts with defining what is an embedded system. As I have discussed before, this is by no means easy. I thought that this might become simpler over time, as embedded systems become even more ubiquitous, but the reverse is true. The definition is getting even fuzzier. It has reached a point where software

Blog Post:On the move

Colin Walls — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 15:49:31 GMT

I recently talked about the process that might be applied to the selection of an embedded operating system and I hope that these guidelines are useful. I am currently working on a Web seminar on this topic, so I would welcome any input. However, developers tend to stick with a particular OS [or, at least, with a particular OS vendor] – recent research suggested that only about 20% of developers