uClibc

{{Short description|Implementation of C standard library for embedded systems based on Linux}}

__NOTOC__{{Lowercase title}}

{{Infobox software

| name = uClibc

| title = uClibc

| logo =

| logo caption =

| screenshot =

| caption =

| collapsible =

| author =

| developer = Erik Andersen

| released = {{Start date and age|2000|02|13}}

| discontinued = yes

| programming language = C

| operating system = Linux

| platform = Embedded Linux

| size =

| language =

| genre = {{ubl|Runtime library|C standard library}}

| license = LGPLv2.1{{cite web |url=http://www.uclibc.org/FAQ.html#licensing |title=uClibc FAQ: Licensing |work=uclibc.org |access-date=11 July 2015}}

| website = {{URL|https://www.uclibc.org/}}

| repo = {{URL|https://git.uclibc.org/uClibc/}}

}}

{{Infobox software

| name = uClibc-ng

| title = uClibc-ng

| latest release version = 1.0.48

| latest release date = {{Start date and age|2024|05|01}}

| website = {{URL|https://www.uclibc-ng.org/}}

| repo = {{URL|https://cgit.uclibc-ng.org/cgi/cgit/uclibc-ng.git/}}

}}

In computing, uClibc (sometimes written μClibc) is a small C standard library intended for Linux kernel-based operating systems for embedded systems and mobile devices. uClibc was written to support μClinux, a version of Linux not requiring a memory management unit and thus suited for microcontrollers (uCs; the "u" is a Latin script typographical approximation - not a proper romanization, which would be letter "m" - of μ for "micro").[http://www.uclibc.org/FAQ.html#naming uClibc naming] Accessed on February 10, 2008.

Development on uClibc started around 1999.{{cite web |url=http://www.uclibc.org/copyright.txt |title=μClibc Copyright |format=TXT |access-date=February 23, 2024}} uClibc was mostly written from scratch,{{cite web | url = http://www.uclibc.org/FAQ.html#history | title = History | work = uClibc FAQ | access-date = 2007-06-19 }} but has incorporated code from glibc and other projects.{{cite web | url = http://www.uclibc.org/downloads/Changelog | title = uClibc Changelog | access-date = 2007-06-19 | quote = pthreads support (derived from glibc 2.1.3's linuxthreads library) [...] Merged in the random number support (rand, srand, etc) from glibc. |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070609171609/http://www.uclibc.org/downloads/Changelog |archive-date = 2007-06-09}} The project lead is Erik Andersen, and the other main contributor is Manuel Novoa III. Licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License, uClibc is free and open-source software.

File:Linux kernel System Call Interface and uClibc.svgs of the Linux kernel and μClinux.]]

uClibc is much smaller than the glibc, the C library normally used with Linux distributions. While glibc is intended to fully support all relevant C standards across a wide range of hardware and kernel platforms, uClibc is specifically focused on embedded Linux systems. Features can be enabled or disabled according to space requirements.

uClibc runs on standard and MMU-less Linux systems. It supports i386, x86-64, ARM (big/little endian), Atmel AVR32, Analog Devices Blackfin, Renesas/Hitachi H8 (h8300), Motorola m68k, MIPS (big/little endian), IBM PowerPC, SuperH (big/little endian), Sun SPARC, and Renesas/NEC v850 processors.

uClibc-ng{{cite web|url=https://www.uclibc-ng.org/|title=uClibc-ng|work=uclibc-ng.org|access-date=11 July 2015}} is a fork of uClibc announced on the OpenWRT mailing list in July 2014 after more than two years had passed without a uClibc release, citing a lack of any communication from the maintainer.{{cite mailing list|mailing-list=openwrt-devel|url=https://lists.openwrt.org/pipermail/openwrt-devel/2014-July/026922.html|title=uClibc-ng|date=20 July 2014|last=Brodkorb|first=Waldemar|access-date=21 June 2017|archive-date=21 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170621004032/https://lists.openwrt.org/pipermail/openwrt-devel/2014-July/026922.html}}{{cite mailing list|mailing-list=uclibc|title=uClibc-ng |url=http://lists.uclibc.org/pipermail/uclibc/2014-July/048400.html |date=21 July 2014 |last=Petazzoni|first=Thomas |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170621001946/http://lists.uclibc.org/pipermail/uclibc/2014-July/048400.html |archive-date=2017-06-21}}{{cite mailing list|mailing-list=openwrt-devel|url=https://lists.openwrt.org/pipermail/openwrt-devel/2014-July/026953.html|title=uClibc-ng|date=21 July 2014|last=Brodkorb|first=Waldemar|access-date=21 June 2017|archive-date=21 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170621004048/https://lists.openwrt.org/pipermail/openwrt-devel/2014-July/026953.html}} At present, the original project's author no longer publishes updates, but refers to the still actively developed fork uClibc-ng for current releases.{{cite web |url=https://www.uclibc.org/news.html |title=uClibc - Latest News|access-date=2019-01-09}}