Microcontrollers, USB and Linux

Hi all,

Simple question, I hope :-)

What's a good architecture for embedded/microcontroller software
development (in C) _under Linux_, with respect to the toolchain (C
cross-compiler, assembler, linker, etc.); nativly without using things
like Wine) ?

Background info:

I would like to develop a _simple_ and low-cost microcontroller hard-
and software platform for study/training purposes, for my colleagues
(and myself :-) ). The focus is software and the hardware should be as
simple/breadboardable as possible, i.e. DIP packages instead of QFP or
BGA. Just basic I/O, perhaps add simple SPI/I2C peripherals, etc. at
some point. I would also like to include USB in it, which is available
on plenty 8-bit controller (and an interesting challenge I've seen).

I would like to use/program USB directly so no FTDI converter IC's to
simulate RS232 ports (what's the point of USB when you simulate RS-232
anyway? Just the option of using a USB hub?).

I've looked at _many_ websites (see below) but I haven't been able to
find what I'm looking for. Does anybody already have any experience in
this area? How active is SDDC for example?

ARM or AVR(32) look nice but they all have QFP or similar packages so
that's not really an option. The Freescale Blackfin controllers start at
BGA packages. Even the Atmel 8051's with USB are QFP packages. The
starter-kits or experiment boards all start at 40+ euros on pre-built
rather large boards with extra peripherals which make them unsuitable
for real simple experiments or applications (e.g. a simple switch
controlled via USB; which is <1 euro when using RS-232).

The Microchip PIC 18F4550 looks great, and only costs a few dollars, but
I don't believe it's possible to develop under Linux (in C), or is it?
The SDDC site says "under construction". The PIC seems to be the only
one that supports USB on a DIP package...
How difficult would it be to solder a QFP or SOIC package to a DIP
connector (for an electronics no-no like me), or get them pre-soldered;
is that a common thing to do or buy? Ah, I just found
http://www.schmartboard.com/index.asp?page=products_qfp .

Perhaps QFP-32 is doable, but are there QFP-32 or smaller ARM IC's for
example? We currently have an embedded ARM Linux board and it would be
nice if we could stick to a single architecture so we can re-use code,
tools, hardware and most importantly knowledge (assembly, architecture,
etc.).

I would appreciate reading your advice and experiences.

Kind regards,
Joost Leeuwesteijn

Websites:
=========

Microchip PIC:
http://www.microchip.com/ParamChartSearch/chart.aspx?branchID11%1&mid10%&lang=en&pageId74%
http://www.embedds.com/pic18f4550-usb-prototyping-board /

gcc:
http://gcc.gnu.org/backends.html

CREATE interface (PIC) [ SEEMS TO BE OFFLINE AT THE MOMENT? ]:
http://www.create.ucsb.edu/~dano/CUI/

SDDC (Small Device C Compiler)
http://sdcc.sourceforge.net/
(AVR no longer supported? What's the link between SDDS and gcc?):

Freescale (Motorola, 68HC, HCS08, etc.):
http://www.freescale.com/webapp/sps/site/prod_summary.jsp?code=S08JM&nodeId01%624684491437

ARM 7:
http://www.embeddedartists.com/products/boards/lpc2148.php

Atmel 8-bit AVR:
http://www.atmel.com/dyn/products/devices.asp?family_id60%7#1761

Atmel AVR32:
http://www.atmel.com/dyn/products/devices.asp?family_id68%2

Atmel 8051:
http://www.atmel.com/dyn/products/devices.asp?family_id60%4#1686

Simulated USB:
http://obdev.at/products/avrusb/index.html
http://obdev.at/products/avrusb/powerswitch.html

Arduino:
http://www.arduino.cc/

Cypres CY7C637xx (DIP or SOIC package):
http://www.cypress.com/portal/server.pt?space=CommunityPage&control=SetCommunity&CommunityID20%9&PageID25%9&fid16%&rpn=CY7C637xx

USB Micro:
http://usbmicro.com/products.html