"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."
