Linux is rapidly emerging from its GNU background to have an impact on embedded solutions. There is great interest and planning for the use of Linux by various segments of the embedded software community. Since embedded software adoption is generally a function of product cycles and design wins, adoptions and changes in practices and products occur carefully and take longer to implement for these product… life cycles than they do for general enterprise and desktop computing.

There are pros and cons surrounding Linux and open source embedded software. The benefits address important areas for embedded software developers. Benefits are . . .

• Cost and availability issue based on no runtime royalties and available source code at no charge
  
• A wide range of operating system services that include effective support for networking
  
• The associated GNU development tools that are available for a wide variety of semiconductor cores

There are also drawbacks in using Linux and open source. Risks are . . .

• With intellectual property (IP), it is sometimes difficult to verify that available Linux and open source IP code is free from patent infringement
  
• The business terms and conditions for some open source lack clarity; in particular, the GNU Public License (GPL) usage sometimes leads to contradictory conclusions
  
• There are new levels of integration and testing required for utilizing the IP

OEMs may want to ask themselves if Linux and open source are the primary characteristics most likely to deliver success for OEM products and whether it is the most appropriate technology foundation. While the success of embedded solutions are definitely assisted by the open source and Linux characteristics, software engineering often needs different types of solutions that more directly impact the critical success variables for individual industry needs.

Successful OEM products require a deep understanding of industry customer requirements and a specific industry focus for the platform and associated tools. Traditionally, open source and Linux software developers, are motivated to solve more broad-based problems, that are independent of specific industries. It is not clear that the community for these open source and Linux solutions will be able to provide the specific requirements of individual industry segments and then maintain the software for an embedded OEM product life cycle.

Specifically, in our opinion, a richer and more robust software basis needs to be provided for OEMs. The software requires its own specific industry focus and industry framework. This recognizes that development tool requirements may be different by industry and need to be better matched with individual industry-targeted embedded software platforms. The industry focus approach provides for more flexibility and agile product development.

This type of embedded software model to increase OEM productivity is discussed in more detail in a recent white paper by the author. The white paper resides on Wind River's website (see below). It introduces the idea of Specialized Embedded Software Environments (SESE) solutions as a way to meet OEM requirements in the more and more software platform driven market.

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Please note:
The more detailed whitepaper by Paul Zorfass, entitled A New Embedded Software Model to Increase OEM Productivity, written for IDC and funded by Wind River, is available for download from Wind River's website, here . . .

Read IDC whitepaper

(Requires free registration)

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About the author: Paul Zorfass is Principal Analyst, First Technology Inc. Zorfass and First Technology Inc. have a long standing relationship with IDC, a leading market research firm in the embedded market.

 
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.