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Any kernel module that's not required (wifi, graphics, sound, USB, etc depending on application), any security system like selinux, any unnecessary libraries, helper utilities, etc etc.

Basically you rip out anything not strictly required for the task at hand.

Running on embedded hardware is quite different from running on server hardware, disk space and memory are measured in megabytes, not gigabytes...

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I once ran an "embedded" Linux on a $10 marvel SOC. It was a pretty vanilla kernel running a basic Debian install. 10MB out of 128MB RAM used most of the time.

Obviously you can go much slimmer, but a $10 board is surprisingly capable.

Not necessarily. I'm working with B&R's range of industrial controllers at the moment, which are Atom processors with a few hundred Mb of RAM and CF cards up to 32Gb, but still running a traditional RTOS with hard timing guarantees. They have built-in web servers and (basic) web browsers...!

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