In this guest column written for ZDNet, Michael A. Olson, president and CEO of Sleepycat Software (the developer of the open-source Berkeley DB, an embedded database engine), offers a perspective on the business merits of Open Source Software . . . (more…)

At the recent Embedded Systems Conference in San Francisco, I attended a meeting/press conference held by the Embedded Linux Consortium (ELC). The stated goal of the Consortium is to produce a specification for a standard platform for embedded Linux. That was also the stated goal of the Consortium last April when it met at ESC West. (more…)

In part three of an Embedded Linux Journal series of articles by Kevin Dankwardt on Real-time Linux, Dankwardt reviewed the sub-kernel approach as used in RTLinux and RTAI and provided some benchmark numbers. Following publication of Dankwardt's article, MontaVista Software's Kevin Morgan issued a (more…)

In his response to Kevin Dankwardt's Embedded Linux Journal article entitled Real Time and Linux, Part 3: Sub-Kernels and Benchmarks MontaVista's Kevin Morgan writes that RTLinux is “not appropriate for the placement of… (more…)

hippo inc. (New Haven, CT) has introduced a line of voice-over-IP (VoIP) based “Internet Phones”, which use Embedded Linux as their internal software platform. (more…)

Tux-type Penguins, that is. Thanks to a project of the U.S. National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a webcam has for the first time been installed at the North Pole — one which runs on Embedded Linux, no less! The device was installed on April 28, 2002 and is now logging four images a day, which are available on NOAA's publicly accessible (more…)

CNET editor Jim Hu interviews Mitchell Baker, the leader of the Mozilla.org project. Ms. Baker discusses Mozilla technology, 'people building a range of Linux Mozilla-based products' and of course, Microsoft . . . (more…)

Cyclades Corp., a provider of Linux-based networking solutions, recently announced its newest product: the Cyclades-TS100. The TS100 is a powerful yet highly compact device server which is used to connect various serial devices to a TCP/IP network. Typical applications include industrial automation and control, out-of-band network management, retail automation, and connecting various types of… (more…)

Mr. Dankwardt's article (Real Time and Linux, Part 3: Sub-Kernels and Benchmarks) is a real contribution for the general understanding of Linux and current real-time improvements available. (more…)

Features

• WANDER: a Portable Linux Data-Collection System, by Steven K. Roberts and Ned Konz — The Microship's computer systems come ashore as a rugged, portable data-collection unit. (more…)

In the March/April 2001 issue of Embedded Linux Journal (“All about Linux-friendly Single-Board Computers”), I traced the history of the embedded single-board computer (SBC) market from the early 80s to the year 2000. One interesting phenomenon during that period was the emergence and proliferation of the embedded PC architecture, which manifested in several… (more…)

Almost all Linux kernel device drivers work on more than just one type of processor. This only happens because device-driver writers adhere to a few important rules. These rules include using the proper variable types, not relying on specific memory page sizes, being aware of endian issues with external data, setting up proper data alignment and accessing device… (more…)

I'm a member of the LNX-BBC Project. The LNX-BBC is a business card-sized CD-ROM containing a miniature distribution of GNU/Linux. In order to fit everything we wanted on the roughly 50MB volume, we had to build every single piece of software from scratch and weed out unnecessary files. (more…)

Brian's Own Embedded Linux, or BOEL as it is affectionately known, was created as part of the SystemImager Project. SystemImager is a tool used for, well, imaging systems and distributing live updates. Part of the imaging process involves booting a client machine in such a way that its hard disks are not in use and are therefore available for manipulation. (more…)

In the first two articles of this series (see “Real Time and Linux, Part 1” and “Real Time and Linux, Part 2: the Preemptible Kernel”), we examined the fundamental concepts of real time and… (more…)