Getting started

A Linux PC is recommended for development. For developers who use Windows, virtualized Linux using VMWare or virtualbox is recommended in order to make the full power of Linux available. The developer will need to be comfortable with Linux anyway in order to work with embedded Linux on the macrocontroller. The main reasons that Linux is useful are:

• Linux filesystems on the microSD card can be accessed on the PC.
• More ARM cross-compilers are available.
• If recovery is needed, a bootable medium can be written.
• A network filesystem can be served.

Once you have a development environment you should continue in the next few chapters for configuring the board and powering up the system.