“The Art of Community” tackles a very difficult question in the Open Source world: how do you build a strong community around your project?  Jono addresses this by using anecdotal evidence of good community organization, and discussing the facets that apply to community development.  Jono’s varied experiences are shown through anecdotes about the Ubuntu community and other communities he has participated in.  The stories he shares are concise and clear, but demonstrate their points effectively and thoughtfully.  Jono’s writing skills are first-rate, with strong points made clearly.  He builds the community idea from grassroots to the enterprise and shows how community participation can help — and harm — at each step along the way.  It’s obvious that Jono knows what he’s talking about, and he communicates it well.  I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in the dynamics of a community or any project leader looking to build from the ground up.

“Embedded Linux Primer” by Christopher Hallinan is an excellent resource for anyone looking to use Linux in an embedded system.  It does not cover basics, so is more targeted to experienced Linux or embedded systems developers looking to move to Linux embedded systems.

The book covers a variety of topics including the Linux kernel’s interaction with hardware, system initialization, design considerations when working with an embedded system, and porting Linux.  The book provides a detailed description of most of these topics, including many step-by-step directions on reference implementations.

The book does not provide command-by-command howtos for many of the steps involved, but the details should be obvious to anyone familiar with basic kernel building and software development.

The book also briefly discusses the new hard real-time support for the Linux kernel, including hardware-specific implementation issues.  It also provides all code samples in the book under the GPL license, though it does not provide a CD.

All in all, I would strongly recommend this book for anyone looking to develop an Embedded Linux System or for anyone curious about the inner workings of the Linux kernel on embedded systems.