Introduction - Linux on embedded devices

Linux is an operating system for computers, originally created by Linus Torvalds in 1991 as a small, alternative version of the proprietary Unix OS. Along with the binary program, he shared the code with the software developer community in order to improve both quality and development speed. This uncommon fact constituted one of the most important steps in the software development history: Linux is now one of the most acknowledged Open Source projects. The philosophy is based on four "freedoms":

the freedom to run the software
the freedom to study and modify the program
the freedom to distribute copies of the program
the freedom to improve the software and share the modifications publicly

Linux in the embedded market is used by 18% of embedded engineers, according to some recent surveys, making it overall favourite among free and commercial Operating Systems. It is especially popular in mobile and automotive markets for the following reasons:

No licensing costs
Flexibility of source code access
General familiarity
Mature applications and tools
Growing developer experience with Linux as an embedded OS