Manchester, UK – 28th August 2012 – Codethink, a provider of software engineering services for mobile and embedded devices, has announced Baserock™ Embedded Linux software, open source release version 1.1, “Secret Volcano,” and Baserock.org. Baserock is a Linux build system for the development of embedded, industrial or bare-metal server-based Linux systems. The “Secret Volcano” release provides virtual machine images for developers and a sample base image to demonstrate a Baserock-produced small system image. Baserock delivers the proven benefits of continuous integration (CI) to Linux system development. Historically, these benefits were only available to developers of server and web-based applications.
In addition, Baserock incorporates automated testing for software development into the CI process. It reduces the time to market of electronics products by increasing engineering team productivity and lowering the complexity and cost of long term maintenance. Access to the open source project is available at www.baserock.org with a commercial version, including additional services and support, to follow.
The Baserock build system promotes the principles of continuous integration (CI) through the entire process of Linux systems development. Using CI, Baserock makes it easier to develop Linux-based systems and to integrate system components. Products can be kept up-to-date, maintained and improved through continuous delivery (CD). Baserock will make it faster to reproduce a specific build as well as speeding up the process of upgrading and rolling back between different versions of systems, all at a lower cost than existing approaches.
Baserock source code is available for building on 64-bit x86 and for ARM® systems. Virtual machine binaries are available for 64-bit x86 machines. Through native compilation of software and images, Baserock will provide a robust and highly efficient build environment which is as closely aligned to upstream development environments as possible.
“Baserock will enable silicon chipset and board vendors as well as Original Device Manufacturers and Systems Integrators to keep pace with the rapid development of Linux and dramatically reduce product development cycles”, says Paul Sherwood, CEO of Codethink. “In addition, we recognise that many ARM based systems developers would prefer to develop and build on ARM systems but today have to cross-compile from x86 processors. We have therefore developed a hardware solution to address this issue and will be announcing the availability of our ARM server imminently.”
About Codethink
Founded in 2007, Codethink provides software development and consultancy services. It is staffed with some of the industry’s best embedded software, Linux, open source and applications engineers. With headquarters in Manchester, UK, team members work on projects in many of the mobile and embedded device global hotspots, including Asia, Europe and North America. Codethink engineers have brought great benefits to Linux system development through innovation. They have identified time and cost saving opportunities through capturing best practices and streamlining Linux system workflow.
Customers range from innovative start-ups to household names. Codethink’s engineers help clients develop their technical applications and achieve system software goals – where complexity, technology constraints or project deadlines drive a need for exceptional software engineering.
