One of the more confusing aspects of the open source phenomenon is the proliferation of different source code licensing schemes. If you are considering using software developed by others within your products, you'll probably want to have an intellectual property lawyer read the individual license agreements in detail and summarize your rights. (more…)

During the course of the past week, there's been an increasingly lively discussion (and debate) about the real-time characteristics of Linux, and over which approach is best. As a result, questions like these are starting to become more and more common . . .

• What does “real-time” mean?
• Who (or what) needs real-time, anyhow?
• How much real-time is really needed?
• What are the… (more…)

NetMedia has announced “the world's smallest Ethernet webserver.” It's implemented as a tiny 1.1″ x 0.9″ PC board, and only requires the addition of +5V DC power and an Ethernet connector to function as a standalone webserver. Now, get this: the tiny plug-and-play webserver will be priced at just $39 for a single unit, $30 each for 100, $20 for 100,000 — and, it's just $12 each, if you happen to need a… (more…)

Embedded Systems

Many readers are most likely already familiar with Moore's law. In the 60's, Gordon Moore predicted that the level of integration of transistors on silicon wafers would double ever year. In other words, every year, the industry would be able to double the amount of transistors on a 1 cm chip with respect to the previous year — an exponential rate of growth. (more…)

The rapidly expanding use of embedded Linux continually faces the challenge of deploying open source software, developed primarily for desktop/server environments, inside resource-constrained embedded devices. Today's desktop/server systems typically include hundreds of megs of RAM and tens of gigs of disk. (more…)

Introduction

MontaVista has developed a hard real-time fully preemptable Linux kernel, based on Linux kernel 2.4. The preemptable kernel has the potential to dramatically improve application responsiveness of the Linux kernel, while fully preserving the standard Linux programming model. (more…)

For many in the Linux community, WAP — the Wireless Application Protocol — leaves a bittersweet taste because of its semi-open nature. The WAP forum is an elitist club for telecommunication giants that requires $27,500 up front and does not promote open discussion about its specifications. (more…)

Since the editorial by Eirik Eng on freshmeat.net on July 1st we have received many comments on our stance in the licensing discussions concerning the QPL and the GPL. As mentioned in that editorial we have been actively working for some time to make the QPL compatible with the GPL. (more…)

Making Qt available under the GPL makes it legal to take an existing GPL-covered program and adapt it to work with Qt. It also provides a way to resolve one of the free software community's long-standing problems, the problem of the ethical and legal status of KDE. (more…)

Editor: The following statement, which appears on the kde.org website, has been reproduced with permission of the KDE Core Team . . . (more…)

The Java platform and the Linux operating system are appearing more frequently in embedded applications thanks to their unique benefits. A combined Java-Linux platform accelerates the design process, reduces costs, and shortens time-to-market. However, developers do need to be aware of the tradeoffs they face and how to make the right choices for a specific application. (more…)

In a few months, Screen Media will begin shipping a sleekly designed, easy-to-use wireless web-pad device called the FreePad. Like Ericsson's Screen Phone, the FreePad will offer web browsing and cordless telephone functions. (more…)

One short year ago, “embedded Linux” barely existed, from a commercial perspective. Last week's 150,000 square foot LinuxWorld conference (San Jose, CA) clearly demonstrated how far embedded Linux has come in just a dozen months. Better than one in ten of the more than 160 exhibitors rolled out new products and services aimed at embedded Linux developers and applications. (more…)

I just got back from my sneak preview of the new Linux-powered Agenda VR3 PDA which is being introduced tomorrow at LinuxWorld in San Jose, CA (see announcement). The VR3 offers convincing evidence of just how quickly Linux has transformed the embedded systems world, and how far that transformation has progressed. (more…)

Victor Yodaiken, project leader for RTLinux, is considered by many to be the father of “real-time Linux.” In this interview with LinuxDevices.com founder Rick Lehrbaum, Yodaiken shares his thoughts about the past, the present, and the future of RTLinux. Where did RTLinux come from? What's new in the upcoming version 3 release? What new and exciting RTLinux enhancements can we expect to see over the… (more…)