2025-11-22 - 04:16

Dates and Events:

OSADL Articles:

2024-10-02 12:00

Linux is now an RTOS!

PREEMPT_RT is mainline - What's next?


2023-11-12 12:00

Open Source License Obligations Checklists even better now

Import the checklists to other tools, create context diffs and merged lists


2023-03-01 12:00

Embedded Linux distributions

Results of the online "wish list"


2022-01-13 12:00

Phase #3 of OSADL project on OPC UA PubSub over TSN successfully completed

Another important milestone on the way to interoperable Open Source real-time Ethernet has been reached


2021-02-09 12:00

Open Source OPC UA PubSub over TSN project phase #3 launched

Letter of Intent with call for participation is now available



OSADL Special Events

OSADL Special Events

COOL - Compact OSADL Online Lectures



Online event

What is COOL?

COOL - Compact OSADL Online Lectures: Open Source meets Industry

  • COOL is an OSADL webinar series.
  • COOL takes place regularly once a month and covers new and emerging topics on Open Source software in industry, either on legal or on technical aspects.
  • COOL editions each consist of two lectures covering a special "Open Source meets industry" topic followed by a discussion round. The first "basic" or "theorectical" lecture provides basic knowledge with regard to the respective topic and the second "advanced" pt "practical" lecture dives deeper into the topic and highlights special aspects. The discussion round gives all participants the possibility to ask questions and discuss with the respective speakers and the audience.
  • COOL speakers are OSADL experts on the one hand and external specialists on the other hand who kindly agreed to share their expert knowledge on the respective topic.
  • COOL is a virtual event. The lectures are held by live video streams. Speakers will be available for questions and discussion in a video conference which will take part subsequent to the live video streams.
  • COOL in general is designed to provide support how to best and compliantly use Open Source software in industry.

COOL April 2026 edition

How to make your system's boot processes secure - from bootloader to user space via systemd
Wednesday, April 29, 2026, 2pm to 4pm CEST

Agenda COOL April 2026 edition:

2:00pm to 2:45pm CEST:

Part I: Secure by Default? Unified Bootflows from Factory to Field, Ahmad Fatoum, Pengutronix

2:45pm to 3:30pm CEST:

Part II: Security features of SystemD, Jan Altenberg, OSADL

3:30pm to 4:00pm CEST:

Discussion and possibility to ask questions

Description COOL April 2026 edition:

Embedded systems are exposed to a rapidly growing number of security threats. To face this challenge, relevant counter measures have to be taken and systems have to be secure by design - Not only because of legal requirements. The startup of a system is a very critical phase and exposes a device to many different attack vectors, some of which are easy to exploit. Therefor a properly designed boot process sets the foundation for system security and sets the starting point for a secure product design. This edition of COOL will look into security aspects of a system's startup phase - From the bootloader up to SystemD.

In the first part Ahmad Fatoum of Pengutronix will explain how to design systems that are secure by default, while still offering well-defined escape hatches for debugging and recovery, and that from the very beginning: In the bootloader.
Using barebox as an example, he will look at how a single bootloader image can securely handle all lifecycle stages: from development to factory to field (and return), with mechanisms like fuse-based state transitions, device-bound unlock tokens and policy-driven access control. The goal: minimize complexity and risk while staying as close as possible to the real, shipped system — with the features available in barebox today.

In the second part Jan Altenberg of OSADL will give an overview on built-in security features of SystemD and how SystemD can be used to harden a system apart from traditional process supervision.

Recommended audience COOL April 2026 edition:

Software developers, software engineers, system architects, system integrators, field application engineers, product managers, process integrators.

About the speakers of the COOL April 2026 edition:

- Ahmad Fatoum, Pengutronix: Ahmad joined the kernel team at Pengutronix in 2018 to work full-time on furthering Linux world domination. He does so by helping automotive and industrial customers build embedded Linux systems based on the mainline Linux kernel. Having a knack for digging in low-level guts, his tasks include hardware enablement, Linux driver development and boot loader porting. Ahmad is a contributor to a number of open-source projects, including the Linux kernel and the barebox boot loader.

- Jan Altenberg, OSADL: Jan Altenberg has more than 15 years of experience in developing and maintaining Embedded Linux systems. Jan studied information technologies at the University of Cooperative Education in Stuttgart (Germany). From 2002 - 2006 he was involved in the OCEAN project, a European research project, which defined an open controller platform based on real-time Linux and real-time CORBA. From 2007 to 2019 he worked for Linutronix as a Consultant, Trainer and Head of Technical sales. From April 2019 to 2021 he worked as Open-Source Technology Expert and Open-Source Compliance Officer for Continental Automotive GmbH. Since October 2021 Jan works as Senior Open Source Consultant and Embedded Systems Integrator at the Open Source Automation Development Lab (OSADL) eG and since 2024, he also serves on the OSADL board of directors. Jan is a frequent speaker on several conferences. In 2014, 2018 and 2019 he has been awarded with the "best speaker award" at the Embedded Software Engineering Congress in Sindelfingen (Germany).

Past COOL webinars (2020 to 2025)

(Click on title to expand display.)

2025

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020


Please click on the respective COOL edition in order to display the full agenda and more details about the lectures and the respective guest speakers.

Download of COOL overview January - April 2025 as PDF file (v3)
Download of COOL overview September - December 2024 as PDF file (v2)
Download of COOL overview January - April 2024 as PDF file (v2)
Download of COOL overview September - December 2023 as PDF file (v4)
Download of COOL overview January to May 2023 as PDF file
Download of COOL overview September to December 2022 as PDF file
Download of COOL overview January to May 2022 (new - v7) as PDF file
Download of COOL overview September - December 2021 as PDF file
Download of COOL overview January - May 2021 as PDF file

COOL conference language

The COOL sessions will be in English language.

COOL registration

Please use the online registration form to register for a particular COOL edition: Online registration form.
The access data will be sent to the registered participants shortly before the event.

COOL participation fee

Participation in COOL is free of charge.

COOL feedback

We would appreciate if participants of COOL completed and submitted the following feedback questionnaire in order to better meet their requirements and consider their suggestions in future events: Feedback sheet. Thanks in advance.

COOL presentations

The presentations and video clips of all COOL sessions will be made available after the event. Material of the theoretical part will be publicly available, material of the practical part will be available exclusively for OSADL members or participants with login.

COOL Presentations and video clips (Member or participant login required to display material of the advanced lectures)

Privacy policy

When you register for participation in the event you agree that the personal data you enter in the registration form will be processed at OSADL as necessary (see our privacy policy).

You may revoke this agreement at any time by email, mail or phone using the communication data provided at the imprint page, but this will also cancel your registration.

Questions?

Please do not hesitate to contact us in case you have further questions:
Andrea Ruf
officeªosadl.org
Phone.: +49 6221 98504 13