Linux, Outside the (x86) Box
By Peter Seebach
2005-06-29
Resources
The IBM Redbook on Linux for S/390 (Redbook, September 2000) discusses the history and feature set available to Linux users with big hardware budgets.
Opie offers a Linux handheld environment running on non-x86 hardware.
The BlackRhino Linux distribution runs on the PlayStation 2.
GameCube Linux takes advantage of the already-existing PowerPC port.
Linux on a 286 is also a possibility. The 286 is technically an Intel 80x86 processor, but most x86 software won't run on it.
You can run anything from a Palm Pilot to an iPod with uClinux.
Whether user-mode Linux is an x86 processor or not is up to you.
Linux on Serenity Virtual Station is x86 Linux, but virtual machines are always interesting.
Small custom-purpose systems can run BusyBox.
Inexpensive PowerPC development can be done on the Kuro Box, a $160 entry-level PowerPC Linux system.
Another writer discusses Linux on the System 390.
The Migrating from x86 to PowerPC series (developerWorks, January 2005) describes the Linux/GCC development environment and using it to move to a non-x86 system.
Embedded Linux applications: An overview (developerWorks, August 2001) inventories the wide range of Linux non-x86 usage, including wrist watches, hand-held devices, Internet appliances, thin clients, firewalls, industrial robotics, telephony infrastructure equipment, and even cluster-based supercomputers.
Write emulator-friendly Linux code (developerWorks, December 2004) details hardware emulation for Linux.
The Linux on Power Architecture Developer's Corner is a compendium of resources on how to develop for Linux on POWER, including upgrade/porting guides from ISVs for moving from Intel or Solaris to Linux on POWER systems.
Porting Intel applications to 64 bit Linux on POWER (developerWorks, June 2003) addresses porting software from the Intel platform to Linux PowerPC.
Find more resources for Linux developers in the developerWorks Linux zone.
Get involved in the developerWorks community by participating in developerWorks blogs.
Purchase Linux books at discounted prices in the Linux section of the Developer Bookstore.
Order the no-charge SEK for Linux, a two-DVD set containing the latest IBM trial software for Linux from DB2®, Lotus®, Rational®, Tivoli®, and WebSphere®.
Innovate your next Linux development project with IBM trial software, available for download directly from developerWorks.
Tutorial Pages:
»
What is it about Linux that makes it so attractive for non-x86 platforms?
»
Early days
»
Big iron
»
Hardware capabilities
»
New life for old hardware
»
Just playing around
» Resources
First published by IBM DeveloperWorks
|
|
|
