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<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"> 

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>uClibc -- a C library for embedded systems</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<body text="#000000" alink="#660000" link="#660000" bgcolor="#dee2de" vlink="#660000">

<basefont face="lucida, helvetica, arial" size="3">


<CENTER>
<p>

<TABLE BORDER=0 CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=2>
    <TR>
	<td bgcolor="#000000">
	  <FONT FACE="lucida, helvetica" COLOR="#ccccc0">
	      <B>µ&nbsp;C&nbsp;l&nbsp;i&nbsp;b&nbsp;c</B>
	  </FONT>
	</TD>
    </TR>
</TABLE>
<p>


<!-- Begin Introduction section -->


<TABLE WIDTH=95% CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=4 BORDER=1>
<TR><TD BGCOLOR="#ccccc0" ALIGN=center>
    <A NAME="intro"> <BIG><B>
    uClibc -- a C library for embedded systems
    </font>
    </A></B></BIG>
</TD></TR>
<TR><TD BGCOLOR="#eeeee0">


<a href="http://uclibc.org">uClibc</a> (aka µClibc but pronounced
yew-see-lib-see) is a C library for embedded Linux systems.  It is much smaller
then GNU libc, but nearly all applications supported by the 
<a href="http://www.gnu.org/software/libc/libc.html">GNU C Library (aka glibc)</a> 
also work perfectly with uClibc.  Porting applications from
glibc to uClibc typically involves just recompiling the source code.  uClibc
supports standard Linux systems (such as x86, strongArm, and powerpc), and also
supports <a href="http://www.uclinux.org">MMU-less (also known as µClinux)</a>
systems, such as those based on the Coldfire, dragonball, or arm7tdmi
micro-controllers.  If you are building an embedded Linux system, and you fine
the GNU libc is eating up too much space, you should consider using uClibc
instead.  If you are working on an older system with limited memory (such as an
oldworld Mac), uClibc may also be useful for you.  If you are using a standard
desktop Linux workstation to develop applications for an embedded Linux system,
you can use run uClibc on your workstation while doing development.  If you are
trying to build a ultra fast fileserver for your company that has 12 Terabytes
of storage, then you probably want to use glibc...

<p>

<p>
uClibc is maintained by 
<a href="http://www.codepoet.org/andersen/erik/erik.html">Erik Andersen</a>
and is licensed under the 
<a href="http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/lgpl.html">GNU LIBRARY GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE</a>
.  This license allows you to make closed source commercial applications using 
uClibc (Please consider sharing some of the money you make ;-).  You do not need 
to give away all your source code just because you use uClibc and/or run on Linux.

<p>

<!-- Begin Mailing list section -->

<TR><TD BGCOLOR="#ccccc0" ALIGN=center>
    <A NAME="mailing_list"><BIG><B>
    Mailing List
    </A></B></BIG>
</TD></TR>
<TR><TD BGCOLOR="#eeeee0">

uClibc has a 
<a href="http://uclibc.org/lists/uclibc/">mailing list</a>.  
To subscribe, go and visit 
<a href="http://uclibc.org/mailman/listinfo/uclibc">this page</a>.

<p>



<!-- Begin Applications section -->

<TR><TD BGCOLOR="#ccccc0" ALIGN=center>
    <A NAME="applications"><BIG><B>
    Known Working Applications List
    </A></B></BIG>
</TD></TR>
<TR><TD BGCOLOR="#eeeee0">

    uClibc now has a <a href="http://uclibc.org/uClibc-apps.html">list of applications</a> 
    that are known to work.  Submissions are welcome! 
    Since most applications work just fine with uClibc, we are especially 
    interested in knowing about any applications that either do not compile
    or do not work properly with uClibc.

    
    
<!-- Begin Applications section -->

<TR><TD BGCOLOR="#ccccc0" ALIGN=center>
    <A NAME="faq"><BIG><B>
    Frequently Asked Questions
    </A></B></BIG>
</TD></TR>
<TR><TD BGCOLOR="#eeeee0">

	uClibc now has a <a href="http://uclibc.org/FAQ.html">list of Frequently Asked Questions</a>.
	You might want to take a look.
    
    
<!-- Begin Download section -->

<TR><TD BGCOLOR="#ccccc0" ALIGN=center>
    <A NAME="download"><BIG><B>
    Download
    </A></B></BIG>
</TD></TR>
<TR><TD BGCOLOR="#eeeee0">
<ul>
    <li> There is now a script that creates a daily snapshot tarball of uClibc and posts it on  
	<a href="http://uclibc.org/uClibc-snapshot.tar.gz">here</a>.
    <li> uClibc also has a publically browsable
	<a href="http://cvs.uclinux.org/cgi-bin/cvsweb/uClibc/">CVS tree</a> (this CVS tree is also mirrored onto 
	<a href="http://uclibc.org/cgi-bin/cvsweb/uClibc/">uclibc.org</a> but they are both the same thing).
    <li> Anonymous
	<a href="http://cvs.uclinux.org/cvs_anon.html">CVS access</a> is available, and
	
    <li> For those that are actively contributing there is even 
	<a href="http://cvs.uclinux.org/cvs_write.html">CVS write access</a>.
</ul>

<!-- Begin Applications section -->

<TR><TD BGCOLOR="#ccccc0" ALIGN=center>
    <A NAME="contribute"><BIG><B>
    Help Support uClibc development
    </A></B></BIG>
</TD></TR>
<TR><TD BGCOLOR="#eeeee0">

	Do you like uClibc?  Do you need support?  Do you need some feature
	added to uClibc?  Then why not help out?  We are happy to accept
	donations, provide support contracts, and implement funded feature
	requests.  Additionally, uClibc is looking for corporate sponsors to
	assist development, pay for bandwidth, and help with hardware
	donations, especially donations of hardware for non-Intel
	architectures.  Click here to help support uClibc and/or request
	features.  
	
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	<input type="hidden" name="cmd" value="_xclick">
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    If you prefer to contact us directly for payments (we have a credit card machine so
    you can avoid online payments), hardware donations, support requests, etc., you can 
    contact <a href="http://codepoet-consulting.com/">CodePoet Consulting</a> here.
    

<!-- Begin Latest News section -->

<TR><TD BGCOLOR="#ccccc0" ALIGN=center>
    <A NAME="news">
    <BIG><B>
    Latest News</A> 
    </B></BIG>
    </A>
</TD></TR>
<TR><TD BGCOLOR="#eeeee0">

<ul>

    <li> <b>26 November 2001, powerpc shared libraries fully working</b>
    <br>
    Dave Schleef finished off the the work needed for shared library support on
    powerpc.  There had been a few problems remaining, and those are now squashed.
    So shared libs on powerpc should be working fully now.

    <p>
    <li> <b>14 November 2001, m68 compiles again, Large file support working</b>
    <br>
	About a month ago I synced the header files with glibc 2.2.4 for better
	C++ support and better standards compliance.  I forgot to sync up m68k,
	sparc, powerpc, and mipsel.  Dave Schleef fixed powerpc while he was fixing
	up the shared lib loader.  I just fixed up m68k, sparc, and mipsel so they
	should all compile again.
	<p>
	I also finished up fixing large file support (just enable DOLFS in your
	Config file to enable it) and it is working just great, and greatly increases
	the number of glibc applications that will work "out-of-the-tarball" without
	needing any changes.


    <li> <b>12 November 2001, powerpc shared lib support</b>
    <br>
	Thanks to David Schleef, uClibc now has full shared library support 
	on powerpc.  This brings full shared library support to x86, ARM, and 
	now powerpc.  Thanks Dave!


    <p>
    <li> <b>7 November 2001, uClibc application list</b>
    <br>
	uClibc now has a <a href="http://uclibc.org/uClibc-apps.html">list of applications</a> 
	that are known to work.  If you have any applications to add to the
	list, submissions are welcome!


    <p>
    <li> <b>18 October 2001, buildroot uClibc example system</b>
    <br>

	Those wanting an easy way to test out uClibc and give it
	a test drive can download and compile 
	<a href="ftp://uclibc.org/buildroot.tar.gz">buildroot.tar.gz</a>.   This
	is a nifty buildsystem that will automagically download and build
	a <a href="http://user-mode-linux.sourceforge.net/">User-Mode Linux</a>
	kernel, and will then download source for and compile up a fully
	working uClibc based root filesystem.  This should make it easy for
	people to create their own projects.  I hope that this build system
	will allow people to more easily use and build uClibc based systems.
	As an example of how nicely this works, the 
	<a href="http://tuxscreen.net/">Tuxscreen Project</a> is using a
	<a href="http://cvs.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/tuxscreen/buildroot-tux/">slightly adjusted variant of the buildroot system</a> to cross 
	compile the blob bootloader, linux kernel, and a uClibc based jffs2
	root filesystem (busybox, tinylogin, udhcp, lrzsz, pcmcia-cs and 
	microwindows) for ARM.  Pretty cool.



    <p>
    <li> <b>11 October 2001, v850 architecture support</b>
    <br>

	Miles Bader has contributed support for the v850 architecture.


    <p>
    <li> <b>25 Spetember 2001, header files updated</b>
    <br>

	uClibc's header files are now in sync with glibc 2.2.4,
    allowing better standards compliance, better portibility, and 
    better C++ support.
    
    <p>
    <li> <b>4 July 2001, ARM shared library support</b>
    <br>

	uClibc now has full shared library support on ARM.


    <p>
    <li> <b>9 May 2001, libm added</b>
    <br>

	uClibc now has a very complete math library.


    <p>
    <p> <li> <b>9 May 2001, ld.so added</b>
    <br>

	uClibc now has a native ld.so.  It currently is only ported to work on x86,
	but porting to other architectures should not be too difficult.


    <p> <li> <b>15 March 2001, powerpc port added</b>
    <br>

	David Schleef contributed a powerpc port, which is now in CVS.

    <p> <li> <b>19 February 2001, SH port added</b>
    <br>

	Jean-Yves Avenard contributed an SH port.  See his email 
	with the initial patch <a href="http://uclibc.org/lists/uclibc/2001-February/000409.html">here</a>.

    <p> <li> <b>16 January 2001, uClibc as a shared library</b>
    <br>

	 As if January 16, uClibc can now be used (at least on x86) as a shared
	library.  See the <a href="http://uclibc.org/lists/uclibc/2001-January/000126.html">email</a>
	announcing this achievement.

    <p> <li> <b>11 January 2001, gcc wrapper added</b>
    <br>

	Manuel Novoa III has created a wrapper for gcc that makes compiling apps vs uClibc
	as simple as just setting "CC" to gcc-uClibc-&lt arch&gt.  This even works when cross
	compiling!  Very cool.

    <p> <li> <b>3 January 2001, uClibc now has a web page</b>
    <br>

	 A lot of work has been going on under the hood with uClibc,
	 so I decided to put together this webpage to let the world know
	 that it exists and is getting to be very usable. 


</ul>

<!-- Begin TODO section -->

<TR><TD BGCOLOR="#ccccc0" ALIGN=center>
    <A NAME="todo"><BIG><B>
    TODO
    </A></B></BIG>
</TD></TR>
<TR><TD BGCOLOR="#eeeee0">


Here are a few things on the TODO list:
<ul>
    <li> Shared library support for all supported architectures.
	We now have our own ld.so, but it needs to be ported to
	support each architecture. 
    <li> Shared library support for mmu-less systems.  This is
	very doable (think of C++ vtables for example), but will
	take some work.
    <li> Someone (hopefully) needs to volunteer to take the
	<a href="http://www.linuxbase.org/test/">LSB Test Suite</a>,
	pull out the C library testing stuff, and convert it
	(perl script, by hand, I don't care how) into a form
	that is usable without having it take over your entire
	system (i.e. similar to what is currently in the uClibc
	test suite).  This will be <em>enormously</em> helpful!
    <li> other things as I think of them.
</ul>
    



<!-- Begin Links section -->

<TR><TD BGCOLOR="#ccccc0" ALIGN=center>
    <A NAME="links">
    <BIG><B>
    Other Open Source C libraries:
    </A>
    </B></BIG>
    </A>
</TD></TR>
<TR><TD BGCOLOR="#eeeee0">

<ul> 


<li><a href="http://www.gnu.org/software/libc/libc.html">GNU C Library (aka glibc)</a> 
<li> <a href="http://www.k9wk.com/cdoc.html">Al's FREE C Runtime Library</a>
<li><a href="http://www.fefe.de/dietlibc/">diet libc </a>
<li>the <a href="http://www.cs.vu.nl/~ast/minix.html">minix</a> 
    <a href="http://www.cs.vu.nl/cgi-bin/raw/pub/minix/2.0.0/src.tar"
    >C library</a>
<li> <a href="http://sources.redhat.com/newlib/">newlib</a>
<li>and there is a  
    <a href="ftp://sourceware.cygnus.com/pub/ecos/">C library</a>, for
    <a href="http://sources.redhat.com/ecos/">eCos</a> as well.

<ul>



<!-- Begin Links section -->

<TR><TD BGCOLOR="#ccccc0" ALIGN=center>
    <A NAME="links">
    <BIG><B>
    Links to other useful stuff
    </A>
    </B></BIG>
    </A>
</TD></TR>
<TR><TD BGCOLOR="#eeeee0">

<ul> 

    <li> <a href="http://www.uclinux.org/">The uClinux home page</a>.
    <p>

    <li> <a href="http://cvs.uclinux.org/">The uClinux CVS reporitory</a>.
    <p>

    <li> <a href="http://uclibc.org/">The uClibc home page</a>.
    <p>

    <li> <a href="http://busybox.net/">BusyBox</a>.
    <p>

    <li> <a href="http://codepoet-consulting.com/">CodePoet Consulting</a>.
    <p>

</ul>



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