1.1 Definitions

The words "Linux," "embedded Linux," and "real-time Linux" are often used with little reference to what is being designated. Sometimes, the designations may mean something very precise. Other times, a broad range or category of applications is meant. Let us look at these terms and what they mean in different situations.

1.1.1 What Is Linux?

Linux is interchangeably used in reference to the Linux kernel, a Linux system, or a Linux distribution. The broadness of the term plays in favor of the adoption of Linux, in the large sense, when presented to a nontechnical crowd, but can be bothersome when providing technical explanations. If, for instance, I say: "Linux provides TCP/IP networking." Do I mean the TCP/IP stack in the kernel or the TCP/IP utilities provided in a Linux distribution that are also part of an installed Linux system, or both? This vagueness actually became ammunition for the proponents of the "GNU/Linux" moniker, who pointed out that Linux was the kernel, but that the system was mainly built on GNU software.

Strictly speaking, Linux refers to the kernel maintained by Linus Torvalds and distributed under the same name through the main repository and various mirror sites. This codebase includes only the kernel and no utilities whatsoever. The kernel provides the core system facilities. It may not be the first software to run on the system, as a bootloader may have preceded it, but once it is running, it is never swapped out or removed from control until the system is shut down. In effect, it controls all hardware and provides higher-level abstractions such as processes, sockets, and files to the different software running on the system.

As the kernel is constantly updated, a numbering scheme is used to identify a certain release. This numbering scheme uses three numbers separated by dots to identify the releases. The first two numbers designate the version, and the third designates the release. Linux 2.4.20, for instance, is version number 2.4, release number 20. Odd version numbers, such as 2.5, designate development kernels, while even version numbers, such as 2.4, designate stable kernels. Usually, you should use a kernel from the latest stable series for your embedded system.

This is the simple explanation. The truth is that far from the "official" releases, there are many modified Linux kernels that you may find all over the Internet that carry additional version information. 2.4.18-rmk3-hh24, for instance, is a modified kernel distributed by the Familiar project. It is based on 2.4.18, but contains an extra "-rmk3-hh24" version number controlled by the Familiar development team. These extra version numbers, and the kernel itself, will be discussed in more detail in Chapter 5.

Linux can also be used to designate a hardware system running the Linux kernel and various utilities running on the kernel. If a friend mentions that his development team is using Linux in their latest product, he probably means more than the kernel. A Linux system certainly includes the kernel, but most likely includes a number of other software components that are usually run with the Linux kernel. Often, these will be composed of a subset of the GNU software such as the C library and binary utilities. It may also include the X window system or a real-time addition such as RTAI.

A Linux system may be custom built, as you'll see later, or can be based on an already available distribution. Your friend's development team probably custom built their own system. Conversely, when a user says she runs Linux on the desktop, she most likely means that she installed one of the various distributions, such as Red Hat or Debian. The user's Linux system is as much a Linux system as that of your friend's, but apart from the kernel, their systems most likely have very different purposes, are built from very different software packages, and run very different applications.

Finally, Linux may also designate a Linux distribution. Red Hat, Mandrake, SuSE, Debian, Slackware, Caldera, MontaVista, Embedix, BlueCat, PeeWeeLinux, and others are all Linux distributions. They may vary in purpose, size, and price, but they share a common purpose: to provide the user with a shrinkwrapped set of files and an installation procedure to get the kernel and various overlaid software installed on a certain type of hardware for a certain purpose. Most of us are familiar with Linux distributions through CD-ROMs, but there are distributions that are no more than a set of files you retrieve from a web site, untar, and install according to the documentation. The difference between mainstream, user-oriented distributions and these distributions is the automated installation procedure in the mainstream ones.

Starting with the next chapter and in the rest of this book, I will avoid referring to the word "Linux" on its own. Instead, I will refer directly to the object of discussion. Rather than talking about the "Linux kernel," I will refer to the "kernel." Rather than talking about the "Linux system," I will refer to the "system." Rather than talking about a "Linux distribution," I will refer to a "distribution." In all these circumstances, "Linux" is implied but avoided to eliminate any possible confusion. I will continue, however, to use the term "Linux," where appropriate, to designate the broad range of software and resources surrounding the kernel.

1.1.2 What Is Embedded Linux?

Again, we could start with the three designations Linux suggests: a kernel, a system, and a distribution. Yet, we would have to take the kernel off the list right away, as there is no such thing as an embedded version of the kernel distributed by Linus. This doesn't mean the kernel can't be embedded. It only means you do not need a special kernel to create an embedded system. Often, you can use one of the official kernel releases to build your system. Sometimes, you may want to use a modified kernel distributed by a third party, one that has been specifically tailored for a special hardware configuration or for support of a certain type of application. The kernels provided with the various embedded distributions, for example, often include some optimizations not found in the main kernel tree and are patched for support for some debugging tools such as kernel debuggers. Mainly, though, a kernel used in an embedded system differs from a kernel used on a workstation or a server by its build configuration. Chapter 5 covers the build process.

An embedded Linux system simply designates an embedded system based on the Linux kernel and does not imply the use of any specific library or user tools with this kernel.

An embedded Linux distribution may include: a development framework for embedded linux systems, various software applications tailored for usage in an embedded system, or both.

Development framework distributions include various development tools that facilitate the development of embedded systems. This may include special source browsers, cross-compilers, debuggers, project management software, boot image builders, and so on. These distributions are meant to be installed on the development host.

Tailored embedded distributions provide a set of applications to be used within the target embedded system. This might include special libraries, execu, and configuration files to be used on the target. A method may also be provided to simplify the generation of root filesystems for the target system.

Because this book discusses embedded Linux systems, there is no need to keep repeating "embedded Linux" in every name. Hence, I will refer to the host used for developing the embedded Linux system as the "host system," or "host," for short. The target, which will be the embedded Linux system will be referred to as the "target system," or "target," for short. Distributions providing development frameworks will be referred to as "development distributions."^[1] Distributions providing tailored software packages will be referred to as "target distributions."

^[1] It would be tempting to call these "host distributions," but as you'll see later, some developers choose to develop directly on their target, hence the preference for "development distributions."

1.1.3 What Is Real-Time Linux?

Initially, real-time Linux designated the RTLinux project released in 1996 by Michael Barabanov under Victor Yodaiken's supervision. The goal of the project was to provide deterministic response times under a Linux environment.

Nonetheless, today there are many more projects that provide one form or another of real-time responsiveness under Linux. RTAI, Kurt, and Linux/RK all provide real-time performance under Linux. Some projects' enhancements are obtained by inserting a secondary kernel under the Linux kernel. Others enhance the Linux kernel's response times by means of a patch.

The adjective "real-time" is used in conjunction with Linux to describe a number of different things. Mainly, it is used to say that the system or one of its components is supposed to have fixed response times, but if you use a strict definition of "real-time," you may find that what is being offered isn't necessarily "real-time." I will discuss "real-time" issues and further define the meaning of this adjective in Section 1.2.1.2.