BMW forges ahead with Linux

What is common between BMW, Toyota, Volkswagen? No it’s not that common answers i.e. cars. It’s Linux! Linux is definitely everywhere, from servers to phones, to cars. Toyota has been vocal of using Automotive Grade Linux, Volkswagen also opined and are now in the process of integrating its Linux platform to all the brands under it. Some may have other ideas, but BMW is behind Linux wholeheartedly.

BMW has also been engaging with open source community and were present at this week’s Open-Source Summit Europe / Embedded Linux Conference Europe. In the said summit they discussed how Linux is being used from the assembly, to car ICE and car OS. here is the gist as summarised by Phoronix.

–  BMW’s “head unit” / in-vehicle infotainment system is running on Linux. 

– BMW’s Linux OS is “from scratch” but based on Yocto. 

– The BMW GUI code was ported to Linux for preserving their legacy code-base. 

– They build everything from source internally and no longer accept arbitrary binary blobs. 

– BMW is participating in the Linux Foundation’s ELISA project for open-source safety-critical systems. Toyota, Suzuki, and others are also involved with ELISA. 

– They are also beginning to make use of Linux on their assembly lines.

The summit video presentation can be seen below:

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Abhishek

Abhishek is a Finance Professional and has worked in multiple MNCs. However, he is also an avid tech reader and tinkerer with over 20 years of experience. His passions include 3D animation and drawing Illustrations. His creations can be viewed at www.artstation.com/abhifx

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