Getting started

Whether you are an individual or an employee of a organization it is easy to get involved with Linaro...

You will see that there are several ways to become involved and that everything we do is open, not only software but also our documents and our discussions (on IRC and on our mailing lists).

  • See how Linaro operates first-hand...
    Join us at the next Linaro Connect, browse current projects on the Wiki and Launchpad, and subscribe to relevant Linaro mailing lists.
  • New to free and open source software (FOSS)?
    See this introduction on getting involved and maximizing your contributions, written by Paul McKenney, RCU Maintainer and member of Linaro's OCTO.
  • Running Linaro on your hardware...
    There are two ways to get a Linaro build on your hardware. The fastest way is to grab a milestone image and "dd" it to your SD card. If you'd like a little more customization of things like filesystem type, then you can follow the instructions on the boards page of the Wiki. They explain how to pick a hardware pack, root filesystem, and then install them using Linaro Image Tools. The developer Wiki includes an up-to-date list of what hardware is supported by our current builds at wiki.linaro.org/Boards. There is also a list of low cost development boards, with links to retailers.
  • Running Linaro without hardware...
    You can still experiment with Linaro builds even if you don't have physical hardware. We have a quick guide to using Qemu with Linaro builds. We also have a video showing how to get up and running in under 5 minutes.
  • Using the Linaro Toolchain...
    If you are interested in building software using the Linaro toolchain, you can follow the toolchain guide. This page includes information on installing both cross and native toolchains.
  • Using the Linaro Kernel...
    If you are interested in doing some kernel hacking take a look at: Linaro Kernel Tree Policy and Linaro Git Trees. For more on building and deploying try Build and Deploy a Kernel and Debian Build and Packaging of a Kernel.

  • Chip providers
    If you are working for a silicon provider who needs help upstreaming code to the Linux kernel, look through our projects, come to Linaro Connect to meet our engineers and discuss where we can help, then take a look at the advantages of becoming a member.
  • System enablers and developers (software integrators, related hardware developers and OEM/ODMs)
    Almost everything we do is open and can provide many building blocks for systems. We have begun to put together guides for using Linaro builds as the basis for real products: currently one for Android and one for Ubuntu. If you have questions, please visit ask.linaro.org to see if we have already answered them or post a new question and our community of experts will respond. We hope you will consider joining us at Linaro Connect and will see that including Linaro as a recommendation in RFQs could accelerate your product development, improve reliability and reduce future maintenance costs. If you want to take an active role and get your engineers contributing directly to Linaro, you can take a look at becoming a Partner and help define the future of Linux on ARM.