<s>
BusyBox	B-Application
is	O
a	O
software	B-Application
suite	I-Application
that	O
provides	O
several	O
Unix	B-Application
utilities	I-Application
in	O
a	O
single	O
executable	B-Application
file	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
runs	O
in	O
a	O
variety	O
of	O
POSIX	O
environments	O
such	O
as	O
Linux	B-Operating_System
,	O
Android	B-Application
,	O
and	O
FreeBSD	B-Operating_System
,	O
although	O
many	O
of	O
the	O
tools	O
it	O
provides	O
are	O
designed	O
to	O
work	O
with	O
interfaces	O
provided	O
by	O
the	O
Linux	B-Operating_System
kernel	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
authors	O
dubbed	O
it	O
"	O
The	O
Swiss	O
Army	O
knife	O
of	O
Embedded	B-Application
Linux	I-Application
"	O
,	O
as	O
the	O
single	O
executable	B-Application
replaces	O
basic	O
functions	O
of	O
more	B-Device
than	O
300	O
common	O
commands	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
released	O
as	O
free	B-Application
software	I-Application
under	O
the	O
terms	O
of	O
the	O
GNU	B-License
General	I-License
Public	I-License
License	I-License
v2	I-License
,	O
after	O
controversially	O
deciding	O
not	O
to	O
move	O
to	O
version	O
3	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Originally	O
written	O
by	O
Bruce	O
Perens	O
in	O
1995	O
and	O
declared	O
complete	O
for	O
his	O
intended	O
usage	O
in	O
1996	O
,	O
BusyBox	B-Application
initially	O
aimed	O
to	O
put	O
a	O
complete	O
bootable	B-Operating_System
system	O
on	O
a	O
single	O
floppy	B-Device
disk	I-Device
that	O
would	O
serve	O
both	O
as	O
a	O
rescue	O
disk	O
and	O
as	O
an	O
installer	O
for	O
the	O
Debian	O
distribution	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
that	O
time	B-Device
,	O
it	O
has	O
been	O
extended	O
to	O
become	O
the	O
de	O
facto	O
standard	O
core	O
user	B-Operating_System
space	I-Operating_System
toolset	O
for	O
embedded	B-Application
Linux	I-Application
devices	O
and	O
Linux	B-Operating_System
distribution	O
installers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
each	O
Linux	B-Operating_System
executable	B-Application
requires	O
several	O
kilobytes	O
of	O
overhead	O
,	O
having	O
the	O
BusyBox	B-Application
program	O
combine	O
over	O
two	O
hundred	O
programs	O
together	O
often	O
saves	O
substantial	O
disk	O
space	O
and	O
system	O
memory	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
BusyBox	B-Application
was	O
maintained	O
by	O
Enrique	O
Zanardi	O
and	O
focused	O
on	O
the	O
needs	O
of	O
the	O
Debian	O
boot-floppies	B-Operating_System
installer	O
system	O
until	O
early	O
1998	O
,	O
when	O
Dave	O
Cinege	O
took	O
it	O
over	O
for	O
the	B-Protocol
Linux	I-Protocol
Router	I-Protocol
Project	I-Protocol
(	O
LRP	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cinege	O
made	O
several	O
additions	O
,	O
created	O
a	O
modularized	O
build	O
environment	O
,	O
and	O
shifted	O
BusyBox	B-Application
's	O
focus	O
into	O
general	O
high-level	O
embedded	B-Architecture
systems	I-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
During	O
this	O
time	B-Device
the	O
Linux	B-Application
embedded	I-Application
marketplace	O
exploded	O
in	O
growth	O
,	O
and	O
BusyBox	B-Application
matured	O
greatly	O
,	O
expanding	O
both	O
its	O
user	O
base	O
and	O
functionality	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
September	O
2006	O
,	O
after	O
heavy	O
discussions	O
and	O
controversies	O
between	O
project	O
maintainer	O
Rob	O
Landley	O
and	O
Bruce	O
Perens	O
,	O
the	O
BusyBox	B-Application
project	O
decided	O
against	O
adopting	O
the	O
GNU	B-License
Public	I-License
License	I-License
Version	O
3	O
(	O
GPLv3	O
)	O
;	O
the	O
BusyBox	B-Application
license	O
was	O
clarified	O
as	O
being	O
GPL-2.0-only	B-License
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
October	O
2006	O
,	O
Denys	O
Vlasenko	O
has	O
taken	O
over	O
maintainership	O
of	O
BusyBox	B-Application
from	O
Rob	O
Landley	O
,	O
who	B-Application
has	O
started	O
Toybox	B-Language
,	O
also	O
as	O
a	O
result	O
of	O
the	O
license	O
controversies	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
late	O
2007	O
,	O
BusyBox	B-Application
also	O
came	O
to	O
prominence	O
for	O
actively	O
prosecuting	O
violations	O
of	O
the	O
terms	O
of	O
its	O
license	O
(	O
the	O
GPL	B-License
)	O
in	O
the	O
United	O
States	O
District	O
Court	O
for	O
the	O
Southern	O
District	O
of	O
New	O
York	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
What	O
was	O
claimed	O
to	O
be	O
the	O
first	O
US	O
lawsuit	O
over	O
a	O
GPL	B-License
violation	O
concerned	O
use	O
of	O
BusyBox	B-Application
in	O
an	O
embedded	B-Architecture
device	I-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
lawsuit	O
,	O
case	O
07-CV-8205	O
was	O
filed	O
on	O
September	O
20	O
,	O
2007	O
by	O
the	O
Software	O
Freedom	O
Law	O
Center	O
(	O
SFLC	O
)	O
on	O
behalf	O
of	O
Andersen	O
and	O
Landley	O
against	O
Monsoon	O
Multimedia	O
Inc.	O
,	O
after	O
BusyBox	B-Application
code	O
was	O
discovered	O
in	O
a	O
firmware	B-Application
upgrade	O
and	O
attempts	O
to	O
contact	O
the	O
company	O
had	O
apparently	O
failed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
November	O
21	O
,	O
2007	O
,	O
the	O
SFLC	O
brought	O
two	O
similar	O
lawsuits	O
on	O
behalf	O
of	O
Andersen	O
and	O
Landley	O
against	O
two	O
more	B-Device
companies	O
,	O
Xterasys	O
(	O
case	O
07-CV-10455	O
)	O
and	O
High-Gain	O
Antennas	O
(	O
case	O
07-CV-10456	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
December	O
7	O
,	O
2007	O
,	O
a	O
case	O
was	O
brought	O
against	O
Verizon	O
Communications	O
over	O
its	O
distribution	O
of	O
firmware	B-Application
for	O
Actiontec	O
routers	O
;	O
this	O
case	O
was	O
settled	O
March	O
17	O
,	O
2008	O
on	O
condition	O
of	O
license	O
compliance	O
,	O
appointment	O
of	O
an	O
officer	O
to	O
oversee	O
future	O
compliance	O
with	O
free	B-Application
software	I-Application
licenses	O
,	O
and	O
payment	O
of	O
an	O
undisclosed	O
sum	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
BusyBox	B-Application
and	O
Bell	O
Microproducts	O
also	O
settled	O
out	O
of	O
court	O
on	O
October	O
17	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
December	O
14	O
,	O
2009	O
,	O
a	O
new	O
lawsuit	O
was	O
filed	O
naming	O
fourteen	O
defendants	O
including	O
Best	O
Buy	O
,	O
JVC	O
,	O
Samsung	B-Application
and	O
others	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
February	O
2010	O
Samsung	B-Application
released	O
its	O
LN52A650	O
TV	O
firmware	B-Application
under	O
GPLv2	O
,	O
which	B-Device
was	O
used	O
later	O
as	O
a	O
reference	O
by	O
the	O
SamyGO	O
community	O
project	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
about	O
August	O
3	O
,	O
2010	O
,	O
BusyBox	B-Application
won	O
from	O
Westinghouse	O
a	O
default	O
judgement	O
of	O
triple	O
damages	O
of	O
$	O
90,000	O
and	O
lawyers	O
 '	O
costs	O
and	O
fees	O
of	O
$47	O
,	O
865	O
,	O
and	O
possession	O
of	O
"	O
presumably	O
a	O
lot	O
of	O
high-def	O
TVs	O
"	O
as	O
infringing	O
equipment	O
in	O
the	O
lawsuit	O
Software	O
Freedom	O
Conservancy	O
v	O
.	O
Best	O
Buy	O
,	O
et	O
al.	O
,	O
the	O
GPL	B-License
infringement	O
case	O
noted	O
in	O
the	O
paragraph	O
above	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
December	O
15	O
,	O
2009	O
,	O
Perens	O
released	O
a	O
statement	O
expressing	O
his	O
unhappiness	O
with	O
some	O
aspects	O
of	O
the	O
legal	O
situation	O
,	O
and	O
in	O
particular	O
alleged	O
that	O
the	O
current	O
BusyBox	B-Application
developers	O
"	O
appear	O
to	O
have	O
removed	O
some	O
of	O
the	O
copyright	O
statements	O
of	O
other	O
BusyBox	B-Application
developers	O
,	O
and	O
appear	O
to	O
have	O
altered	O
license	O
statements	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
BusyBox	B-Application
can	O
be	O
customized	O
to	O
provide	O
a	O
subset	O
of	O
over	O
two	O
hundred	O
utilities	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
can	O
provide	O
most	O
of	O
the	O
utilities	O
specified	O
in	O
the	O
Single	O
Unix	O
Specification	O
(	O
SUS	B-Device
)	O
plus	O
many	O
others	O
that	O
a	O
user	O
would	O
expect	O
to	O
see	O
on	O
a	O
Linux	B-Operating_System
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
BusyBox	B-Application
uses	O
the	O
Almquist	B-Operating_System
shell	I-Operating_System
,	O
also	O
known	O
as	O
A	O
Shell	O
,	O
ash	B-Operating_System
and	O
sh	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
it	O
is	O
a	O
complete	O
bootstrap	O
system	O
,	O
it	O
will	O
further	O
replace	O
the	O
init	B-Operating_System
daemon	I-Operating_System
and	O
udev	B-Application
(	O
or	O
the	O
latter-day	O
systemd	B-Application
)	O
using	O
itself	O
to	O
be	O
called	O
as	O
init	B-Operating_System
on	O
startup	O
and	O
mdev	O
at	O
hotplug	O
time	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
BusyBox	B-Application
website	O
provides	O
a	O
full	O
list	O
of	O
the	O
utilities	O
implemented	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Typical	O
computer	O
programs	O
have	O
a	O
separate	O
binary	O
(	O
executable	B-Application
)	O
file	O
for	O
each	O
application	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
BusyBox	B-Application
is	O
a	O
single	O
binary	O
,	O
which	B-Device
is	O
a	O
conglomerate	O
of	O
many	O
applications	O
,	O
each	O
of	O
which	B-Device
can	O
be	O
accessed	O
by	O
calling	O
the	O
single	O
BusyBox	B-Application
binary	O
with	O
various	O
names	O
(	O
supported	O
by	O
having	O
a	O
symbolic	B-Application
link	I-Application
or	O
hard	B-Application
link	I-Application
for	O
each	O
different	O
name	O
)	O
in	O
a	O
specific	O
manner	O
with	O
appropriate	O
arguments	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
BusyBox	B-Application
benefits	O
from	O
the	O
single	O
binary	O
approach	O
,	O
as	O
it	O
reduces	O
the	O
overhead	O
introduced	O
by	O
the	O
executable	B-Application
file	I-Application
format	I-Application
(	O
typically	O
ELF	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
it	O
allows	O
code	O
to	O
be	O
shared	O
between	O
multiple	O
applications	O
without	O
requiring	O
a	O
library	B-Library
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
technique	O
is	O
similar	O
to	O
what	O
is	O
provided	O
by	O
the	O
crunchgen	O
command	O
in	O
FreeBSD	B-Operating_System
,	O
the	O
difference	O
being	O
that	O
BusyBox	B-Application
provides	O
simplified	O
versions	O
of	O
the	O
utilities	O
(	O
for	O
example	O
,	O
an	O
ls	B-Application
command	O
without	O
file	O
sorting	O
ability	O
)	O
,	O
while	O
a	O
crunchgen	O
generated	O
sum	O
of	O
all	O
the	O
utilities	O
would	O
offer	O
the	O
fully	O
functional	O
versions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Sharing	O
of	O
the	O
common	O
code	O
,	O
along	O
with	O
routines	O
written	O
with	O
size-optimization	O
in	O
mind	O
,	O
can	O
make	O
a	O
BusyBox	B-Application
system	O
use	O
much	O
less	O
storage	O
space	O
than	O
a	O
system	O
built	O
with	O
the	O
corresponding	O
full	O
versions	O
of	O
the	O
utilities	O
replaced	O
by	O
BusyBox	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Research	O
that	O
compared	O
GNU	B-Operating_System
,	O
BusyBox	B-Application
,	O
asmutils	B-Application
and	O
Perl	B-Language
implementations	O
of	O
the	O
standard	O
Unix	B-Application
commands	I-Application
showed	O
that	O
in	O
some	O
situations	O
BusyBox	B-Application
may	O
perform	O
faster	O
than	O
other	O
implementations	O
,	O
but	O
not	O
always	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
official	O
BusyBox	B-Application
documentation	O
lists	O
an	O
overview	O
of	O
the	O
available	O
commands	O
and	O
their	O
command-line	O
options	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
cat	B-Device
—	O
Print	O
content	O
of	O
one	O
or	O
more	B-Device
files	O
to	O
stdout	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
echo	B-Application
—	O
Display	O
a	O
specified	O
line	O
of	O
text	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
grep	B-Application
—	O
Search	O
for	O
PATTERN	O
in	O
each	O
FILE	O
or	O
standard	O
input	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
gunzip	B-Application
—	O
Compressed	O
file	O
expansion	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
gzip	B-Application
—	O
File	O
compression	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
kill	B-Operating_System
—	O
Send	O
a	O
signal	O
to	O
a	O
process	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ln	B-Device
—	O
Create	O
a	O
link	O
named	O
LINK_NAME	O
or	O
DIRECTORY	O
to	O
the	O
specified	O
TARGET	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
nc	B-Protocol
—	O
networking	O
Swiss	O
army	O
knife	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
netstat	B-Application
—	O
Display	O
networking	O
information	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
uptime	B-Device
—	O
Tell	O
how	O
long	O
the	O
system	O
has	O
been	O
running	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Programs	O
included	O
in	O
BusyBox	B-Application
can	O
be	O
run	O
simply	O
by	O
adding	O
their	O
name	O
as	O
an	O
argument	O
to	O
the	O
BusyBox	B-Application
executable	B-Application
:	O
</s>
<s>
after	O
/bin/ls	O
is	O
linked	O
to	O
/bin/busybox	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
works	O
because	O
the	O
first	O
argument	O
passed	O
to	O
a	O
program	O
is	O
the	O
name	O
used	O
for	O
the	O
program	O
call	O
,	O
in	O
this	O
case	O
the	O
argument	O
would	O
be	O
"	O
/bin/ls	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
BusyBox	B-Application
would	O
see	O
that	O
its	O
"	O
name	O
"	O
is	O
"	O
ls	B-Application
"	O
and	O
act	O
like	O
the	O
"	O
ls	B-Application
"	O
program	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
BusyBox	B-Application
is	O
used	O
by	O
several	O
operating	O
systems	O
running	O
on	O
embedded	B-Architecture
systems	I-Architecture
and	O
is	O
an	O
essential	O
component	O
of	O
distributions	O
such	O
as	O
OpenWrt	B-Application
,	O
OpenEmbedded	B-Application
(	O
including	O
the	O
Yocto	B-Application
Project	I-Application
)	O
and	O
Buildroot	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Sharp	B-Operating_System
Zaurus	I-Operating_System
utilizes	O
BusyBox	B-Application
extensively	O
for	O
ordinary	O
Unix-like	B-Operating_System
tasks	O
performed	O
on	O
the	O
system	O
's	O
shell	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
BusyBox	B-Application
is	O
also	O
an	O
essential	O
component	O
of	O
VMware	B-Operating_System
ESXi	I-Operating_System
,	O
and	O
Alpine	O
Linux	B-Operating_System
,	O
both	O
of	O
which	B-Device
are	O
not	O
embedded	O
distributions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
necessary	O
for	O
several	O
root	O
applications	O
on	O
Android	B-Application
and	O
is	O
also	O
preinstalled	O
with	O
some	O
"	O
1	O
Tap	O
Root	O
"	O
solutions	O
such	O
as	O
Kingo	B-Application
Root	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Toybox	B-Language
was	O
started	O
early	O
2006	O
under	O
the	O
GPL-2.0-only	B-License
license	O
by	O
former	O
BusyBox	B-Application
maintainer	O
Rob	O
Landley	O
as	O
a	O
result	O
of	O
the	O
controversies	O
around	O
GPLv3/GPLv2	O
discussions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
the	O
end	O
of	O
2011	O
it	O
was	O
relicensed	O
under	O
the	O
BSD-2-Clause	B-Operating_System
license	O
after	O
the	O
project	O
went	O
dormant	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
March	O
2013	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
relicensed	O
again	O
under	O
the	O
0BSD	B-Operating_System
license	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
January	O
11	O
,	O
2012	O
,	O
Tim	O
Bird	O
,	O
a	O
Sony	O
employee	O
,	O
suggested	O
creating	O
an	O
alternative	O
to	O
BusyBox	B-Application
which	B-Device
would	O
not	O
be	O
under	O
the	O
GNU	B-License
General	I-License
Public	I-License
License	I-License
.	O
</s>
<s>
He	O
suggested	O
it	O
be	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
dormant	O
Toybox	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
January	O
2012	O
the	O
proposal	O
of	O
creating	O
a	O
BSD	O
licensed	O
alternative	O
to	O
the	O
GPL	B-License
licensed	O
BusyBox	B-Application
project	O
drew	O
harsh	O
criticism	O
from	O
Matthew	O
Garrett	O
for	O
taking	O
away	O
the	O
only	O
relevant	O
tool	O
for	O
copyright	O
enforcement	O
of	O
the	O
Software	O
Freedom	O
Conservancy	O
group	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
starter	O
of	O
BusyBox	B-Application
based	O
lawsuits	O
,	O
Rob	O
Landley	O
,	O
responded	O
that	O
this	O
was	O
intentional	O
as	O
he	O
came	O
to	O
the	O
conclusion	O
that	O
the	O
lawsuits	O
resulted	O
not	O
in	O
the	O
hoped	O
for	O
positive	O
outcomes	O
and	O
he	O
wanted	O
to	O
stop	O
them	O
"	O
in	O
whatever	O
way	O
I	O
see	O
fit	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
