Lisa Morgan, of Software Development Times, writes about the range of embedded operating systems that are competing for mind share in the rapidly expanding Internet Appliance market. Morgan discusses VxWorks, QNX, Windows, Java, and Linux, and includes comments from Dataquest industry analyst Daya Nadamuni. Morgan writes . . .

“While developers are building everything from smart homes to streaming-media cell phones, [Dataquest analyst] Nadamuni is looking for patterns of innovation that provide clues to real-world market directions. In the meantime, operating-system and tool vendors are providing more sophisticated solutions that enable developers to get to market faster. 'It's hard to tell what is what,' said Nadamuni. 'The line between embedded devices and general purpose devices is blurring. Developers are going in all sorts of directions. I don't think anyone really knows how it's all going to play out.'”

“. . . The jury is still out on whether Linux will take hold as a platform for embedded devices, largely due to its memory requirements and system overhead. Despite these obstacles, the lure of a royalty-free, open-source operating system is tempting to systems designers, and many companies are developing versions of Linux specifically designed for embedding.”

Read full story

 
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.