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and when you sit back at night watching television shows your tivo has recorded checking your email on your zaurus, just know that linux has no place in commercial products.

someone mod this troll down.

and when you sit back at night watching television shows your tivo has recorded checking your email on your zaurus, just know that linux has no place in commercial products.

someone mod this troll down.

FSMLabs RTLinuxPro building block is a tested and validated, hard real-time, POSIX operating system that runs Embedded Linux as an application platform. The RTCore real-time kernel at the heart of RTLinuxPro provides rock-solid, low microsecond worst case interrupt latency and scheduling jitter plus seamless access to Linux.

The link in the Slashdot story is to the LinuxDevices homepage, not the excellent article about Wind River. Save yourself a click -- the Wind River story is located here...

"Wind River hops on embedded Linux bandwagon"

Plus, there's an insightful analysis from embedded market analyst, VDC:

"How will Wind River's anti-Linux past affect its current Linux plans?"

The link in the Slashdot story is to the LinuxDevices homepage, not the excellent article about Wind River. Save yourself a click -- the Wind River story is located here...

"Wind River hops on embedded Linux bandwagon"

Plus, there's an insightful analysis from embedded market analyst, VDC:

"How will Wind River's anti-Linux past affect its current Linux plans?"

Took them two and a half year to figure out GPL works for them. :)

Business is business, badmouth your rival with words like 'viral' and 'rogue' doesn't change the fact. :)

Took them two and a half year to figure out GPL works for them. :)

Business is business, badmouth your rival with words like 'viral' and 'rogue' doesn't change the fact. :)

I'd say its more like the seriously kick-ass nature of Linux, lately, in the embedded world.

Found a link off the main article showcasing products embedded with Linux and actually shipping.

Found this

And found this

Every day I go past bus schedule kiosks displaying Windows errors. It's a shame and a waste of money to not use something more stable or even designed for embedded systems. QNX and Linux come to mind right away.

Clicky, clicky! And it still works! Not slashdotted, even at 197 comments. I think this site will survive. Maybe it's running on a beowulf clusted of opterons...

Linux is probably the biggest threat to TRON in Japan given Japanese government and large industrial giants like Panasonic and Sony's attitude toward Linux these days. On government side, the Japanese government is proposing to Chinese and Korean governments to develop Microsoft alternative based on Linux. Sony, Panasonic, and others were probably biggest licensee of TRON are moving to Linux.

What does TRON has to do to survive? Hooking up with enemy's enemy is a unavoidable.

there are more companies than just Red Hat trying to make money off of Linux. Off the top of my head, I can name Transgaming, Suse, Mandrake, VA Software, Loki, Corel, and Lindows

That is a pretty piss-poor list. VA Software is hardly making money off of Linux - they are a software vendor that runs a few Linux related websites. Corel is not a Linux company in any way and hasn't been for quite some time. Loki is a dot-com bubble company that is long dead from mismanagement.

Besides RedHat and SuSE there companies like IBM and EDS that are making a lot of money off of Linux installations and support (and selling hardware to go with Linux). There are also many companies making money in the embedded Linux market. There are also lots of small private vendors like Transgaming the TheKompany.

Do you want me to start listing software vendors that make money off of Windows that are in bad financial shape or bankrupt too? A bad buisness plan isn't exclusive to some Linux companies.

This screenshot seems a bit troubling. Whats with the concentric circles on the display? Is this some form of targeting system?

Somebody set us up the bomb?

1. 
   
   iAppliance
   
   SBCs using Linux
   
   The Invisible Computer
   

The Z8F640x z8encore devel kit only costs $50 (check the future active page) and comes with an IDE which lets you play with both C and ASM. The CPU is of the most basic variety so don't expect running linux on the board but you will feel at home having done Z80 coursework.

There are 2 kits for the ez80acclaim (eZ80F91 and eZ80F92) which both come with ethernet sockets. They cost 199 and 399 each. Again, these are microcontroller boards so they might not be suited for your needs.

All things considered, a $50 investment is not bad for a devel board + software, especially if you want to experiment with embedded applications. You might also want to add one of these for added fun (talk to your microcontroller board over USB 1.1).

On the other hand, if you want to use linux/uclinux on a devel board, embedded cpus like arm, xscale (intel) and coldfire (motorola) come to mind, but an off the shelf devel board will cost you a lot more. In any case, check here.

"The biggest drawback for linux on embedded systems is the fact that the embedded system will need some kind of chip that does memory management. Otherwise the kernel is useless. "

You should have read the link provided in the previous conversation.

According to a story at the embedded Linux portal, this project is still on track. It is amazing how little hard data there is available. On the face of it, this should be a pretty major product, at least in the entertainment market. Imagine what the film editing and production companies could do with this.

How about this?
Use one of these and one of these to create a filtering E-Mail server in this form-factor(1).

If people insist on running Windows? I insist on making money off them.

(1) Get them one of these or these to store additional E-Mail(2).

(2) Hell. Add LDAP so the worm will have a bigger addressbook to work through. Backups will be easy though.

How about this?
Use one of these and one of these to create a filtering E-Mail server in this form-factor(1).

If people insist on running Windows? I insist on making money off them.

(1) Get them one of these or these to store additional E-Mail(2).

(2) Hell. Add LDAP so the worm will have a bigger addressbook to work through. Backups will be easy though.

an article here suggests they use this

Ok check out the image.

Can anyone tell what those videos are?

I bet they are more interesting than the article!

Venture Development Corp. (VDC) released a whitepaper today with its own data comparing embedded development based on Windows Embedded and Linux software platforms. The data, which compares average number of developers per project and time-to-market for the two embedded software platforms, indicates that the two OSes have similar development project profiles, with a slight edge in favor of the Windows Embedded projects. However, the VDC analysts note that embedded projects are all unique, and that other factors besides number of developers and length of project are equally important and must also be considered.

For the purposes of runtime royalty comparison, only Windows CE .NET and embedded Linux will be considered.

The new Zaurii are OpenPDA.

I've got a stunning Zaurus SL-C750 which uses OpenPDA (see the official spec and check out this quote from this article:

"Sharp Electronics, the first OpenPDA licensee, had originally included Lineo's Embedix PDA software stack in the Zaurus. But when Embedix was subsequently acquired by Metrowerks last December, Sharp migrated to OpenPDA, which is similar in many respects to Embedix, especially in its inclusion of the Qtopia GUI framework and PDA app-suite, Opera web browser, and Jeode JVM. Additional OpenPDA licensees will be announced soon, Metrowerks said."

Here are some articles of merit about this PDA.

Here

Here

and here

"Taylor says he plans to focus on (and fund) studies that 'will highlight Microsoft's advantages in areas such as security, feature-completeness and total cost of ownership.'"

You mean like this one, this one, or this one How about this one?

I have a degree in computer science. The day you will get a college degree, or at least some formal qualification, you won't need to go around saying: I am a "Java programmer".

I don't just have a college degree. I'm a former university research fellow in computer science. I'm also a Java programmer. I'm not in the least ashamed to tell people so.

Because of the size and footprint issues, you can't do embedded with Java.

Oh dear, I think you'd better tell Nokia that. And IBM. I don't think they know. I'm sure they'd be grateful.

and no one that I know is even considering using Linux for an embedded system, besides PDAs.

Really? Maybe you should check this out...
http://www.linuxdevices.com/articles/AT7301151332. html

It seems that there is already a project underway to integrate Tron with Linux. . .

Tron + Linux = T-Linux.

"The T-Engine Forum and MontaVista Software announced that they are collaborating to combine TRON ("The Real-time Operating system Nucleus") -- the long-dominant Japanese embedded operating system -- with embedded Linux, in an effort to create a standardized software architecture for embedded devices that takes advantage of open source software and the benefits of Linux, while retaining a degree of compatibility with TRON."

Linuxdevices.com is a good place to start looking for information on embedded Linux distributions. There are several free and commercial distributions, with varying attributes and footprints based on configuration.

What you're referring to is the comparison of 3G technologies (such as WCDMA or CDMA2000) to Wi-Fi, and here again you're still wrong. It's becoming very clear that the rapid growth of 802.11x hotspots will spoil the market for 3G, since they're dramatically less expensive to deploy, and they cover the spots where people are most likey to use a rich content mobile device. And spare us the "car centric" baloney as well; commuter rail has been on a huge tear in the US during the past 15 years, and yes, you can cover rail lines with Wi-Fi by using directive antennas -- and you'll most likely be more spectally efficient than 3G.

The great thing about Wi-Fi's low power approach is that it forces people to use spectrum conservatively, using directive arrays to put RF where's needed instead of spraying it around indiscriminately.

Too bad Microsoft decided to use BlueBalls^h^h^h^hTooth instead of Wi-Fi, probably saved themselves a few bucks with the inferior frequency-toad-hopping instead of real spread spectrum, which is what the market is asking for. ..

Actually, there is another IBM PDA that has a USB host controller. You can read about it here. They are in production right now. I have one. It is sweet.

First, you quoted out of context. Expanding the quote a bit:

This situation has thus always been a little unstable. It came up again in recent times when Christoph Hellwig posted a patch which explicitly made the Linux Security Module functionality available only to modules licensed under the GPL. People were, says Christoph, using the LSM hooks to change the behavior of system calls, and that went further than he thought was appropriate. In a separate posting, Christoph stated:

My argument is that I want this flag as a hint for authors of proprietary security modules that I'm going to sue them if they use hooks called from code I have copyright on. This includes such central parts as vfs_read/vfs_write. This is, of course, an explicit shot across the bow of anybody who distributes proprietary kernel modules. Linus, then, sent out his current view on binary-only modules:

There is NOTHING in the kernel license that allows modules to be non-GPL'd. The _only_ thing that allows for non-GPL modules is copyright law, and in particular the "derived work" issue. A vendor who distributes non-GPL modules is _not_ protected by the module interface per se, and should feel very confident that they can show in a court of law that the code is not derived.

Starting with Linus' note, he (and you) are correct): it isn't the kernel license per se. that allows non-GPL modules, but the fact that they are not "derived works" of the kernel. Linus has always maintained that modules are not part of the kernel, and therefore not subject to the GPL. He could have argued that they are part of the kernel, and the situation would be different (while copyright law would not allow this, given the non-derivative code shield, the kernel use license could have required agreeing to that fact by anyone who distributes the kernel with non-GPL modues -- the kernel license then would not be GPL, of course).

It becomes a point of semantics: is Linus' traditional position part of the kernel license or not? Some would say yes, others would say no. In any case, as author of the kernel (yes, I'll address other contributors later), he is free to selectively relax restrictions in a the license thereof to the benefit of licensees. This is the same reasoning that lets a late payment be "forgiven" at the discretion of a lender even though it may technically make a loan in default.

What Christoph Hellwig has done, since kernel modules do not have to be GPL, is license HIS module to forbid binding by other non-GPL modules. Given Linus' position, I see this as perfectly acceptable.

However, as others have contributed to the kernel (and not just modules), perhaps their interpretation of Linus' lax enforcement of his license isn't all that pleasing to them: some might not want to see non-GPL kernel modules using their code at all.

While I would think that their creation of a derived work would fall under the terms of the license that covers derived works, the issue is whether this license is just the GPL, or the GPL with Linus' informal note that modules are not derived works and therefore not covered by the GPL. While I am not a lawyer, I'd think that Linus' interpretation of derived work forms part of the complete license, including the text of the GPL. Thus, those who produce derived works of the kernel must redistribute them under terms of the original license: GPL with Linus's definition of derived work. Copyright law may or may not agree but it is the license that matters because it confers greater rights than copyright law alone. Again, IANAL, so take this with a big grain of salt.

But, then, this is a change to the GPL, and the license on the use of the text of the GPL (overriding the copyright on the text of the

The only Linux PDA to date that has a USB Host Controller is the IBM E-Lap reference design. And it's not available yet :(

Actually the Zaurus he mentions crashing in the article runs a roll-your-own Linux kernel... ;)

Embedded Linux mag used to have micro ( smaller than mini-itx ) motherboard from ZFLinux.com, but now they sell system-on-chip thingys, so maybe that'd be a bit too much hacking...

here's one 2.7 inches by 1.6 inches, it has an IDE interface and a 486sx...

Ah HA! Gotcha!
LinuxDevices.com:Top:Hardware:Boards:Single-board computers HERE.

Right, so that takes care-of the motherboard, so to use a flash-card or micro-drive, you need either anATA-to-CF adapter,
or, if you need more than a pair of 2GB CF cards, maybe one of these flash-disks ( ATA, SCSI, PC/104? that's what the ZF boards were called! ),
or you can get an all-in-one IDE MicroFlash Card from MagicRam.com,
or dig Dan's Data's review of the VME CF-IDE adapter ( neat that it can run as either ATA-master OR ATA-slave, unlike the competition, so you could get 4GB of 'drive', or RAID-1 2GB, it's what I'd choose, if they do actually do this... ).

Then get a Lexar CF-card ( up-to 6MB/s, no motor ), up to 1GB 32x or 2GB 40x, or put a MicroDrive on it, and you'll have a VERY mini machine you can FTP to ( probably be able to stick Gentoo on it, if going for a 486-SoC ), if you have to limit everything for power, you may need to limit the amount of RAM on it, when it's in its final config...

Just ideas, I don't do this stuff day-in-day-out, so I don't know how you'd get it connected to your magnetic-instrument, but I hope this helps..

Embedded Linux mag used to have micro ( smaller than mini-itx ) motherboard from ZFLinux.com, but now they sell system-on-chip thingys, so maybe that'd be a bit too much hacking...

here's one 2.7 inches by 1.6 inches, it has an IDE interface and a 486sx...

Ah HA! Gotcha!
LinuxDevices.com:Top:Hardware:Boards:Single-board computers HERE.

Right, so that takes care-of the motherboard, so to use a flash-card or micro-drive, you need either anATA-to-CF adapter,
or, if you need more than a pair of 2GB CF cards, maybe one of these flash-disks ( ATA, SCSI, PC/104? that's what the ZF boards were called! ),
or you can get an all-in-one IDE MicroFlash Card from MagicRam.com,
or dig Dan's Data's review of the VME CF-IDE adapter ( neat that it can run as either ATA-master OR ATA-slave, unlike the competition, so you could get 4GB of 'drive', or RAID-1 2GB, it's what I'd choose, if they do actually do this... ).

Then get a Lexar CF-card ( up-to 6MB/s, no motor ), up to 1GB 32x or 2GB 40x, or put a MicroDrive on it, and you'll have a VERY mini machine you can FTP to ( probably be able to stick Gentoo on it, if going for a 486-SoC ), if you have to limit everything for power, you may need to limit the amount of RAM on it, when it's in its final config...

Just ideas, I don't do this stuff day-in-day-out, so I don't know how you'd get it connected to your magnetic-instrument, but I hope this helps..

I came across this article at LinuxDevices.com a coule days ago describing a new robitic platform that Intel is working on. It comes complete with LINUX and driveres for all sorts of sensors and other robotic goodies. This may not keep the grad students from "wasting 3 years of their lives soldering and repairing robots", but it sounds like a good step in the right direction.

I came across this article at LinuxDevices.com a coule days ago describing a new robitic platform that Intel is working on. It comes complete with LINUX and driveres for all sorts of sensors and other robotic goodies. This may not keep the grad students from "wasting 3 years of their lives soldering and repairing robots", but it sounds like a good step in the right direction.

That was the engineering prototype. This is what is being demo'ed.

I am assuming that this is useful as a Pocket Radio? err... scratch that look at the size of that bad boy! Maybe it is just another "we can do it so why not" kind of thing.

The only thing worse than that is this. Click on the "how big is OpenBrick" links and you get enormous JPEGs of the OpenBrick next to phones and stuff. The JPEGs are so big that I lost patience waiting for them to download over dialup. Maybe the dimensions are at the bottom of the picture, but I'll never know. I had to go to some other site to get dimensions on the OpenBrick. Sheesh! 100k to convey the information "7.1 x 4.6 x 1.6 in". That's got to be some kind of record for a crap-to-signal ratio (excluding cases where the content is 100% crap).

LinuxDevices.com has published a detailed SPECIAL REPORT on the Embedded Systems Conference which includes a summary of Linux oriented announcements, plus a story on the best-of-show awards, and also the PC/104 design contest winners, announced this morning. Its sister site, WindowsForDevices.com, has published a similar special report, but more oriented toward embedded Windows perspective -- that one includes a table of the awesome set of gadgets and devices on display in the Microsoft pavilion.

That is terrifying, when you realise that Google reports Slashdot stories. If Slashdot them reports these when they get to Google again, we are headed for the apocalypse.

And just to document the last time I saw this story, it was four days ago (perhaps an improvement on the 2-hour dupe of an Apple story last week). The source in that case (Linuxdevices.com) seemed a more detailed story:

Posted by timothy on Tuesday April 08, @07:27AM
from the mux-demux dept.
An anonymous reader writes "LinuxDevices.com reports that Microsoft has licensed InterVideo Inc. to supply Windows Media Technology to makers of Linux-based consumer devices. Under the agreement, InterVideo is licensed to take the components of the Windows Media Format, port them to Linux, and provide them to manufacturers who are interested in running Windows Media Technology on Linux-based consumer devices such as set-top boxes, personal video recorders, and other hybrid multimedia devices."

Some more useful links:
Zaurus DevNet forums
The Zaurus Notebook (tips and tricks)
Zaurus Loves Linux

Now what I really want, is a portable device to connect the usb cable from the phone described in this article to the Zaurus dataport.

I agree, though since the SL-C700 has the same amount of onboard RAM and Flash ROM, I'm tempted to sway toward's the IBM PPC-based handheld if it gets produced.
Link

I've never seen it, but QNX might be an alternative. Does BeOS support pre-Pentium systems?

Compare these survey results with this other survey of Embedded Linux developers. Despite the large and growing popularity of embedded Linux among developers, the new survey found that fewer than 20% of developers rated Embedded Linux toolsets "good" and only 5% rated them "excellent". More than 60% indicated that their toolsets are "not very good" or "adequate" thus showing a need for better tools.

"EDC: Embedded Linux remains #1 choice of developers -- despite tools dissatisfaction"