[Open2x-devel] suggestion to use OpenEmbedded for Open2x

[Robert S. <the...@gm...>]

Hi,
by coincidence I just found that Open2x is for real now. :)

I was stumbling through the gp2x Wiki in order to rip some sentences
from my old OpenEmbedded article[0] therein.

When I was planning to build my first software for the GP2X back in 2005
a good friend told me about OpenEmbedded. Since that time I was trying
to understand it and make use of it. My cross-compilation knowledge was
minimal at that time and so understanding the OE specifics was very hard
for me.

But being persistent paid off: I read a book about Linux embedded
development, looked at other cross-compilation suites (buildroot,
freewrt) and nowadays I am doing many of the OE related tasks in the
company I work for. :)

Mastering OE allows us to conveniently build packages for all
distributions that are derived from it like Angstrom and OpenMoko (Not
to mention all the devices that they support).

AFAIK OpenEmbedded is the most flexible approach for doing
cross-platform development. The repository contains build recipes for
around 5000 packages. You are able to quickly replace crucial parts of
your distribution like glibc with a minimum of effort (just change the
preferred version number). It is also possible to customize recipes for
your specific device.

Furthermore you can profit from the advancements of the other OE-based
distributions: Eg. if Angstrom maintainers add a patch to fix an issue
in glibc you get that, too. If they add the recipes for X.Org 1.3
(already done) you can build that package, too.

=46rom the Wiki: "Open2x uses a modified version of the buildroot scripts=
 .."

Rather than forking and modifying someone else's project over and over
again, OE lets everyone do whatever they want but share a common build
environment and package recipes at the same time.

------

If you do not see value in this or think that you are better off
maintaining your own cross-compilation suite that is perfectly OK for
me. I could not help the Open2x project in other ways than contributing
to OE (which ultimately helps all derived projects).

For me it is a lovely vision that a game-centric project like Open2x
would enter OE development and care about the game packages. :)

Best regards
Robert