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μClinux
open-in-new
<h2 id="history">History</h2> <p>μClinux was originally created by D. Jeff Dionne and Kenneth Albanowski in 1998. Initially, they targeted the <a href="/facts/Motorola/ztqczx68">Motorola</a> <a href="/facts/Freescale_DragonBall/6UnxheP3">DragonBall</a> family of embedded <a href="/facts/68k/jxd7VPlW">68k</a> processors (specifically the 68EZ328 series used in the 3Com <a href="/facts/PalmPilot/GCu4aqAk">PalmPilot</a>) on a 2.0.33 Linux kernel. After releasing their initial work, a developer community quickly sprang up extending their work to newer kernels and other microprocessor architectures. In early 1999, support was added for the Motorola (now NXP) <a href="/facts/Freescale_ColdFire/HbcK5oTj">ColdFire</a> family of embedded microprocessors. <a href="/facts/ARM_architecture/SALsYA79">ARM</a> processor support was added later. </p><p>Although originally targeting 2.0 series Linux kernels, it now has ports based on Linux 2.4 and Linux 2.6. The Linux 2.4 ports were forward ported from the 2.0.36 Linux kernel by Michael Leslie and Evan Stawnyczy during their work at Rt-Control. There were never any μClinux extensions applied to the 2.2 series kernels. </p><p>Since version 2.5.46 of the Linux kernel, the major parts of μClinux have been integrated with the mainline kernel for a number of processor architectures.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> </p><p>Greg Ungerer (who originally ported μClinux to the Motorola ColdFire family of processors) continued to maintain and actively push core μClinux support into the 2.6 series Linux kernels. In this regard, μClinux is essentially no longer a separate fork of Linux. </p><p>μClinux had support for many architectures, and forms the basis of many products, like <a href="/facts/Router_(computing)/Nh5cIyVf">network routers</a>, security cameras, <a href="/facts/DVD_player/ES2eIkIL">DVD</a> or <a href="/facts/Digital_audio_player/QHTLMGu4">MP3 players</a>, <a href="/facts/Voice_over_Internet_Protocol/5QGBbXYg">VoIP</a> phone or gateways, <a href="/facts/Image_scanner/7DEJFTwx">scanners</a>, and card readers. </p><p>Support for several of the original target architectures was dropped in 2018.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> The obsolete CPU architectures set to be removed in Linux 4.17 and subsequent releases included ADI Blackfin, Etrax CRIS, Fujitsu FR-V, Mitsubishi M32R, Matsushita/<a href="/facts/Panasonic/TqkBQmgj">Panasonic</a> <a href="/facts/MN10300/f7Po8QCr">MN10300</a>, <a href="/facts/Imagination_META/rDquYzQl">Imagination META</a> (Metag), and <a href="/facts/Tilera/hJNRnFzw">Tilera</a> TILE.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> </p> <h3>Hardware projects</h3> <p>The leanXCam was an <a href="/facts/Open_source/7X9rCdz4">open-source</a> <a href="/facts/Computer_programming/QmSsFnu0">programmable</a> <a href="/facts/Smart_camera/YPg6LI0B">smart camera</a> used for industrial applications in the field of <a href="/facts/Machine_vision/8kvmXVcA">machine vision</a> that ran under μClinux; the camera won an award at the 2008 VISION tradeshow.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> As of 2015, the project was discontinued.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="supported-architectures">Supported architectures</h2> <p>The current list includes: </p> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Altera/66c0Gh0R">Altera</a> <a href="/facts/Nios_embedded_processor/MelW9MsJ">Nios</a>/<a href="/facts/Nios_II/sbFl05Wx">Nios II</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Amber_(processor_core)/AJUgIBEY">Amber</a> (open FPGA core)</li> <li><a href="/facts/ARM_architecture/SALsYA79">ARM</a> <a href="/facts/ARM7TDMI/YQuwF2Lc">ARM7TDMI</a>, <a href="/facts/ARM_Cortex-M/prW99nkV">ARM Cortex-M3/M4/M7</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a> <a href="/facts/ARM_Cortex-R/0PMkeUJF">ARM Cortex-R</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Lattice_Semiconductor/aPJY9jNu">Lattice</a> <a href="/facts/LatticeMico32/5KXwoTol">Mico32</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/NXP/naAqdtWq">NXP</a> <a href="/facts/Motorola_68000_series/jxd7VPlW">680x0</a> (Motorola/Freescale 680x0)</li> <li>Hyperstone E1/E2 (called hyLinux)</li> <li><a href="/facts/Intel_i960/xnFNnjsX">Intel i960</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/MIPS_architecture/efV4KgK4">MIPS</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/NXP_ColdFire/HbcK5oTj">NXP ColdFire</a> (Motorola/Freescale ColdFire)</li> <li><a href="/facts/Xilinx/rbXfxqqG">Xilinx</a> <a href="/facts/MicroBlaze/M0LotP1F">MicroBlaze</a></li></ul> <h3>No longer supported</h3> <ul><li><a href="/facts/NEC_V850E/f9bPoRqa">NEC V850E</a> - removed in Linux 2.6.27.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Hitachi%2c_Ltd./KeK38e82">Hitachi</a>/<a href="/facts/Renesas/ujhb9Dcz">Renesas</a> <a href="/facts/H8_Family/5aLYjhfP">H8</a> (h8300) - removed in Linux 5.19.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12"><sup>12</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13"><sup>13</sup></a></li></ul> <p>Before Linux 4.17 the following architectures were also supported:<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:14" href="#fn:14"><sup>14</sup></a> </p> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Analog_Devices/xWFzrkre">ADI</a> <a href="/facts/Blackfin/9pc3fLf8">Blackfin</a> (blackfin)</li> <li><a href="/facts/Axis_Communications/U042W23T">Axis</a> <a href="/facts/ETRAX_CRIS/I6yk7gyc">ETRAX</a> (cris)</li> <li><a href="/facts/Fujitsu/6e5gvNSa">Fujitsu</a> <a href="/facts/FR-V/HUDTEQfh">FR-V</a> (frv)</li> <li><a href="/facts/Mitsubishi/ac1qkNMu">Mitsubishi</a>/Renesas <a href="/facts/M32R/SztNrULr">M32R</a> (m32r)</li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li><a href="https://github.com/uclinux-dev">Uclinux-dev</a> on <a href="/facts/GitHub/n1hNCsc3">GitHub</a></li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20181113230737/http://www.uclinux.org/pub/uClinux/dist/">μClinux-dist, complete source <i>distribution package</i></a> at the <a href="/facts/Wayback_Machine/nmQ3a6JC">Wayback Machine</a> (archived 2018-11-13)</li> <li><a href="https://sourceforge.net/projects/uclinux/">ΜClinux</a> on <a href="/facts/SourceForge/lxYAgUAX">SourceForge</a></li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170324024708/http://retired.beyondlogic.org/uClinux/uClinux.htm">μClinux - Setting up the Development Environment</a> at the <a href="/facts/Wayback_Machine/nmQ3a6JC">Wayback Machine</a> (archived 2017-03-24)</li> <li><a href="https://github.com/AcceleratedLinux/accelerated-linux">accelerated-linux</a> on <a href="/facts/GitHub/n1hNCsc3">GitHub</a>, an actively developed continuation<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:15" href="#fn:15"><sup>15</sup></a> of μClinux <i>distribution package</i> by <a href="/facts/Digi_International/Bz9PWY6o">Digi</a></li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>D. Jeff Dionne; Michael Durrant. "uClinux Description". Archived from the original on 2007-12-25. Retrieved 2007-12-31. <a href="http://www.uclinux.org/description/" target="_blank">http://www.uclinux.org/description/</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Greg Ungerer. "uClinux mainline Announcement". Archived from the original on 2007-10-31. Retrieved 2008-01-15. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20071031135123/http://www.ucdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/11/05/0324207" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20071031135123/http://www.ucdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/11/05/0324207</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>"μClinux". Archived from the original on October 4, 2006. Retrieved August 31, 2015. <a href="http://www.uclinux.org/" target="_blank">http://www.uclinux.org/</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Miles Gillham "uClinux and Linux set to merge", Linux.com, November 19, 2002. <a href="https://www.linux.com/news/uclinux-and-linux-set-merge" target="_blank">https://www.linux.com/news/uclinux-and-linux-set-merge</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Linus Torvalds "Linux 4.17-rc1", LKML.ORG, 15 April 2018. <a href="https://lkml.org/lkml/2018/4/15/201" target="_blank">https://lkml.org/lkml/2018/4/15/201</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Jonathan Corbet "Shedding old architectures and compilers in the kernel", LWN.net, February 26, 2018. <a href="https://lwn.net/Articles/748074" target="_blank">https://lwn.net/Articles/748074</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>Wilson, Andrew, ed. (Jan 2009). "Open-source system wins VISION Award". Vision System Design. Vol. 14, no. 1. pp. 11–12, 15. ProQuest 224134687. Retrieved 2023-11-29. <a href="https://www.proquest.com/docview/224134687" target="_blank">https://www.proquest.com/docview/224134687</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>"home". GitHub. Retrieved 2023-11-29. <a href="https://github.com/scs/leanXcam/wiki/home" target="_blank">https://github.com/scs/leanXcam/wiki/home</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>"Linux for ARM® Processors www.arm.com Summer/Winter 2013 Robert Boys System Design Division, ARM" (PDF). 2013-09-10. Retrieved 2014-07-17. What about Cortex-M and Cortex-R ? /../ These can run a modified version of Linux called uClinux. <a href="http://www.sase.com.ar/2013/files/2013/09/SASE2013-Linux-BobBoys.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.sase.com.ar/2013/files/2013/09/SASE2013-Linux-BobBoys.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>"Linux 2.6.27 kernel released 9 October 2008". Retrieved 2023-12-13. <a href="https://kernelnewbies.org/Linux_2_6_27#head-b14ab696e23019ae4b6362c5816bcd23a55240ce" target="_blank">https://kernelnewbies.org/Linux_2_6_27#head-b14ab696e23019ae4b6362c5816bcd23a55240ce</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:11"><p>"remove the v850 port". <a href="https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=f606ddf42fd4edc558eeb48bfee66d2c591571d2" target="_blank">https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=f606ddf42fd4edc558eeb48bfee66d2c591571d2</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:12"><p>"Linux 5.19 was released on Sunday, 31 Jul 2022". Retrieved 2023-12-24. <a href="https://kernelnewbies.org/Linux_5.19#H8300" target="_blank">https://kernelnewbies.org/Linux_5.19#H8300</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:13"><p>"remove the h8300 architecture". <a href="https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=1c4b5ecb7ea190fa3e9f9d6891e6c90b60e04f24" target="_blank">https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=1c4b5ecb7ea190fa3e9f9d6891e6c90b60e04f24</a> <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:14"><p>"[GIT PULL] arch: remove obsolete architecture ports". <a href="http://lkml.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/1804.0/00306.html" target="_blank">http://lkml.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/1804.0/00306.html</a> <a href="#fnref:14" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:15"><p>BoF- Accelerated Linux Build System - Jeff Shaw, Digi International <a href="https://events19.linuxfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/BoF-Accelerated-Linux-Build-System-Jeff-Shaw-Digi-International.pdf" target="_blank">https://events19.linuxfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/BoF-Accelerated-Linux-Build-System-Jeff-Shaw-Digi-International.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:15" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>