Seven steps to grow your embedded Linux skills

A variant of this article also exists as a conference presentation. Do you already have a job in embedded Linux but wish to be given more challenging goals? Or are you in IT, already using Linux on your own laptop, and dreaming about landing an embedded Linux job, possibly starting as your own boss? Follow my advice in a patient and consistent way, and you will achieve your goals in less than 12 months. ...

July 20, 2025 · Michael Opdenacker

Virtual Packages in Yocto Project / OpenEmbedded

Understanding Virtual Packages in Yocto Project / OpenEmbedded If you are using Yocto, this post will help you learn about Virtual Packages: how they work, why they are useful, and how to create them step by step. We assume you are already familiar with: Yocto Project setup Basic command of BitBake and recipe syntax What is a Virtual Package? Imagine you have multiple implementations of the same functionality (for example, different kernels such as a real-time kernel, a boot-time optimized kernel, and a kernel without loadable modules). Of course, your final image will include only one kernel, but you may want to keep several implementations in your project, so you can switch between them easily whenever you like. ...

July 3, 2025 · Mersad Karimi

Build and run the mainline Linux kernel on your PC

Last week, I gave a “How to test a specific version of Linux on PC hardware” talk at the Alposs conference in Echirolles near Grenoble, France. This was a very nice technical conference, with 330 participants (+110 compared to last year), organized in the city hall of Echirolles near Grenoble and by Belledonne Communications (the editors of Linphone) and OW2, an international association of Free Software professionals. Echirolles has a very dynamic orientation, deploying Free and Open Source Software in many of its services, thus improving the services offered to its citizens. ...

February 26, 2025 · Michael Opdenacker

Booting the Raspberry Pi 5 with the Mainline Linux Kernel

If you have other boards, read on, these instructions support multiple other Raspberry Pi boards. Hardware In this tutorial, we assume you have the Raspberry Pi Debug Probe to access the board’s serial port. You could use the GPIO UARTs too, but they are neither enabled by default at the bootloader level nor as a kernel console. Enabling them for serial console access would slightly complicate these instructions. ...

February 19, 2025 · Michael Opdenacker