Why Linux?

Recent years have seen a broadening array of operating system (OS) software options for embedded and real-time system applications. Today, most non-desktop “embedded” systems are based on one of the following alternatives:

• Microsoft Windows, in its three “flavors”: Win98, WinNT, WinCE
• A wide variety of proprietary real-time OSes (RTOSes) — VxWorks, Lynx, QNX, pSOS,… (more…)

In response to a Slashdot discussion item on the growing use of Linux in embedded applications (located here), Jacob Lehrbaum of LinuxDevices.com posted the following comment . . . (more…)

New York — (company press release) — MontaVista Software Inc., developer of the Hard Hat Linux operating system for embedded applications, today announces
its Hard Hat Linux cross-development toolkit for Motorola's PowerPC microprocessors. The MontaVista offering is the first product to enable embedded software designers to use cost-effective Linux workstations for
creating embedded Linux… (more…)

Rick Lehrbaum writes . . .

Here are the final details of the organizational meeting of the Embedded Linux Consortium to be held at the Embedded Systems Conference in Chicago . . . (more…)

SAN DIEGO, CA — (company press release) — FSMLabs and Synergy Microsystems today announced the beta release of RTLinux for the PowerPC. Designed to run on VME and CompactPCI CPU boards as well as other PowerPC platforms, RTLinux is a real-time, deterministic Linux kernel. Real-time response seen with the beta release is impressive, with latencies of 10 microseconds and under expected. (more…)

SUNNYVALE, Calif. — (company press release) — MontaVista Software Inc., developer of the Hard Hat Linux operating system for embedded applications, today announces the version 1.0 release of the company's Hard Hat Linux distribution. (more…)

Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols, of ZDNet News, writes . . .

“Hot on the heels of the unveilings of Transmeta Corp.'s Mobile Linux and Lineo Inc.'s Embedix, Red Hat Inc. is joining the embedded-system fray with its Red Hat Tools for Embedded Developers (RHTED). RHTED is an open-source integrated development environment (IDE) for software developers. (more…)

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — (company press release) — Red Hat, Inc., a leader in Linux and open source solutions, announced today its official entry into the post-PC market to meet increasing demand for Red Hat's open source-based services and support. As its first open source offering in the embedded space, Red Hat is introducing the Red Hat Tools for Embedded Developers, an open source integrated… (more…)

Robert Lemos, writing in ZDNet News, says . . .

“Linux, the freely distributed operating system whose Cinderella story has riveted the market for Web servers, is ready to wear its glass slippers once again. The fairy-tale ball this time is the very posh information appliance market.” (more…)

Embedded Linux is a hot discussion topic, today, at Slashdot. Check out the discussion * here *. After an initial storm of ZDNet trashing, resulting from their story on embedded Linux (* read it here *), you'll find some interesting observations and comments about… (more…)

Geeknews.org has just reviewed Mandrake 7.0 . . .

“There has been some hype about Mandrake being a more user-friendly Linux distribution when compared to it's contemporaries, Red Hat Linux being the most oft-cited. I have had some experience in the past using Mandrake 6.x and I thought it was okay, but felt it was clearly Red Hat Linux with some extra user-oriented applications and a bit more… (more…)

Ed Scannell and Michael Lattig, writing in InfoWorld.com, report . . .

“While the LinuxWorld expo in New York this week will showcase a raft of new technologies that spans the product spectrum, several major developers will be zeroing in on . . . embedded and handheld devices.” (more…)

“One day, every radio will work this way” boasts PenguinRadio cofounder Andrew Leyden. PenguinRadio LLC, a small Washington DC based startup, has giant plans to revolutionize how we listen to music and radio when we're not sitting at our computers. Powered by an embedded Linux operating system and “x86” CPU, and connected to the Internet via a modem or Ethernet, PenguinRadios will tap into the thousands… (more…)

Most Linux activity has focused on mainstream server and desktop applications, but it is in the embedded world that Linux may well have the biggest impact. (more…)

Lineo has recently announced one of the largest embedded Linux design wins to date: through a three-way partnership with Elitegroup Computing and Bast, Inc., Lineo Embedix Linux will become the software platform for Linux-based set-top devices in hotel rooms and apartment complexes throughout the US, Europe, and Asia (See… (more…)