Scratchbox is a Linux

Linux

Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...

 embedded application development toolkit which also provides cross compilation

Cross compiler

A cross compiler is a compiler capable of creating executable code for a platform other than the one on which the compiler is run. Cross compiler tools are used to generate executables for embedded system or multiple platforms. It is used to compile for a platform upon which it is not feasible to...

 support for Linux distribution

Linux distribution

A Linux distribution is a member of the family of Unix-like operating systems built on top of the Linux kernel. Such distributions are operating systems including a large collection of software applications such as word processors, spreadsheets, media players, and database applications...

s.

The project has been initially developed by Movial

Movial

Movial is a privately held software engineering company focused on Internet enabled devices in consumer electronics and telecommunications industries. The company’s software solutions enable rich Internet browsing and IP communications across multiple devices including PCs, smart phones, netbooks,...

 and sponsored by Nokia

Nokia

Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications corporation that is headquartered in Keilaniemi, Espoo, a city neighbouring Finland's capital Helsinki...

. It is licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL).

Scratchbox was designed for the Maemo

Maemo

Maemo is a software platform developed by the Maemo community for smartphones and Internet tablets. It is based on the Debian Linux distribution, but has no relation to it...

 development platform (Nokia 770

Nokia 770 Internet Tablet

The Nokia 770 Internet tablet is a wireless Internet appliance from Nokia, originally announced at the LinuxWorld Summit in New York City on May 25, 2005...

, N800, N810 Internet Tablets and Nokia N900

Nokia N900

The Nokia N900 is a smartphone made by Nokia. It supersedes the Nokia N810. Its default operating system, Maemo 5, is a Linux-based OS originally developed for the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet. It is the first Nokia device based upon the Texas Instruments OMAP3 microprocessor with the ARM Cortex-A8...

 and N9

Nokia N9

The Nokia N9 is a smartphone made by Nokia based on the MeeGo "Harmattan" mobile operating system, the first from Nokia on the MeeGo OS...

 phones) and supports ARM architecture

ARM architecture

ARM is a 32-bit reduced instruction set computer instruction set architecture developed by ARM Holdings. It was named the Advanced RISC Machine, and before that, the Acorn RISC Machine. The ARM architecture is the most widely used 32-bit ISA in numbers produced...

 and x86. Targets like PowerPC

PowerPC

PowerPC is a RISC architecture created by the 1991 Apple–IBM–Motorola alliance, known as AIM...

 and MIPS architecture

MIPS architecture

MIPS is a reduced instruction set computer instruction set architecture developed by MIPS Technologies . The early MIPS architectures were 32-bit, and later versions were 64-bit...

works under experimental level.