Using Open Source Software Projects

Abstract

As you’ve already read (unless you’ve skipped ahead), the Linux distribution used in an embedded project, or for that matter any Linux distribution, includes more than the kernel—although technically, the Linux project consists of only the kernel. The kernel’s job is managing system resources and running user programs; from your perspective, the value of the device is the problem that the application running on the device solves. This chapter goes into detail describing how to use open source packages in your project. In prior chapters, you built a Linux distribution using tools built for that purpose; but these tools don’t always have all the functionality required for the project, and you need to use packages that these distribution tools don’t support. This chapter describes how an open source project is organized from a technical and personnel perspective. There is also a section dedicated to describing how to build and install the source code offered by an open source project.