Lindon, UT — (press release) — Lineo today announced the accelerated development of uClinux 2.4, based on the pre-release Linux 2.4 kernel. uClinux is a “micro” version of Linux that can be used in devices based on processors without a memory management unit (MMU). The minimized resource requirements of uClinux make it an ideal solution for low-cost embedded devices in a broad range of markets.

With its typical kernel footprint of 512k bytes (or less), uClinux has proved to be a popular choice for Linux-based deeply embedded solutions. During the past week, Red Hat announced its support for uClinux in connection with the NetSilicon NET+LX Internet Appliance reference. Other companies using uClinux in their products include Aplio for its Aplio/PRO Itnernet phone, Axis for its Network Camera 2100, and Adomo for its thin appliance based home information system. The commercial success of uClinux has propelled the popular open source project into a real industry-wide development.

“uClinux 2.4 will provide a major step forward in delivering capabilities that the market has requested,” said Jeff Dionne, VP of research and development and member of the Office of CTO, Lineo, Inc. Dionne is also the original author and maintainer of the uClinux embedded operating system. “The 2.4 release of uClinux will include USB support and will pave the way for future highly integrated system-on-chip-based solutions. By taking advantage of uClinux, companies such as Red Hat, Aplio, Axis, and Adomo are collectively saving thousands of engineering hours that they would otherwise spend on their development projects. This development effort is a classic example of how Lineo continues to contribute to the open source community.”

Lineo has recently hired eight additional engineers in Toronto, to compliment the teams of uClinux development engineers also located in Australia, Utah, and Virginia. During next week's Embedded Systems Conference in San Jose, Greg Ungerer, who heads Lineo's uClinux engineering team in Australia, will present a class featuring uClinux entitled “Embedded Linux on the Motorola ColdFire.”

For more information on uClinux, visit either opensource.lineo.com or http://www.uclinux.org.

 
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