OSS + ELC EU 2026

More than 20 years ago the idea of transforming Linux into a real-time operating system resulted in the birth of the PREEMPT_RT development. But how could the real-time properties of such a complex system be tested? Due to the complexity of modern operating systems, such as Linux, and due to the fact that modern processors operate in a performant but non-deterministic way, appropriate methods for evaluating the real-time behaviour of a given system had to be established: That's why the OSADL QA Farm was born. While the initial focus of the QA Farm was (and still is) the long-term evaluation of the real-time properties of Embedded Linux systems, 20 years of operation with more than 100 systems have also brought many other insights to light - expected and unexpected. This presentation provides an overview of the quality assurance methods used at the OSADL QA Farm, the insights gained from numerous long-term measurements and latest developments, such as the integration of Zephyr systems.