Software Spotlight Guidelines for Choosing Bootloaders for Embedded Systems

The selection of bootloaders for embedded systems has expanded since the late 1990s; not just in the number of bootloaders on the market, but also in the number of platforms and operating systems supported by each bootloader. This article stands as a guide to selecting a bootloader for embedded systems to aid in reaching time-to-market goals by reducing redundant system, debugging, and feature enablement. Emphasis in the article is placed on Linux-compatible bootloaders. However, since viable bootloaders can boot many operating systems–from the most basic real-time operating system (RTOS) to a Linux server–this guide is relevant for any embedded system.