Hardware

• Development platform. The obvious hardware platform for the Embedded Linux Workshop is the ubiquitous PC. A complete development platform capable of hosting the Embedded Linux Workshop can be purchased for little more than the cost of a good garden hose. You’ll want to make sure that this computer has at least one free serial port and is networkable.

• Workbench computer. Someone is probably willing to give you the old 486 that you’ll need as your workbench computer. They may even be willing to pay you to haul it away! It should have at least 8MB of memory to be useful.

• Professional choice. If you’re developing software for a living, bigger is better. Buy a system with a large hard drive, lots of memory, and a large, crisp display. The display is especially important, since you’ll probably have a lot of windows open all at once. I personally like to do as much as possible on my laptop computer. That way, I can work on my projects from anywhere.