SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — (PRNewswire) — The role of open-source software in the embedded systems industry is a controversial topic for product designers, software developers, and business management. To shed light on the issues surrounding the use of open-source code, the eighth annual Embedded Systems Conference Spring (February 28 – March 2 at Chicago's McCormick Place South) will feature a panel of six… industry experts from all sides of the debate.

Open-source software is code that is not owned by any individual person or company, but is commonly available to anyone who wishes to use it. As developers enhance the code, they traditionally provide their changes for use by the greater community.

The use of open-source code in the embedded market is growing rapidly. In the last year, the percentage of embedded application developers planning to use Linux (the most popular open source operating system) as their host platform increased from 10 to 26 percent, according to Electronic Market Forecasters, a CMP Media research group.

“Can communally owned software products be trusted with mission-critical applications if there's no one to take charge or to blame?” asks Jim Turley, vice president of marketing at ARC Cores, Inc. and moderator of the upcoming panel discussion. “One argument is that open-source software is the safest and most robust because it's been examined by hundreds of disinterested programmers from around the world. The opposite argument holds that open-source code is merely the last hope of the have-nots; the code hackers who'd rather tinker with someone else's code and toss it back into the communal pot than take responsibility for it themselves.”

Turley, known for his combination of lively wit and technical authority, was formerly a senior editor at “Microprocessor Report,” and is an expert in microprocessors for handheld, portable, and embedded applications. The debate, coined “Birkenstocks versus Business Suits” by its moderator, will probe for
answers to questions such as:

• “Will open-source software save the world from expensive, proprietary and monopolistic software companies?”
  
• “Nobody gets paid for working on open-source software such as Linux or GNU, so how good could it be?”
  
• “With no owner or central authority, whom do you blame if the program doesn't work?”

The panel discussion, scheduled for Monday, February 28 at 6:00 – 7:30 p.m., includes technical representatives from both open-source and traditional commercial software vendors, as well as embedded systems developers. Five of the six panelists have been named, including:

• John Fogelin, Vice President of Technology, WindRiver Systems
  
• William Gatliff, Senior Design Engineer, Komatsu Mining Systems, Inc.
  
• Jean Labrosse, Senior Technical Staff Member, Dynalco Controls
  
• James F. Ready, President/CEO, Montavista Software Inc.
  
• Michael Tiemann, Chief Technology Officer, Red Hat, Inc.

Other ways to learn about open-source applications at the conference include classes with a focus on Linux and GNU development environments, and new open-source products, which are being introduced for the first time on the show floor.

The Embedded Systems Conference Spring also provides a strong focus on the embedded Internet and information appliances. Special activities at the conference include a keynote address by best-selling author Cliff Stoll, and a special guest lecture on next generation real-time systems, presented by James Rumbaugh, one of the developers of unified modeling language (UML). Attendees and the press are also invited to a February 29 Caribbean-theme leap year party, and a March 1 reception on the exhibit floor.

As one of the world's top educational and professional forums for engineers, designers and managers working with embedded systems, the Embedded Systems Conference Spring offers a program of 98 classes and tutorials and a show floor with more than 170 companies exhibiting a broad range of products and services for advanced electronic design. A complete conference catalog can be obtained by calling 800-789-2223 or by e-mailing [email protected]. Class listings, registration information, and updates are available online at www.embedded.com/spring.

 
This article was originally published on LinuxDevices.com and has been donated to the open source community by QuinStreet Inc. Please visit LinuxToday.com for up-to-date news and articles about Linux and open source.