LinuxDevices.com: A developer's review of LynuxWorks' BlueCat Linux SDK

Dec 11, 2001, 14:30 (0 Talkback[s])
(Other stories by Jerry Epplin)

"This article is the fourth in LinuxDevices.com's series of reviews of Embedded Linux toolkits. Each of the toolkits is evaluated against a common set of criteria which include ease of use, overall toolkit architecture, methods of package management, diversity of platform support, and openness of the source code. In this installment, embedded developer Jerry Epplin takes a close-up look at LynuxWorks' BlueCat Linux SDK."

...Support for multiple system configurations is easily provided in BlueCat due to its simple and intuitive structure. One need only recognize that a BlueCat target consists of a kernel and a root file system, and that the kernel is defined by its .config file and the root file system by its mkrootfs configuration file. Then you can save a target configuration by simply setting aside the kernel .config file and the root file system configuration file. BlueCat provides a large number of sample systems, all defined in exactly this concise way.

I found working in the BlueCat environment exceptionally easy and intuitive despite (some might say because of) its command-line orientation. The tools are well thought out with intuitive naming and behavior, and backed up with documentation of the highest quality. I hope that if in the future LynuxWorks chooses to follow the rest of the market by tacking a GUI onto the front of the product, they either do it very carefully, or continue to support the command-line interface fully."

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