This interview with embedded pioneer and MontaVista CEO Jim Ready explains why Ready is preparing his small, privately held company for the “battle of the century.” It reveals Ready as a big thinker willing to extemporaneously discuss today's computing trends within their historical context.

Ready describes the emergence of Linux as an end-to-end operating system spanning from enterprise servers to embedded devices, the emergence of embedded Linux as a standard platform for cellphones (similar to the emergence of DOS for PCs), the competitive landscape in the embedded Linux and larger embedded markets, the work of Linux standards organizations, MontaVista's specific market strategies and plans, and more.

Suggestion: be on the lookout for lots of “Ready zingers,” including:

• “It boils down to two things: Microsoft has infinite money, and the rest of the world, combined around Linux, has infinite money.”
• “… you've gotta say the handset stuff we've gotten into has been the most surprising, because of the usual thinking that Linux is too big, too slow, not realtime enough.
• “It's clear that VxWorks is dead.”
• “Eclipse is a 'gift from God' in some sense.”
• “Software costs money. A lot of money.”
• “Embedded Linux is an unstoppable phenomenon. The future is extremely bright, and that's all I can say.”
• And lots more. . .

This interview took place April 21, 2004, as MontaVista was announcing a new round of financing. It is the eighth in LinuxDevices.com's ongoing series of interviews with influential executives in the embedded Linux industry.

Read CEO Interview with James Ready

 
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