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Gadgets With Linux Inside
An anonymous submitter sends in a link to a quick reference guide of various devices and gadgets that are in some way running Linux. Cell phones, set-top boxes, web pads, internet radios, and some miscellaneous gizmos (definitely take a look at the "other" page).
DaimlerChrysler unveiled its newest concept car at the North American International Auto Show in January, 2001: the Dodge Super8 Hemi "all-American sedan." The vehicle's Infotronic system is based on four Ethernet-networked PC-compatible computers -- all running on embedded Linux.
"yeah honey, I need a ride home again... 1337 h4x0rZ again... yeah..."
Recently, embedded systems has been one area where Linux really excels, and where the power of Open Source really shines. Especially things like the Isamu robot: would that have been possible with a closed-source OS like Windows CE, VxWorks, or QNX, no matter how good they may be? And, thanks in large part to things like the MOSIX project, Linux is ready to handle the real-time demands of applications such as these, where infallible reliability, several megabytes of RAM and a low-power microprocessor are the norm. I think the pundits are right, in a sense: Linux will invade the home and workplace. Not on the desktop, necessarily, but in all the systems you see and don't really think about, and that you don't interact with via keyboard and mouse. We're already starting to see this, as this article demonstrates.
I especially like Isamu , the humanoid robot =)
He would probably like to play with my stuffed Tux.
these devices ship with linux, it's their embedded os. linux is making enormous gains in the embedded world due to the fact that it is both royalty free to ship, the source is completely available, the development tools are both free and familiar, and there is a fair amount of developers out there who are familiar with the kernel/drivers (but you already know this, of course).
consider a device like the oh-so-popular tivo or something more obscure like the phatbox or other portable devices. the makers of these devices have the options of:
under many of these options, i doubt these (probably very small) companies would have ever been able to afford to bring a product to market. and every dollar that doesn't go to a 3rd party at retail is a dollar that goes towards r&d for the super-tivo or whatever (or stays in your pocket).
yes, i'm preaching to the choir. let them sing.
joe
That Isamu Robot is just absolutely amazing.
If there are any Japanese readers out there, please consider coordinating with slashdot to do a interview/review with the staff that created this machine.
This is a very timely and enjoyable article for me--it seems like all I've seen in the papers and magazines is MS FUD lately...even the embedded journals are getting swamped with WinCE and other MS embedded strategy ads. Seems like anywhere a dollar is changing hands, MS wants to reach in and snatch it way from the two parties.
But, I digress. It's nice to see such a rich set of Engineering accomplishments using the Linux platform--I had no idea that much was happening. Very informative and well-written article.
Treatment, not tyranny. End the drug war and free our American POWs.
See my user info for links.
www.handhelds.org is a good web page devoted to PDA type information. As a point of interest, iPAQs can run Linux in several different flavors. The YOPY kit is rediculously prices and I don't believe I would ever buy one with the advances being made by the developers of Linux on the IPAQ. In my opinion, that is where the fun is if you want to work with Linux on a PDA. If you just want to use a Linux PDA you could get an agenda or wait for perhaps Sharp to release one later this year. HP has also made rumblings about a Linux PDA.
I often get flamed for stating that Linux has no place on the office desktop. It's a point that I truely believe. I still think Gnome and KDE are at least three major version releases behind the rest of the competition in this area, as are most, and nearly all or their support applications, including Star Office, which compares to MSOffice like Concordski compared to Concord.
However, when it comes the embedded devices the Linux really shows so much promise. It's ability to run stablely in embedded devices and the ease to generate easy to use custom hardware interfaces is and area where Linux can take the leave and grab a market share across the planet.
Linux on the Server, yes
Linux Embedded, YES!!
alas still, not on the Desktop.
Don't forget about those wonderful gadgets running up on the international space station.... the article seems to forget about that... but look at http://www.sheflug.co.uk/featuresoft.htm for articles on things such as "control the docking of the ATV".
===> An eye for an eye makes everyone blind - MG
>Is there any "real" use
The fact that there are actual shipping products that use Linux in embedded devices indicates that there are "real" uses. Try reading the article.
>Yes, but linux is a rather "large" OS.
I would tend to disagree with this.
Distributions of Linux tend to be very large. The size of the "operating system" is a very variable thing.
Of course, the kernel itself can be built to suit and can be made quite small. If you are building an embedded device, the list of stuff (outside of the kernel) you don't have to package on your system would trim down the size considerably:
no source code
no development libraries
no development tools
no X
probably only the one application for which the device exists instead of the hundreds that included in a typical distro.
"Linux" can be made small enough to fit on a floppy disk and run completely on a ramdisk (LRP).
My example is my 386 with 4 meg and 100 MB drive running my cable modem' masq box. I'm running a kernel with everything stripped out but the bare essentials. I'm using Debian with just the barest set of packages installed. This machine is a single-purpose device with a very small OS. If I had the time or needed to, I could probably make this even smaller.
The beauty of using Linux for these purposes is that you can trim it down to just the functionality to want/need to get it to fit into your device. At least, doing so is a lot cheaper than rolling your own OS.
And there are plenty of others you don't hear about either.
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a rigged demo
--Andy Finkel (J. Klass?)
eOn Communication's eQueue is also Linux based.
When will Windows be ready for the desktop?
Actually, I work on a team that is using Open Source (modified GPL) software for our RTOS that does run in a Hospital Point of Care device. The company that manufactures this device is a very big player in this market.
I think there were several concerns about going with Linux as our embedded OS - We were looking for something more along the lines of an RTOS, with guaranteed task handling. There were also concerns about having to GPL our software. While we don't mind giving back to the community any OS changes we make, our application code is what gives us a competitive advantage, and publishing it just doesn't make good business sense.
You've also mentioned that businesses wouldn't want to purchase Open Source software because there is no accountability. Actually, for the our project, we get the best of both worlds. OAR Corp provides support for the RTOS, and we get to look directly at their work, instead of getting a "black box" binary solution. Works very nicely. And we can make any changes we need directly. Very cool.
So, yes, companies are starting to use Open Source in places that you may never hear of, or realize.
-jerdenn
"personal satellite assistant", a must have. If only it could fly on earth. :-)
l
http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS8416393595.htm
and one that you call can go buy today at your local beast buy...
the Iomega HipZip MP3 player. - its a USB connectable mp3 player that uses the Iomega PocketZip (formerly known as the Clik!) disks which are 40 MB removable media (averaging about $10 for each disk)
it runs lineo and is pretty neat as removable media MP3 players go. rechargable battery which is nice (unless you're going on a 10+ hour flight)
the other really nice thing about this player is that if you are using pocketzips, the player plugs in and just becomes an external drive. so you can just copy the files onto the disk. no special programs needed!
Yeah, and *USB* to load songs. God, I'd be waiting all day. Put a real ethernet or wireless interface in that thing. Wireless would be great, just drive into the garage and download.
Instead of sensibly using CVS, they required that version control be done using Microsoft Version Control software. They had an ancient version of VMware with I think 1 or 2 licenses (Certainly less than the number of developers using it.) and most developers rarely, if ever checked their code into version control. No developer system had exactly the same source code on it at any time. We ended up hacking a demo out by going from system to system picking up various pieces. By the time we were done, there were three or four different library versions on the demo box and it would only stay up 10-15 minutes before crashing and burning. That was enough to convince the VP that we had a workable product and that he shouldn't fire the entire department (Which would have gone a LONG way toward advancing that product.) I will be amazed if that set top box EVER sees the light of day.
Lessons learned:
1) Hire programmers who know your system.
2) If the system provides developer's tools, use them.
3) If you only have two programmers on your project who actually know the system and they tell you something isn't going to work, then that something is probably not going to work.
4) Inquire about process and ask what CMM level they're at. If they look at you blankly, thank them for their time and tell them you'll call them. Then don't call them. Ever.
5) Always check out a company's bathrooms during the interview process. Seriously. You can tell a lot about a company from its bathrooms. If it's not a bathroom you'd feel comfortable taking a dump in, chances are they guy you're talking to is full of shit.
6) If a company is using C++ or Java, ask the lead programmer about Design Patterns and MVC. If he looks at you blankly, thank them for their time and tell them you'll call them. Then don't call them. Ever.
7) If a company is doing Linux development and mandates the use of any Microsoft product on a regular basis, thank them for their time and tell them you'll call them. Then don't call them. Ever.
8) Ask the lead programmer if you can see a function he's written from scratch recently. If the code has any of that hungarian notation crap or the function is longer than three or four pages, thank them for their time and tell them you'll call them. Then don't call them. Ever.
9) If you think there's something major wrong with your process, don't slip into thinking that you can fix it. Unless you're the manager, you can't and chances are it's that broken because the manager's an idiot. Especially true if you start to realize the manager's an idiot. Start sending resumes at that point. Don't let them waste any more of your time. The Evil Satellite TV company wasted nearly a year of my life, and that's a year I'll never get back.
I'm sure there are more, but those are the main ones.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?