Terra Soft's Yellow Dog Linux is used by several embedded and single board computer OEMs as the preferred, shipping operating system. Embedded systems are computers that maintain a dedicated set of functions. While this can be a desktop box (a touch-screen kiosk at a shopping mall) or a compact, multi-functional computer, most embedded systems are compact, unique designs intended for one function, such as monitoring fuel and air mixture in your automobile or keeping track of your phone numbers inside a cell phone or PDA.
All embedded systems are similar in that they require a highly stable, reliable operating system. To gain this stability, the operating system itself must be scaled-down to the bare minimum size and functionality. Linux is inherently designed for this level of scalability and stability.
Most embedded systems share the requirement that their power consumption be very low as the environment in which they work is often inappropriate for high Wattage CPUs. The majority of all Motorola chips sales are into the embedded market. Cisco and Nintendo, for example, incorporate G3 and/or G4 CPUs into their line of products, in addition to countless thousands of every-day end-user products, industry equipment, realtime military applications, and telecommunications equipment.
In traditional embedded solutions, the programs themselves are developed on a workstation ("host") and then ported to the embedded hardware ("target"). This process typically requires a "cross-compiler" which enables the code to be translated from the host OS to the target OS.
However, with embedded PowerPC systems, the host and target can both run Yellow Dog Linux, removing the need for a cross-compiler. Enjoy a fully functional and powerful code development workstation with YDL on an Apple PowerPC --save time, effort, and money.
