Michael Trimarchi
Role: Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Location: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Education: Master Degree in Software Engineering, Pisa University (2000)
Michael is the co-founder and CEO of Amarula Solutions, leading a team of embedded Linux engineers while remaining hands-on as a Linux Software Engineer. With over 20 years of experience spanning all fields of Linux embedded systems, he has built Amarula into one of the most active upstream-first consultancies in the open source embedded ecosystem.
His technical roots run deep: he co-authored the first version of the EDF (Earliest Deadline First) scheduling patches — the Linux deadline scheduling class — submitted to mainline Linux. Prior to founding Amarula, he worked as a research consultant at the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies (SSSA) in Pisa and as a consultant on nautical navigation systems. He has published in the fields of real-time scheduling, hierarchical scheduling, and component-based systems.
Open Source Focus
- U-Boot
Michael serves as the SPI subsystem custodian and MTD/SPI-NOR custodian in the upstream U-Boot project, reviewing and merging patches from contributors worldwide. He actively works on Allwinner sunXi, Rockchip, i.MX, and RISC-V platform support, as well as Falcon Mode fast boot and secure boot (HABv4) implementations.
- Linux Kernel
Contributor to the Linux Kernel Memory Consistency Model (LKMM), display panel and bridge drivers (DSI), STM32 and i.MX device trees, and CAN controller fixes. His earlier kernel work established the deadline scheduling class used in real-time Linux deployments.
- Jenkins & CI/CD
The most prolific contributor to Amarula’s Jenkins ecosystem: lead developer of the ReviewAI Gerrit Code Review plugin, the Gitea Artifact Manager plugin, and the warning-ng scanner suite (Yocto, Valgrind, CodeChecker). He maintains Gerrit Checks integration and the shared Jenkins pipeline libraries that power Amarula’s CI infrastructure.
- Zephyr RTOS
Co-author of the apds9253 ambient light sensor driver, with contributions to ESP32 and STM32 board support.
- Other Projects
Maintains meta-mend (Yocto layer for Mend SCA vulnerability scanning), ldap-passwd-webui, and contributes to Buildroot package and board maintenance.
Selected Contributions (2025–2026)
Contribution |
Project / Area |
|---|---|
Gitea Artifact Manager Jenkins plugin (new) |
Jenkins |
ReviewAI Gerrit plugin version 4.0 with |
Jenkins |
Static analysis + code coverage pipeline for Gerrit Checks plugin |
Jenkins |
mend.bbclass async API integration for Yocto CVE scanning |
meta-mend / Yocto |
U-Boot SPI/MTD maintainer — reviewed hundreds of patches |
U-Boot |
ldap-passwd-webui fork and development |
Infrastructure |
apds9253 sensor driver for Zephyr RTOS |
Zephyr |
Gerrit Checks plugin HTTP/HTTPS pipeline support |
Jenkins |
Axelera AI BSP kernel module and Yocto layer maintenance |
Yocto / BSP |
EDF deadline scheduling class (original author, ongoing relevance) |
Linux Kernel |
Beyond the Code
Michael enjoys cooking in his free time and credits his family’s support as the foundation of Amarula Solutions’ success: “Without them, my family, I wouldn’t be here with this great company Amarula Solutions.”
He values talking to his parents regularly and finds balance between running a growing company and staying hands-on with kernel patches and Jenkins pipelines.
Note
This profile is part of the Open Source Team directory. Amarula is a larger team; this directory covers only members with public upstream contributions.
Tip
Michael leads Amarula Solutions’ open source strategy. Interested in collaborating on U-Boot, embedded Linux, or CI/CD infrastructure? Contact our team