Olimex has been providing low cost MCU devkits for many years, and this year they started offering more powerful embedded Linux development boards called OLinuXino. The first family (iMX233-OLinuXino) is based on Freescale i.MX233 ARM9 processor @ 454 Mhz and comes in three form factor:
- iMX233-OLINUXINO-MAXI – 2x USB host, Ethernet, TV-out, GPIOs, SD-CARD, Audio-In, Audio-Out, UEXT – 44.95 Euros.
- iMX233-OLINUXINO-MINI – 3x USB host, TV-out, GPIOs, SD-CARD, Audio-In, Audio-Out, UEXT – 34.95 Euros
- iMX233-OLINUXINO-MICRO – USB host, TV-out, GPIOs, SD-CARD, ready for breadboaring – 23.95 Euros
They are also working on A13-OLinuXino board featuring AllWinner A13 Cortex A8 processor.
To promote their new boards (and reward open source developers – cf comment below), the company company has decided to offer discount to open source developers. The way I understand it: you need to buy a board first, publish the source code somewhere and write about it on your own blog or via Olimex blog, and request the discount (refund in the form of coupon) by email.
There are three levels of discount depending on the project complexity:
- 15% – Simple projects such as reading out an sensor.
- 30% – Complex projects such as porting packages, or writing detailed tutorial article for accessing different UEXT peripheral modules.
- 50% – More complex projects such as porting OS and writing drivers
The fact that you only get a discount code for your next purchase on Olimex site makes it only slightly attractive, and it’s common practice to give away boards to people that are going to go as far as porting a new OS to the board. But if you had already planned to buy and work on the board anyway, it’s a good opportunity to get a discount on your next board.
If you are interested in this offer, check out the corresponding post on Olimex Blog.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
Support CNX Software! Donate via cryptocurrencies, become a Patron on Patreon, or purchase goods on Amazon or Aliexpress
