This article at IT-Director.com explores the snowballing trend of using Linux as the operating system inside smart devices and embedded systems, in light of the recent launch of a Japan Embedded Linux Consortium by two dozen Japanese electronics companies.

“And the conclusion is — Linux will not conquer the desktop or the laptop, but will win on embedded devices. This isn't idle speculation. Let's face it, when a significant number of electronics manufacturers from the World centre of such products line up behind Linux, then the rest of us should take note . . .”

“How different the world appears when companies like Sony, Fujitsu, Toshiba, Mitsubishi and so on - 23 of them in all — line up behind the operating system . . .”

“So — what is enticing Japanese companies down the open source route? The obvious reason is cost — apart from the obvious research and development investment, there is no charges for licensing Linux which brings down product costs significantly . . . The second reason is the chicken-and-egg argument of choosing what everyone else is using. This is what makes it clear that embedded Linux is being taken seriously — everyone is doing it.”

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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.