Custom Linux Distribution Fast-Track

Creating a custom Linux (Yocto-based) distribution can be very time consuming and even if you have the internal development skills, taking the time to customize, refine and develop specific features can take months. What if you could get a ready-to-go Yocto Distribution package containing everything you need to get your device to market without any software risks?

Before going any further let’s start with a little context.

What is the unique value proposition of Yocto?

As mentioned before, the Yocto Project is not an embedded Linux Distribution, but can be used to create a custom one for your needs. It also provides a flexible set of tools and a space where embedded developers worldwide can share technologies, software stacks, configurations, and best practices that can be used to create tailored Linux images for embedded and IOT devices, or anywhere a customized Linux OS is needed.

• Open-source: Yocto is an open-source project, which means that it is free to use and benefits from the contributions of a large and active community of developers (including Witekians!)
• Integration with existing development workflows: Yocto can be integrated with existing development workflows and tools, making it easier for embedded software companies to incorporate Yocto into their development processes.
• Flexibility: Yocto provides a highly flexible and customizable platform for embedded Linux development, allowing us to tailor Linux distributions to your specific requirements.
• Scalability: Yocto can be used for both small and large projects and can be scaled easily.
• Support for a wide range of hardware platforms: Yocto supports a wide range of hardware platforms, including single-board computers, SoCs, and more, making it suitable for a wide range of embedded software projects.
• Robust build system: Yocto features a robust build system that can be used to automate the creation of custom Linux distributions, reducing the time and effort required to build custom images.

Why do you need our Linux Fast-Track service?

Before venturing into the Yocto sphere, you might need to verify whether your development team is familiar with Yocto and possess solid experience in this area. This is of great importance since Yocto is a powerful tool but unfortunately has a long learning curve.

Our experience at Witekio shows that it can take OEMs anywhere between 6 to 12 months to create a custom Linux (Yocto-based) system. So, we decided to do something about it and reduced this time to less than one month, thanks to our Linux Fast-Track service. It also addresses the three major concern areas of device makers, namely: performance, footprint and security.

PERFORMANCE: Tailored clothes always look better - so it makes sense tailored software would work better! By fine-tuning your kernel, selecting appropriate compiler flags, and more, you can improve boot times and improve overall responsiveness.

FOOTPRINT: If you have limited storage capacity in your device, you need to be very selective in the packages and features you include to manage the overall size of your distribution. We know what works best for your use case, and what to avoid.

SECURITY: The smaller the distribution package, the fewer potential entry points there are for attackers to exploit. Streamlining your software components can help reduce updates and keep your device on the market for longer.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

For over 10 years we’ve been trusted with creating custom Linux Yocto distributions for OEMs across every industry. Here is one of them. After the first few hundred, patterns of software pain points started to emerge, enabling our experts to create a packaged service to answer those pains – whilst ensuring full customizability.

With our tried and tested service, you can have a custom Yocto kernel tailored for your device within one month and at a fixed price!

WHAT DOES IT INCLUDE?

Our Fast-Track Linux Custom Distro Service includes:

• Driver Configuration
• Linux Kernel Configuration
• File System Configuration
• Software Update Support (OTA)
• Cybersecurity Hardening
• Continuous Integration tools
• Example Application Starter

WHAT ABOUT LONG-TERM MAINTENANCE?

As cyber security concerns are growing, our customers tend to pay more attention to the maintenance of customized Yocto distributions. Usual challenges tend to be more a concern as the probability and the severity of the risks are increasing for them, i.e.:

• How to identify as early as possible the Regression issues?
• How to control/implement the CVE updates?
• How to rationalize the Engineering Effort for various SOCs?
• How to ensure that software vulnerabilities are monitored and fixed?

Don’t panic! We have already thought of that and the answer to the above-mentioned challenges is: Witekio's Yocto Long-Term Maintenance Package. In a nutshell, our Long-Term Secure Maintenance Approach is based on Automation Weaponry and Collaborative Project Team in order to accelerate the maturity of our customer’s organization while keeping the ownership.

It consists of monthly CVE Monitoring , quarterly LTS minor updates and annual LTS major updates.

To know more about this, join our webinar on the subject!

Embeddedly yours,

Cirus Coliai (BDM at Witekio for France, UK & Northern Europe)