The GNU toolchain is a a collection of programming tools produced by the GNU Project. The GNU toolchain plays a vital role in development of Linux kernel, BSD, and software for embedded systems. For the complete list of supported micro-controllers, visit the GCC Wikipedia page.

From the Flash Magic website, Flash Magic is a PC tool for programming flash based microcontrollers from NXP using a serial or Ethernet protocol while in the target hardware. For more details visit the Flash Magic website — http://www.flashmagictool.com.

lpc21isp is an open-source (LGPL) in-system programming tool for the NXP (Philips) LPC1100 / LPC1300 / LPC1700 / LPC2000 series ARM7 / Cortex-M0 / Cortex-M3 microcontrollers. LPC21ISP webiste — http://lpc21isp.sourceforge.net

lpc21isp website — http://lpc21isp.sourceforge.net

NuttX is free and open-source (BSD license) RTOS, with an emphasis on standards compliance and small footprint. Scalable from 8-bit to 32-bit microcontroller environments, the primary governing standards in NuttX are Posix and ANSI standards. NuttX Website — http://nuttx.org/

As its name suggests, picocom is a minimal dumb-terminal emulation program. It is, in principle, very much like minicom, only it’s pico instead of mini!

Picocom was designed to serve as a simple, manual, modem configuration, testing, and debugging tool. It has also served (quite well) as a low-tech "terminal-window" to allow operator intervention in PPP connection scripts (something like the ms-windows "open terminal window before / after dialing" feature). It could also prove useful in many other similar tasks.

Picocom is ideal for embedded systems since its memory footprint is minimal (less than 20K, when stripped).

Apart from being a handy little tool, picocom source distribution includes a simple, easy to use, and thoroughly documented terminal-management library, which could serve other projects as well. This library hides the termios(3) calls, and provides a less complex and safer (though certainly less feature-rich) interface.

Picocom runs on Linux, and with minor modifications it could run on any Unix system with the termios(3) library.

Picocom webiste — http://code.google.com/p/picocom/

Termite is an easy to use and easy to configure RS232 terminal. It uses an interface similar to that of "messenger" or "chat" programs, with a large window that contains all received data and an edit line for typing in strings to transmit. Highlights of the utility are the ease of installation (possibly with pre-configured settings) using a heuristic search for the appropriate COM port and, as was mentioned, its user-friendliness.

Termite website — http://www.compuphase.com/software_termite.htm