[ptxdist] Application Development on Ptxdist based OS's

[ptxdist] Application Development on Ptxdist based OS's

[Erwin Rol]

Hey all,

a while back I asked if it was possible to split an ptxdist build in two 
parts, one for the (stable) OS and one for the application. On that 
question I got some interesting answers that made me wonder;
How do others do their application development on ptxdist?

 From origin Ptxdist is a distribution building tool, so it assumes all 
applications are finished and combines all parts in a running 
distribution. And it does a great job, I really can't complain about that.

But what if the applications are still in development, they need to be 
edited, cross-compiled, debugged. And there is where Ptxdist is not so 
great, at least that's my experience.

So how do other people do that ?

I read some ppl just don't use Ptxdist at all and just compile their 
applications in a different way and "install" them on the finished 
Ptxdist OS. But that duplicates the whole cross-chain stuff, like 
compiler, libraries and headers.

I have seen other build systems that seem to export some "API" for use 
by applications developers. Maybe something like that can be done with 
Ptxdist too, for example exporting the sysroot-target directory and use 
that to build applications.

Anny other people with wild ideas and nice custom Ptxdist enhancements 
that they want to share ?

- Erwin





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Re: [ptxdist] Application Development on Ptxdist based OS's

[Flavio de Castro Alves Filho]

Hello,

I would like to share my thoughts about this too.

Currently we are using Ptxdist to build embedded Linux distributions
for some boards and customized applications. Recently we started to
provide training sessions. And our first training is not about how to
build new Linux distributions, but how to develop software using
embedded Linux. We had this same issue here.

Essentialy, an SDK is composed by the toolchain, RFS, kernel source
and a board with a previously set embedded Linux distribution. We
teach how to use the toolchain and set the communication between the
workstation and the board (ssh, nfs, ...).

At least here in Brazil, Eclipse IDE is very popular. And, looking at
the evolution of the C/C++ customized branch of Eclipse, from the
project's website, it is possible to cross-compile applications, load
it to the board and launch GDB remote debugging. Everything straight
and simple. We adopted this strategy in our training sessions.

When we build BSPs, we get the last version of the project, in Eclipse
format, and prepare a Ptxdist project as a conventional make project.
It works fine.

I don't see Ptxdist as a tool for application development. It is a
tool to low level system customization. I believe that the challenge
here is the easy integration between the Linux distribution and the
final application in order to have a final image of the complete
software for the embedded system.

Best regards,

Flavio


2011/11/2 Erwin Rol <mailinglists@erwinrol.com>:
> Hey all,
>
> a while back I asked if it was possible to split an ptxdist build in two
> parts, one for the (stable) OS and one for the application. On that question
> I got some interesting answers that made me wonder;
> How do others do their application development on ptxdist?
>
> From origin Ptxdist is a distribution building tool, so it assumes all
> applications are finished and combines all parts in a running distribution.
> And it does a great job, I really can't complain about that.
>
> But what if the applications are still in development, they need to be
> edited, cross-compiled, debugged. And there is where Ptxdist is not so
> great, at least that's my experience.
>
> So how do other people do that ?
>
> I read some ppl just don't use Ptxdist at all and just compile their
> applications in a different way and "install" them on the finished Ptxdist
> OS. But that duplicates the whole cross-chain stuff, like compiler,
> libraries and headers.
>
> I have seen other build systems that seem to export some "API" for use by
> applications developers. Maybe something like that can be done with Ptxdist
> too, for example exporting the sysroot-target directory and use that to
> build applications.
>
> Anny other people with wild ideas and nice custom Ptxdist enhancements that
> they want to share ?
>
> - Erwin
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> ptxdist mailing list
> ptxdist@pengutronix.de
>

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