We have been teaching Linux for embedded systems since 2004. We realized companies making their own hardware need to harness Linux's power for accomplishing their goals. It implies to teach how to put Linux in a specific designed board, how to write drivers and, likely, how to ensure real time behaviour with a Linux system. Other trainings covering networking with Linux and the security aspects about building embedded Linux systems close the circle.
While people coming to our trainings obtained mostly what they expected/needed, the main problem was the amount of information and concepts for 3-days courses. It would be good to have more time for teaching all the concepts involved, and to have more complex exercises which are hard to do within three days. Also, as teachers, we had the feeling we were helping and pushing people in the right direction, but we thought we could do it better if we had more time ...
By other hand, the technology world is always changing, and Linux is not an exception. A training about these subjects can become obsolete easily, or not showing the last trends and changes inside the Linux world.
So this website aims to allow someone interested in learningi about this stuff to keep its own pace, focusing on the part he or she is more interested in, and to offer the contents as up to date as possible. Hey, we also love books, but with a website we can accomplish our goals far better. We are aware these trainings can always improve, and with this model we can work on that and the student will get it faster.
The best way for learning is a well balanced training on theory and practice. Low level Linux and hardware are closely related. You can learn just being a good reader but better if you can put your hands on a real brick. These last years have appeared a good number of small boards designed for learning hardware, like Arduino o Raspberry Pi, so we are going to use a similar board for aplying the concepts. The name of this project is linked with the board we will use: the BeagleBone. Hacking this board will be the goal and we will help you hacking-a-bone.
Although the beaglebone is not really expensive (45$ the Black model) it can be a considerable amount of money for some potential students. So we offer another way for starting to work with us: a software emulated Beaglebone Board which you can use for much of the practice. Moreover, setting up all the components for starting to work on the matter can be a burden (installing software, connecting cables, ...) and with an emulated beaglebone, plus a development machine you can work with through a web interface, you can focus on what you really want to learn from day one.