In today’s Coredump Session, we dive into the origins and evolution of Zephyr RTOS with Kate Stewart, VP of Dependable Embedded Systems at the Linux Foundation. From Intel’s early ambitions to a thriving global community, Kate unpacks how Zephyr grew into a leading open-source RTOS and what makes it uniquely resilient and developer-friendly. This conversation also explores the technical shifts shaping embedded development and how governance, safety, and collaboration continue to steer Zephyr’s trajectory.

Speakers:

• Kate Stewart: Vice President of Dependable Embedded Systems, The Linux Foundation
• François Baldassari: CEO & Founder, Memfault
• Thomas Sarlandie: Field CTO, Memfault

Key Takeaways:

• Zephyr was born from Intel’s desire for a scalable, secure, and open RTOS, evolving from Wind River roots.
• Early adoption of Linux-inspired practices, like Kconfig and "signed-off-by" contributions, lowered friction and encouraged community participation.
• The project’s governance model, emphasizing multi-vendor participation and elected leadership, prevents corporate capture and boosts resilience.
• Zephyr’s pragmatic reuse of tools like MCUboot accelerated development and expanded capabilities.
• Long-term support (LTS) releases—now extended to five years—make Zephyr production-friendly and aligned with regulatory demands like the CRA.
• Innovations like the Twister test framework and open testing infrastructure set Zephyr apart for visibility and maintainability.
• Zephyr thrives as complexity in embedded systems increases, filling the gap left by simpler RTOSes ill-suited for modern MCU workloads.
• Not every project is a fit for Zephyr—especially ultra-low-end 8-bit systems—but it excels in growing, connected device classes.

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction and Guest Introduction

04:12 Building Zephyr: Intel’s Open RTOS Bet

06:39 Governance That Guards Against Capture

08:10 Borrowing From Linux, Avoiding Its Baggage

09:41 What Makes Zephyr Different

13:55 Zephyr in Production: LTS and Real-World Adoption

16:15 Scaling with Twister and QEMU

18:15 Taming Complexity Without Losing Performance

35:45 SBOMs and the Future of Compliance

38:20 A Head Start on Security Standards

43:02 Inside Zephyr's Safety Certification Journey

46:44 Real-World Use Cases and Industry Uptake

50:25 What's Next for Zephyr and the RTOS Landscape

53:12 Final Reflections and Closing Thoughts

⁠⁠Join the Interrupt Slack

Watch this episode on YouTube

⁠Suggest a Guest⁠

Follow Memfault

• ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠
• ⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠
• ⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠

Other ways to listen:

⁠⁠Apple Podcasts

iHeartRadio⁠⁠

⁠⁠Amazon Music

GoodPods

Castbox

⁠⁠

⁠⁠Visit our website