Messages in this thread | | | Date | Wed, 14 Jan 2009 12:02:49 -0500 | From | "John Stoffel" <> | Subject | Re: linux kernel without file system |
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>>>>> "Philippe" == Philippe De Muyter <phdm@macqel.be> writes:
Philippe> On Wed, Jan 14, 2009 at 09:46:48AM +0100, Tomasz Chmielewski wrote: >>> I need to design a very small embedded system that must only control >>> one ethernet port and two serial lines and must fit in a very small flash >>> memory. So I thought about replacing the call to /etc/init by my >>> application >>> program and removing all the file-system part of linux. >>> Is that doable ? >>> Is there a 'standard' way of doing that ? >>> The first problem I see is accessing my serial lines. How could I do that >>> without using open("/dev/ttySx"), which requires a file system ? >>> Is there a way to access devices that does not require a file-system ? >> >> You could put everything in initramfs (and embed it in the kernel).
Philippe> Actually, I was thinking about reducing the footprint of my Philippe> kernel by removing all the fs-related system calls, so the Philippe> problem is not where the file-system is, but how to access Philippe> (serial) devices without giving their "/dev/..." name.
Does it have to be linux? I've been playing with Arduino boards (http://www.adafruit.com) lately and they have ethernet modules, serial libraries, etc. All on a small small chip. Well, the ethernet is a daughter board, but they're still pretty small.
Depends on how general purpose you need to make this device and what you're trying to accomplish. Maybe you need to give people a better idea of what you're trying to do, instead of assuming you need Linux and trying to shoe-horn it into a really tiny space.
Cheers, John
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