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Dashboard Linux - 1 Year Later
bergeron76 writes "It's been just over a year since the DashPC/Dashboard Linux project initially got
jump started.
Since then, the project has grown by an order of magnitude. The initial codebase has
been released on freshmeat and
sourceforge, and we're working with several other developers on integrating projects such as Linux GPS Navigation, wardrive mapping, and ODBII automobile interfacing.
The potential is endless, considering just a couple of recent news headlines, and how we'd love to eventually bring them to both new and existing automobiles."
We've had computers in cars for years... they just were not the kind you typically think about. I think it's great that we are "open-sourcing" what goes on under the hood; I, for one, would love to know exactly what my engine is doing. Further, the potential to make changes (fuel/air mixture, timing, etc) in engine parameters would make such a project useful beyond even the geek factor.
Also, newer cars have computers in them anyway... OnStar, GPS mapping, etc. Why not have an open alternative that those of us with older cars can implement? You will have to roll your own, but so what? most geeks will probably want to anyway.
As for watching DVDs while you drive... Well... that problem might just take care of itself (hopefully with minimal collateral damage).
Even if a man chops off your hand with a sword, you still have two nice, sharp bones to stick in his eyes.
I doubt that mobile computers will be very standardized, apart from having 2 or 3 computer vendors who produce 2 or 3 different standards for all car manufacturers. Car-computers will be nearly as compact as laptops, but since they'll be so integrated into the car (eg. they may be on the car's CAN network, may talk directly to the ECU, and have varying proprietary interfaces to varying I/O devices embeded into the console) that it will take quite a while to stndardize, if ever.
I wouldn't be surprised that down the road some major car manufacturers start using this open source code for onboard computer systems. It would save them money, help create a standard for onboard computers and probably bring about a new revolution in the modern society(ok, a bit of hyperbole).
Your points are valid, but what if there was some bug in some module of the enormous body of code that could not be produced in only the rarest of circumstances, causing the car to explode (or something catastrophic to that effect)?
Who would be held accountable if it were open-source?
The manufacturer is accountable. After all, it is Open Source, so if it doesn't work right, the manufacturer had their chance to fix it...
Only in closed source Operating Systems can anyone blame the company that made the OS.