System DesignSystem Design
Boot Confirmation: Who Decides an Update Worked?
A bootloader boot counter catches dead boots; only a userspace check sees a dead application. How to design boot confirmation for a…
RB Sep 19 · 8 min
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Field notes from the Linux trenches
Deep dives, debugging war-stories and career guidance for engineers who work where the kernel meets real hardware.
System Design
CareerCareer
Why Growth Mindset Advice Works for Some Engineers and Not Others
You have been told that ability is not fixed and you can get better with work. You believed it. Very little changed.…
RB Sep 18 · 6 min
NewsNews
The Kernel Build Got 36% Faster. On a Small Arm Machine It Is 1%.
This kernel build speedup series claims 36% faster builds. Read the author's own table and the arm64 full-build gain is 1%. The…
RB Sep 18 · 7 min
InsightsInsights
9,057 Patches Landed in One Stable Monday. Plan for Volume, Not Review.
Seven longterm kernels released on 14 September 2026 carried 9,057 patches between them. Stable kernel patch volume has outgrown patch review.
RB Sep 17 · 6 min
Edge AIEdge AI
File-Backed Weights: Why Your Edge Device Holds the Model Twice
File-backed weights let an edge device run a model from the page cache instead of a second private copy. What it saves,…
RB Sep 17 · 19 min
Debug StoriesDebug Stories
The Bootloader That Said OK: A Verified Boot That Verified Nothing
A board with verified boot enabled happily booted a tampered kernel and printed OK. The only clue was one missing word on…
RB Sep 16 · 12 min
System DesignSystem Design
Containers vs Packages: Delivering Apps on an Embedded Device
Containers vs packages on embedded Linux: how to deliver and update the application layer on a device that already has an A/B…
RB Sep 16 · 8 min
Deep DivesDeep Dives
Kernel Memory Attribution Is a Product Decision, Not a Debugging Trick
Memory allocation profiling attributes kernel RAM to a source line. What it costs to ship, how to leave it dormant, and why…
RB Sep 15 · 14 min
NewsNews
Kernel & Embedded News: Silent Data-Loss Bug Fixed; CRA Reporting Live
Linux fixes a silent data loss bug present since 6.6, CRA vulnerability reporting is now mandatory in the EU, and Yocto 6.1…
RB Sep 15 · 11 min
CareerCareer
Why You Understand the Topic but Still Cannot Apply It
You follow the tutorial, every step makes sense, and then you cannot start on your own. That gap is not a memory…
RB Sep 14 · 6 min
Kernel SecurityKernel Security
Linux Kernel CVEs: What to Patch by Device (6 – 12 Sep 2026)
443 Linux kernel CVEs (6 - 12 Sep 2026) with the minimum safe version per branch - including CVE-2026-89533, CVE-2026-80914 and what…
RB Sep 14 · 38 min
AutomotiveAutomotive
Your Automotive Linux BSP Moved to 6.12. Real Time Did Not.
The NXP S32 automotive Linux BSP now ships Linux 6.12, but the PREEMPT_RT branch stayed behind on 6.6. What the tags and…
RB Sep 12 · 15 min
TutorialsTutorials
Cross-Compile the Linux Kernel for ARM64 and Boot It in QEMU
Cross-compile the Linux kernel for ARM64, build a BusyBox initramfs, and boot the system in QEMU using exact, reproducible commands and expected…
RB Sep 11 · 7 min
Debug StoriesDebug Stories
Debug Story: A Spurious Interrupt Storm That Disabled a Shared IRQ
A shared, level-triggered interrupt line was disabled after a "nobody cared" spurious interrupt storm. Here is how the kernel detects it and…
RB Sep 11 · 9 min
System DesignSystem Design
Secure Boot Key Custody: Who Holds the Signing Key?
Secure boot key custody decides where your firmware signing key lives. Compare build-tree keys, restricted servers, HSM signing and detached signing.
RB Sep 10 · 8 min
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