BusyBox
Encyclopedia
BusyBox provides several stripped-down Unix tools in a single executable
. It runs in a variety of POSIX
environments such as Linux
, Android, FreeBSD
and others, such as proprietary kernels, although many of the tools it provides are designed to work with interfaces provided by the Linux kernel. It was specifically created for embedded operating systems with very limited resources. It has been self-dubbed "The Swiss Army Knife
of Embedded Linux". It is released as free software
under the terms of the GNU General Public License
.
In late 2007, BusyBox also came to prominence for actively prosecuting violations of the terms of its license (the GPL
) in US
court
s.
in 1995 and declared complete for his intended usage in 1996, BusyBox's original purpose was to put a complete bootable
system on a single floppy
that would be both a rescue disk and an installer for the Debian
distribution. Since that time it has been extended to become the de facto standard
core userspace toolset for embedded Linux devices and Linux distribution installers. Since each Linux executable requires several kilobytes of overhead, having the BusyBox program combine over two hundred programs together often saves substantial disk space and system memory.
BusyBox was maintained by Enrique Zanardi and focused on the needs of the Debian boot-floppies installer system until early 1998, when it was taken over by Dave Cinege for The Linux Router Project
(LRP). Cinege made several additions, created a modularized build environment, and shifted BusyBox's focus into general high level embedded system
s. As LRP development slowed down in 1999, Erik Andersen, then of Lineo, Inc.
, took over the project and was the official maintainer between December 1999 and March 2006. During this time the Linux embedded marketplace exploded in growth, and BusyBox matured greatly, expanding both its user base and functionality. Rob Landley became the maintainer in 2005 and continued for several years.
Denys Vlasenko is the current maintainer of BusyBox.
(SUS) plus many others that a user would expect to see on a Linux system. BusyBox uses the ash shell.
A full list of the utilities implemented can be found on the BusyBox website.
(executable
) file for each application. BusyBox is a single binary, which is a conglomerate of many applications, each of which can be accessed by calling the single BusyBox binary with various names (supported by having a symbolic link
or hard link
for each different name) in a specific manner with appropriate arguments.
BusyBox benefits from the single binary approach as it reduces the overheads introduced by the executable file format (typically ELF
), and it allows code to be shared between multiple applications without requiring a library
. This technique is similar to what is provided by the crunchgen command in FreeBSD
. However, BusyBox provides simplified versions of the utilities (for example, an ls command without file sorting ability), while a crunchgen generated sum of all the utilities would offer the fully functional versions.
Sharing of the common code, along with routines written with size-optimization in mind, enables a BusyBox system to be much smaller than a system built with the corresponding full versions of the utilities replaced by BusyBox. Research which compared GNU
, Busybox, asmutils
and Perl
implementations of the standard Unix commands show that in some situations BusyBox may perform faster than other implementations, but not always.
More commonly, the desired command names are linked (using hard
or symbolic
links) to the BusyBox executable; BusyBox notices the name it is called as, and runs the appropriate command, for example just
after /bin/ls is linked to /bin/busybox.
A more complete list can be found on the official website (see external links below).
was filed on 20 September 2007 by the Software Freedom Law Center
(SFLC) on behalf of Andersen and Landley against Monsoon Multimedia Inc., after BusyBox code was discovered in a firmware
upgrade and attempts to contact the company had apparently failed. The case was settled with release of the Monsoon version of the source and payment of an undisclosed amount of money to Andersen and Landley.
On 21 November 2007, the SFLC brought two similar lawsuits on behalf of Andersen and Landley against two more companies, Xterasys (case 07-CV-10456) and High-Gain Antennas (case 07-CV-10455). The Xterasys case was settled on December 17 for release of source code used and an undisclosed payment, and the High-Gain Antennas case on March 6, 2008 for active license compliance and an undisclosed payment. On 7 December 2007, a case was brought against Verizon Communications
over its distribution of firmware for Actiontec routers; this case was settled March 17, 2008 on condition of license compliance, appointment of an officer to oversee future compliance with free software licenses, and payment of an undisclosed sum. Further suits were brought on June 9, 2008 against Bell Microproducts (case 08-CV-5270) and Super Micro Computer (case 08-CV-5269), the Super Micro case being settled on 23 July 2008. BusyBox and Bell Microproducts also settled out of court on 17 October.
On December 14, 2009, a new lawsuit was filed naming fourteen defendants including Best Buy, JVC, Samsung and others.
On about Aug 03, 2010, BusyBox won triple damages of $90,000 and lawyers' costs and fees of $47,865, and possession of "presumably a lot of high-def TVs" as infringing equipment in the lawsuit Software Freedom Conservancy v. Best Buy, etal., the GPL infringement case noted in the paragraph above.
No other developers, including original author Bruce Perens and long time maintainer Dave Cinege, were represented in these actions or party to the settlements. On Dec. 15, 2009, Perens released a statement expressing his unhappiness with some aspects of the legal situation, and in particular alleged that the current BusyBox developers "appear to have removed some of the copyright statements of other Busybox developers, and appear to have altered license statements".
Executable
In computing, an executable file causes a computer "to perform indicated tasks according to encoded instructions," as opposed to a data file that must be parsed by a program to be meaningful. These instructions are traditionally machine code instructions for a physical CPU...
. It runs in a variety of POSIX
POSIX
POSIX , an acronym for "Portable Operating System Interface", is a family of standards specified by the IEEE for maintaining compatibility between operating systems...
environments such as Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
, Android, FreeBSD
FreeBSD
FreeBSD is a free Unix-like operating system descended from AT&T UNIX via BSD UNIX. Although for legal reasons FreeBSD cannot be called “UNIX”, as the direct descendant of BSD UNIX , FreeBSD’s internals and system APIs are UNIX-compliant...
and others, such as proprietary kernels, although many of the tools it provides are designed to work with interfaces provided by the Linux kernel. It was specifically created for embedded operating systems with very limited resources. It has been self-dubbed "The Swiss Army Knife
Swiss Army knife
The Swiss Army knife is a brand of pocket knife or multi-tool manufactured by Victorinox AG and Wenger SA. The term "Swiss Army knife" was coined by US soldiers after World War II due to the difficulty they had in pronouncing the German name....
of Embedded Linux". It is released as free software
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
under the terms of the GNU General Public License
GNU General Public License
The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....
.
In late 2007, BusyBox also came to prominence for actively prosecuting violations of the terms of its license (the GPL
GNU General Public License
The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....
) in US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
court
Court
A court is a form of tribunal, often a governmental institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance with the rule of law...
s.
History
Originally written by Bruce PerensBruce Perens
Bruce Perens is a computer programmer and advocate in the open source community. He created the Open Source Definition and published the first formal announcement and manifesto of open source. He co-founded the Open Source Initiative with Eric S...
in 1995 and declared complete for his intended usage in 1996, BusyBox's original purpose was to put a complete bootable
Booting
In computing, booting is a process that begins when a user turns on a computer system and prepares the computer to perform its normal operations. On modern computers, this typically involves loading and starting an operating system. The boot sequence is the initial set of operations that the...
system on a single floppy
Floppy disk
A floppy disk is a disk storage medium composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust particles...
that would be both a rescue disk and an installer for the Debian
Debian
Debian is a computer operating system composed of software packages released as free and open source software primarily under the GNU General Public License along with other free software licenses. Debian GNU/Linux, which includes the GNU OS tools and Linux kernel, is a popular and influential...
distribution. Since that time it has been extended to become the de facto standard
De facto standard
A de facto standard is a custom, convention, product, or system that has achieved a dominant position by public acceptance or market forces...
core userspace toolset for embedded Linux devices and Linux distribution installers. Since each Linux executable requires several kilobytes of overhead, having the BusyBox program combine over two hundred programs together often saves substantial disk space and system memory.
BusyBox was maintained by Enrique Zanardi and focused on the needs of the Debian boot-floppies installer system until early 1998, when it was taken over by Dave Cinege for The Linux Router Project
The Linux Router Project
The Linux Router Project is a now defunct networking-centric micro Linux distribution. The released versions of LRP were small enough to fit on a single 1.44MB floppy disk, and made building and maintaining routers, access servers, thin servers, thin clients, network appliances, and typically...
(LRP). Cinege made several additions, created a modularized build environment, and shifted BusyBox's focus into general high level embedded system
Embedded system
An embedded system is a computer system designed for specific control functions within a larger system. often with real-time computing constraints. It is embedded as part of a complete device often including hardware and mechanical parts. By contrast, a general-purpose computer, such as a personal...
s. As LRP development slowed down in 1999, Erik Andersen, then of Lineo, Inc.
Lineo
Lineo was a thin client and embedded systems company spun out of Caldera Thin Clients, on 20 July 1999.Caldera Thin Clients, Inc., had been created as a subsidiary of Caldera, Inc., on 2 September 1998...
, took over the project and was the official maintainer between December 1999 and March 2006. During this time the Linux embedded marketplace exploded in growth, and BusyBox matured greatly, expanding both its user base and functionality. Rob Landley became the maintainer in 2005 and continued for several years.
Denys Vlasenko is the current maintainer of BusyBox.
Features
BusyBox can be customized to provide a subset of over two hundred utilities. It can provide most of the utilities specified in the Single Unix SpecificationSingle UNIX Specification
The Single UNIX Specification is the collective name of a family of standards for computer operating systems to qualify for the name "Unix"...
(SUS) plus many others that a user would expect to see on a Linux system. BusyBox uses the ash shell.
A full list of the utilities implemented can be found on the BusyBox website.
Single binary
Typical computer programs have a separate binaryBinary file
A binary file is a computer file which may contain any type of data, encoded in binary form for computer storage and processing purposes; for example, computer document files containing formatted text...
(executable
Executable
In computing, an executable file causes a computer "to perform indicated tasks according to encoded instructions," as opposed to a data file that must be parsed by a program to be meaningful. These instructions are traditionally machine code instructions for a physical CPU...
) file for each application. BusyBox is a single binary, which is a conglomerate of many applications, each of which can be accessed by calling the single BusyBox binary with various names (supported by having a symbolic link
Symbolic link
In computing, a symbolic link is a special type of file that contains a reference to another file or directory in the form of an absolute or relative path and that affects pathname resolution. Symbolic links were already present by 1978 in mini-computer operating systems from DEC and Data...
or hard link
Hard link
In computing, a hard link is a directory entry that associates a name with a file on a file system. . The term is used in file systems which allow multiple hard links to be created for the same file. This has the effect of creating multiple names for the same file, causing an aliasing effect: e.g...
for each different name) in a specific manner with appropriate arguments.
BusyBox benefits from the single binary approach as it reduces the overheads introduced by the executable file format (typically ELF
Executable and Linkable Format
In computing, the Executable and Linkable Format is a common standard file format for executables, object code, shared libraries, and core dumps. First published in the System V Application Binary Interface specification, and later in the Tool Interface Standard, it was quickly accepted among...
), and it allows code to be shared between multiple applications without requiring a library
Library (computer science)
In computer science, a library is a collection of resources used to develop software. These may include pre-written code and subroutines, classes, values or type specifications....
. This technique is similar to what is provided by the crunchgen command in FreeBSD
FreeBSD
FreeBSD is a free Unix-like operating system descended from AT&T UNIX via BSD UNIX. Although for legal reasons FreeBSD cannot be called “UNIX”, as the direct descendant of BSD UNIX , FreeBSD’s internals and system APIs are UNIX-compliant...
. However, BusyBox provides simplified versions of the utilities (for example, an ls command without file sorting ability), while a crunchgen generated sum of all the utilities would offer the fully functional versions.
Sharing of the common code, along with routines written with size-optimization in mind, enables a BusyBox system to be much smaller than a system built with the corresponding full versions of the utilities replaced by BusyBox. Research which compared GNU
GNU
GNU is a Unix-like computer operating system developed by the GNU project, ultimately aiming to be a "complete Unix-compatible software system"...
, Busybox, asmutils
Asmutils
Asmutils is a rewrite of the standard Unix commands in assembly language aimed to have smallest possible size of ELF executables. All standard Unix commands executables are less than one kilobyte in size....
and Perl
Perl
Perl is a high-level, general-purpose, interpreted, dynamic programming language. Perl was originally developed by Larry Wall in 1987 as a general-purpose Unix scripting language to make report processing easier. Since then, it has undergone many changes and revisions and become widely popular...
implementations of the standard Unix commands show that in some situations BusyBox may perform faster than other implementations, but not always.
Examples
Programs included in BusyBox can be run simply by adding their name as an argument to the BusyBox executable:/bin/busybox ls
More commonly, the desired command names are linked (using hard
Hard link
In computing, a hard link is a directory entry that associates a name with a file on a file system. . The term is used in file systems which allow multiple hard links to be created for the same file. This has the effect of creating multiple names for the same file, causing an aliasing effect: e.g...
or symbolic
Symbolic link
In computing, a symbolic link is a special type of file that contains a reference to another file or directory in the form of an absolute or relative path and that affects pathname resolution. Symbolic links were already present by 1978 in mini-computer operating systems from DEC and Data...
links) to the BusyBox executable; BusyBox notices the name it is called as, and runs the appropriate command, for example just
/bin/ls
after /bin/ls is linked to /bin/busybox.
Commands
- ash
- awk
- catCat (Unix)The cat command is a standard Unix program used to concatenate and display files. The name is from catenate, a synonym of concatenate.- Specification :...
- chmodChmodThe chmod command is a Unix command that lets a user tell the system how much access it should permit to a file. It changes the file system modes of files and directories. The modes include permissions and special modes...
- cpCp (Unix)cp is a UNIX command used to copy a file. Files can be copied either to the same directory or to a completely different directory, possibly on a different file system or hard disk drive. If the file is copied to the same directory, the new file must have a different name to the original; in all...
- copy - dateDate (Unix)The Unix date command displays the time and date. The super-user can use it to set the system clock.- Usage :With no options, the date command displays the current date and time, including the abbreviated day name, abbreviated month name, day of the month, the time separated by colons, the timezone...
- ddDd (Unix)In computing, dd is a common Unix program whose primary purpose is the low-level copying and conversion of raw data. According to the manual page for Version 7 Unix, it will "convert and copy a file". It is used to copy a specified number of bytes or blocks, performing on-the-fly byte order...
- Copy a file with converting and formatting - dfDf (Unix)df is a standard Unix computer program used to display the amount of available disk space for filesystems on which the invoking user has appropriate read access...
- Print filesystem usage statistics - dmesgDmesgdmesg is a command on most Linux and Unix based operating systems that prints the message buffer of the kernel.-Booting:...
- echo
- egrep
- fgrep
- grepGrepgrep is a command-line text-search utility originally written for Unix. The name comes from the ed command g/re/p...
- Search for PATTERN in each FILE or standard input - gunzip
- gzipGzipGzip is any of several software applications used for file compression and decompression. The term usually refers to the GNU Project's implementation, "gzip" standing for GNU zip. It is based on the DEFLATE algorithm, which is a combination of Lempel-Ziv and Huffman coding...
- kill - Kill a process
- lnLn (Unix)ln is a standard Unix command used to create links to files.- Link files :Links allow more than one file name to refer to the same file, elsewhere.There are two types of links, both of which are created by ln:...
- Create a link named LINK_NAME or DIRECTORY to the specified TARGET. - login - Begin a new session on the system
- lsLsIn computing, ls is a command to list files in Unix and Unix-like operating systems. ls is specified by POSIX and the Single UNIX Specification.- History :An ls utility appeared in the original version of AT&T UNIX...
- list of files or folders - mdu
- mkdirMkdirThe mkdir command in the Unix, DOS, OS/2 and Microsoft Windows operating systems is used to make a new directory. In DOS, OS/2 and Windows the command is often abbreviated to md.-Usage:Normal usage is as straightforward as follows:...
- Create a folder - more - View FILE or standard input one screen full at a time, not long list to scroll
- mountMount (Unix)The Unix command line utility mount instructs the operating system that a file system is ready to use, and associates it with a particular point in the system's file system hierarchy . The counterpart umount instructs the operating system that the file system should be disassociated from its mount...
- mvMvmv is a Unix command that moves one or more files or directories from one place to another. Since it can "move" files from one filename to another, it is also used to rename files. Using mv requires the user to have write permission for the directories which the file will move between...
- move file - netstatNetstatnetstat is a command-line tool that displays network connections , routing tables, and a number of network interface statistics...
- Display networking information - ntpc
- ntpsync
- nvram
- pidofPidofpidof is a Linux utility that returns the process identifier of a running process or processes. On other operating systems, pgrep and ps are often used instead....
- List PIDs of all processes with names that match NAMEs - pingPingPing is a computer network administration utility used to test the reachability of a host on an Internet Protocol network and to measure the round-trip time for messages sent from the originating host to a destination computer...
- Send ICMP ECHO_REQUEST packets to network hosts - psPs (Unix)In most Unix-like operating systems, the ps program displays the currently-running processes. A related Unix utility named top provides a real-time view of the running processes....
- Report process status - pwdPwdIn Unix-like and some other operating systems, the pwd command is used to output the path of the current working directory.The command is a shell builtin in certain Unix shells such as sh, and bash...
- print working directory - rmRm (Unix)rm is a basic UNIX command used to remove objects such as files, directories, device nodes, symbolic links, and so on from the filesystem...
- erase file - rmdirRmdirrmdir is a command which will remove an empty directory on a Unix, DOS, OS/2 or Microsoft Windows operating system. In Unix, Linux, and MacOS, it is case sensitive, whereas DOS, OS/2 and Windows , you can type the characters in any combination of upper case and lower case letters, and rd/rmdir...
- remove directory - rstats - copyright of BusyBox
- sedSedsed is a Unix utility that parses text and implements a programming language which can apply transformations to such text. It reads input line by line , applying the operation which has been specified via the command line , and then outputs the line. It was developed from 1973 to 1974 as a Unix...
- script to interpret from file or input - sh
- sleepSleep (Unix)sleep is a Unix command line program that suspends program execution for a specified period of time.The sleep instruction suspends the calling process for at least the specified number of seconds , minutes, hours or days.-Usage:...
- syncSync (Unix)sync is a standard system call in the Unix operating system, which commits to disk all data in the kernel filesystem buffers, i.e., data which has been scheduled for writing via low-level I/O system calls. Note that higher-level I/O layers such as stdio may maintain separate buffers of their...
- Write all buffered file system blocks to disk - tar
- touchTouch (Unix)touch is a standard Unix program used to change a file's access and modification timestamps. It is also used to create a new empty file.- History :A touch utility appeared in Version 7 AT&T UNIX...
- Update the last-modified date on the given FILE[s] - umount
- unameUnameuname is a software program in Unix and Unix-like computer operating systems that prints the name, version and other details about the current machine and the operating system running on it...
- usleep - Pause for N [microseconds]
- viVivi is a screen-oriented text editor originally created for the Unix operating system. The portable subset of the behavior of vi and programs based on it, and the ex editor language supported within these programs, is described by the Single Unix Specification and POSIX.The original code for vi...
- Edit FILE - watchWatch (Unix)watch is a GNU command-line tool that runs the specified command repeatedly and displays the output on stdout so you can watch it change over time. By default, the command is run every 2 seconds, although this is adjustable with the -n secs argument...
- Execute a program periodically - zcat - Uncompress to stdout
Appliances
It is very common to find BusyBox used in Linux-based appliances, examples of which include:- Actiontec GT701 DSL Modem/Router (GT701-WG Wireless DSL Modem/Router) bundled mostly with QwestQwestQwest Communications International, Inc. was a large United States telecommunications carrier. Qwest provided local service in 14 western U.S. states: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.On April...
DSL and the GT704-WG Wireless DSL Modem/Router frequently bundled with Verizon DSL. - Actiontec M1000 DSL Modem/Router, bundled mostly with QwestQwestQwest Communications International, Inc. was a large United States telecommunications carrier. Qwest provided local service in 14 western U.S. states: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.On April...
DSL. - Amino (IP TV Set Top Boxes)
- Actiontec MI424WR MoCAMultimedia over Coax AllianceMultimedia over Coax Alliance is a trade group promoting a standard that uses coaxial cables to connect consumer electronics and home networking devices in homes. It allows both data communication and the transfer of audio and video streams....
wireless router, bundled mostly with Verizon FiOSVerizon FiOSVerizon FiOS is a bundled Internet access, telephone, and television service which operates over a fiber-optic communications network. It is offered in some areas of the United States by Verizon Communications. Verizon was one of the first major U.S...
. - Amazon KindleAmazon KindleThe Amazon Kindle is an e-book reader developed by Amazon.com subsidiary Lab126 which uses wireless connectivity to enable users to shop for, download, browse, and read e-books, newspapers, magazines, blogs, and other digital media...
book reader - ASUSASUSASUSTeK Computer Incorporated is a multinational computer technology and consumer electronics product manufacturer headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan. Its product range includes motherboards, desktops, laptops, monitors, tablet PCs, servers and mobile phones...
wireless broadband router, Asus WL-500g, AM604G. - AVM GmbHAVM GmbHAVM is a German electronics company founded in 1986 in Berlin, that produces DSL, ISDN, Wireless and VoIP products. It had sales of € 240 million in 2006 with 460 employees. It is the producer of the popular FRITZ!Box series.-Products :...
FRITZ!BoxFRITZ!BoxFRITZ!Box is a series of residential gateway devices from the German company AVM GmbH.-Functionality:There are several FRITZ!Box models available, but the most popular are the ones that combine DSL and SIP VoIP...
DSL routers - Aztech DSL605EW wireless DSL broadband router
- BT Home HubBT Home HubThe BT Home Hub is a wireless residential gateway router distributed by BT. It is based on the Wi-Fi 802.11n standard, and is also backwards compatible with 802.11g and 802.11b. All Models of the Home Hub prior to the Home Hub 3.0 support VoIP Internet calls via BT's Broadband Talk service and are...
- D-LinkD-LinkD-Link Corporation was founded in June 1986 in Taipei as Datex Systems Inc. It began as a network adapter vendor and has gone on to become a designer, developer, and manufacturer of networking solutions for both the consumer and business markets.In 2007, it was the leading networking company in...
DSL-500B, DSL-502T, DSL-504T, DSL-524T, DSL-564T, DSL-584T, DSL2500U, DSL2540U, DSL2640U, DSL-2640T, DSL-2730U, DSL-G604TD Link G604T Network AdaptorThe DSL-G604T is an integrated Wireless/ADSL router with 100Base-T hub from the D-Linkcorporation that aims to provide both wireless and wired networking capability to its users...
, DSL-G624T, DSL-G664T and DSL-G684T - Dream Multimedia's DreamboxDreamboxThe Dreambox is a series of Linux-powered DVB satellite, terrestrial and cable digital television receivers , produced by German multimedia vendor Dream Multimedia.- History and Description :...
, a hobbyist DVB receiver. - Dynamix UM-A4+ ADSL router
- Edimax EW-7206APg Wifi Access Point
- Emprex ME1 HD Multimedia Enclosure
- FreeboxFreeboxThe Freebox is an ADSL modem that the French internet service provider named Free provides to its ADSL subscribers.Its main use is as a high-end wireless modem , but it also allows Free to offer added services using ADSL as support, like HD television , video recording with timeshifting...
a DSL Modem/Router distributed by Free, a French ISP - Gamepark Holdings GP2XGP2XThe GP2X is an open-source, Linux-based handheld video game console and portable media player developed by South Korean company GamePark Holdings. It was released on November 10, 2005, in South Korea only....
open-source Linux game player - HP Media VaultHP Media VaultThe HP Media Vault is a home printer and file server from Hewlett-Packard that runs the Linux operating system although you can install Debian on the MV2-First Generation:...
- HumaxHumaxHumax is an electronics company. Founded in South Korea in 1989, it manufactures set-top boxes, digital video recorders and other consumer electronics. It is publicly traded on KOSDAQ....
set top boxes - Huwaei HG556a (Vodafone Branded)
- IBM Hardware Management Console (HMC)
- LacieLaCieLaCie is a computer hardware company specializing in external hard drives, RAID arrays, optical drives, Flash Drives, and computer monitors. The company markets several lines of hard drives with a capacity of up to many terabytes of data, with a choice of interfaces...
Ethernet Big Disk 1TB. http://www.lacie.com/us/products/product.htm?pid=10882 - LeapfrogLeapfrog EnterprisesLeapFrog Enterprises Inc is an educational entertainment company based in Emeryville, California. LeapFrog designs, develops and markets technology-based learning products and related content for the education of infant through grade school children at home and in schools internationally.- History...
Didj Educational Handheld Gaming system - LevelOne http://www.level1.com/ WBR-3460A
- LinksysLinksysLinksys by Cisco, commonly known as Linksys, is a brand of home and small office networking products now produced by Cisco Systems, though once a separate company founded in 1995 before being acquired by Cisco in 2003...
NSLU2NSLU2The NSLU2 is a Network-attached storage device made by Linksys introduced in 2004 and discontinued in 2008. It makes USB Flash memory and hard disks accessible over a network using the SMB protocol...
NAS and WRT54GWRT54GThe Linksys WRT54G is a Wi-Fi capable residential gateway from Linksys. The device is capable of sharing Internet connections among several computers via 802.3 Ethernet and 802.11b/g wireless data links.-WRT54G:The original WRT54G was first released in December 2002...
router. - Motorola A780Motorola A780The Motorola A780 is a mobile phone and PDA running the Linux operating system.It was sold in Europe and Asia, and first introduced in 2003. Some models include GPS and navigation software.-Design:The Motorola A780 is a Linux-based smartphone...
- Motorola ZINE ZN5Motorola ZINE ZN5Motorola ZINE is a series of clamshell/flip mobile phones from Motorola, and is one of the series in the 4LTR line.-ZN5:The ZN5 was released in China in July 2008, and November 2008 for T-Mobile as the first 5.0 megapixel phone subsidized on a major US carrier...
- Mvix MX-760HD Media Player
- Netcomm NB1 ADSL Modem
- NetgearNetgearNetgear is a U.S. manufacturer of computer networking equipment and other computer hardware....
DG834GDG834GThe DG834 series are popular ADSL modem router products from Netgear. The devices can be directly connected to the phone line and establish an ADSL broadband Internet connection to the ISP and share it among several computers via 802.3 Ethernet and 802.11b/g wireless data links.These devices are...
router - NeurosNeuros TechnologyNeuros Technology is a Chicago, Illinois-based company that produces a number of audio and video devices with the brand name Neuros. Founded by Joe Born in 2001 as a division of Digital Innovations and previously operated under the name Neuros Audio...
OSD MPEG Video Recorder - Nokia 770Nokia 770 Internet TabletThe Nokia 770 Internet tablet is a wireless Internet appliance from Nokia, originally announced at the LinuxWorld Summit in New York City on May 25, 2005...
, Nokia N800Nokia N800The Nokia N800 Internet tablet is a wireless Internet appliance from Nokia, originally announced at the Las Vegas CES 2007 Summit in January 2007. N800 allows the user to browse the Internet and communicate using Wi-Fi networks or with mobile phone via Bluetooth. The N800 was developed as the...
, Nokia N810Nokia N810The Nokia N810 Internet tablet is an Internet appliance from Nokia, announced on 17 October, 2007 at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco. Despite Nokia's strong association with cellular products, the N810 is not a phone, but instead allows the user to browse the Internet and communicate using...
, Nokia N900Nokia N900The Nokia N900 is a smartphone made by Nokia. It supersedes the Nokia N810. Its default operating system, Maemo 5, is a Linux-based OS originally developed for the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet. It is the first Nokia device based upon the Texas Instruments OMAP3 microprocessor with the ARM Cortex-A8...
and Nokia N9Nokia N9The Nokia N9 is a smartphone made by Nokia based on the MeeGo "Harmattan" mobile operating system, the first from Nokia on the MeeGo OS...
. - OvisLink WL-5460AP WiFi AccessPoint and Evo-DSL04 Modem/Router ADSL2+.
- OpenmokoOpenmokoOpenmoko is a project to create a family of open source mobile phones, including the hardware specification and the operating system. The project was sponsored by Openmoko Inc....
- Open Networks iConnect612 ADSL router
- Palm PrePalm PreThe Palm Pre is a multimedia smartphone designed and marketed by Palm with a multi-touch screen and a sliding keyboard. The smartphone was the first to use Palm's Linux based mobile operating system, webOS...
- Philips RC9800i universal remote control
- PicotuxPicotuxPicotux is the smallest computer running Linux in the world. There are several different kinds of picotux available, but the main one is the picotux 100. It is 35 mm × 19 mm × 19 mm and just barely larger than an 8P8C modular connector. Two communication interfaces are provided,...
, advertised as the smallest computer running Linux in the world. - QNAP TS-101 and TS-201 NAS
- Qtopia GreenphoneGreenphoneThe Greenphone was a smartphone developed by Trolltech with Qtopia Phone Edition, a GUI and application platform embedded in Linux using mostly free and open source software....
- Sharp ZaurusSharp ZaurusThe Sharp Zaurus is the name of a series of Personal Digital Assistant made by Sharp Corporation. The Zaurus was the most popular PDA during the 1990s in Japan and was based on a proprietary operating system. The first Sharp PDA to use the Linux operating system was the SL-5000D, running the...
- SonosSonosSonos is a consumer electronics company based in Santa Barbara, California. It was founded in 2002 by John MacFarlane, who previously founded Software.com. The company’s main product is the Sonos Multi-Room Music System.-History:...
Digital Music System - SonySony, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
DHG-HDD250 and DHG-HDD500 Digital Video RecorderDigital video recorderA digital video recorder , sometimes referred to by the merchandising term personal video recorder , is a consumer electronics device or application software that records video in a digital format to a disk drive, USB flash drive, SD memory card or other local or networked mass storage device...
s - StarDot NetcamSC networked camera
- SynologySynologyFor information of Sinology, Chinese Studies, see here.Synology Inc , founded in April 2000, is a Taiwanese company that produces network attached storage appliances for the SOHO and SMB/SME...
NASNetwork-attached storageNetwork-attached storage is file-level computer data storage connected to a computer network providing data access to heterogeneous clients. NAS not only operates as a file server, but is specialized for this task either by its hardware, software, or configuration of those elements... - TelindusTelindusTelindus was a legal entity based in Belgium that offered ICT services and solutions to the corporate and public sector, both in Belgium and internationally. These solutions also contained management and support services in relation to their ICT contracts....
1130 ADSL Router - Thecus NAS
- Thermaltake Muse NAS
- TP-LinkTP-LinkTP-LINK Technologies CO., LTD. founded in 1996 in Shenzhen, is a manufacturer of computer networking products based in China. Products include routers, switches, wireless equipment, ADSL modems, and network adapters for PCs...
TD-88xx ADSL Routers - TViX DVICO M-6500
- VMware ESXi
- Western Digital My Book
- Wireless routers running DD-WRTDD-WRTDD-WRT is a Linux-based firmware for several wireless routers, most notably the Linksys WRT54G . Like other similar projects, DD-WRT is third-party firmware designed to replace the firmware that ships pre-installed on many commercial routers...
- WMSWMS-Technology and computing:*Warehouse management system, a component of the movement and storage of materials within a warehouse*Web Map Service, a specification which comprises a definition for Internet map servers...
video slot machineSlot machineA slot machine , informally fruit machine , the slots , poker machine or "pokies" or simply slot is a casino gambling machine with three or more reels which spin when a button is pushed...
s - Zipit Wireless MessengerZipit Wireless MessengerThe Zipit wireless messenger is a small clamshell device originally produced by Aeronix, which is now under the spin-off Zipit Wireless, Inc., that enables Instant Messaging . The newer Z2 also supports while on Wi-Fi wireless networks...
A more complete list can be found on the official website (see external links below).
GPL lawsuits
What was claimed to be the first US lawsuit over a GPL violation concerned use of BusyBox in an embedded device. The lawsuit, case 07-CV-8205 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New YorkUnited States District Court for the Southern District of New York
The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York is a federal district court. Appeals from the Southern District of New York are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (in case...
was filed on 20 September 2007 by the Software Freedom Law Center
Software Freedom Law Center
The Software Freedom Law Center is an organization that provides pro bono legal representation and related services to not-for-profit developers of free software/open source software. It was launched in February 2005 with Eben Moglen as Chairman. Initial funding of US$4 million was pledged by...
(SFLC) on behalf of Andersen and Landley against Monsoon Multimedia Inc., after BusyBox code was discovered in a firmware
Firmware
In electronic systems and computing, firmware is a term often used to denote the fixed, usually rather small, programs and/or data structures that internally control various electronic devices...
upgrade and attempts to contact the company had apparently failed. The case was settled with release of the Monsoon version of the source and payment of an undisclosed amount of money to Andersen and Landley.
On 21 November 2007, the SFLC brought two similar lawsuits on behalf of Andersen and Landley against two more companies, Xterasys (case 07-CV-10456) and High-Gain Antennas (case 07-CV-10455). The Xterasys case was settled on December 17 for release of source code used and an undisclosed payment, and the High-Gain Antennas case on March 6, 2008 for active license compliance and an undisclosed payment. On 7 December 2007, a case was brought against Verizon Communications
Verizon Communications
Verizon Communications Inc. is a global broadband and telecommunications company and a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average...
over its distribution of firmware for Actiontec routers; this case was settled March 17, 2008 on condition of license compliance, appointment of an officer to oversee future compliance with free software licenses, and payment of an undisclosed sum. Further suits were brought on June 9, 2008 against Bell Microproducts (case 08-CV-5270) and Super Micro Computer (case 08-CV-5269), the Super Micro case being settled on 23 July 2008. BusyBox and Bell Microproducts also settled out of court on 17 October.
On December 14, 2009, a new lawsuit was filed naming fourteen defendants including Best Buy, JVC, Samsung and others.
On about Aug 03, 2010, BusyBox won triple damages of $90,000 and lawyers' costs and fees of $47,865, and possession of "presumably a lot of high-def TVs" as infringing equipment in the lawsuit Software Freedom Conservancy v. Best Buy, etal., the GPL infringement case noted in the paragraph above.
No other developers, including original author Bruce Perens and long time maintainer Dave Cinege, were represented in these actions or party to the settlements. On Dec. 15, 2009, Perens released a statement expressing his unhappiness with some aspects of the legal situation, and in particular alleged that the current BusyBox developers "appear to have removed some of the copyright statements of other Busybox developers, and appear to have altered license statements".
External links
- Project home page
- Products known to be using BusyBox
- Building Tiny Linux Systems with BusyBox
- Busybox simplifies embedded Linux systems a developerWorks article by M. Tim Jones