Linux

hi all, i am new to this..i have some bash scripts that i would like to run on a microcontroller.. do i have to load a Linux/UNIX OS first? how do I do this? are there any good links to read about this? any help appreciated..

First off, what kind of microcontroller, and what kind of system is it in? Embedded systems can be very minimal indeed, without sufficient memory and certain processor features running Linux could be impossible.

On the other hand, wireless routers are small embedded systems generally sufficient to run Linux and a few scripts -- generally 2 megs of ROM or so, and maybe 4-8 megs of RAM. (This makes for a VERY minimal linux system though.) So it depends.

It may also be possible to modify a shell to run standalone. It wouldn't be able to run other processes without an operating system to handle that, but you may be able to trick it into doing what you want. Busybox would be a good starting point, it is a single program that contains, in one executable, code for dozens and dozens of small system commands, including a minimal sh-style shell. Very popular for embedded Linux.