This article is for those who want to develop software for the Arduino ATmega168-based microcontrollers but don't want to use the Arduino IDE. The reasons for not wanting to use the IDE can range from simply disliking the IDE to feeling the need to be able to write code that ports more easily to different kinds of Atmel-based microcontrollers. The steps introduced here should be applicable to several different AVR models, allowing you to push beyond the Arduino platform.

While this article will focus on FreeBSD as its development platform, it should be quite easy to install the avr-gcc toolchain on another platform and to follow the steps for building and uploading the sample code to an AVR from that platform. Should you find yourself on a platform other than FreeBSD, please skip the Toolchains section, except to take note of the applications you will need.