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Realtime Linux Workshop in Vienna
demachina sent us an EE times article about the realtime Linux conference in Vienna. Attendees decided to endorse the Cygnus EL/IX API for Realtime Linux and to start work on kernel patches.
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Sorry... couldn't resist... =)
This is an extremely important even for linux. Its the chance for Linux to enter the hidden world where computers are in use in huge amounts, and few people are aware - in manufacturing environments. However, for robotic and process control, realtime (hard and soft) operating systems are required (as well as embedded systems, which Linux is also maturing into).
:) There's a large amount of Sun boxes (many old enough to be pre-solaris) as well as HP and QNX, which is a cool ass OS no matter how you slice it. A large number of these are old just for the reason that they work fine and are well tested - but an upgrade is imminent.
;)
To have a high profile event like this is a CLEAR and STRONG message to traditional competitors that have controlled this field for years. Hilariously enough a large percentage of the machines are running DOS (its small and old and its bugs are
well known), but the rest are generally unix.
Unbelievably a large amount of this is SCO - the unix world's DOS
What better than getting a system with fully open and free source code? This is almost more important to them than it is to applications users and coders - they need to get into the nitty gritty. Having a viable, stable, popular and open source and $FREE$ real time operating system is
going to catapult linux even further ahead than it already is.
I wonder when the IPOs in this market will start happening.
Sound support would benefit immensely from hard realtime support in the kernel. Think about it: no more skips/hiccups in your mp3 playback, no matter what the operating system is doing at the time.
Actually, all operating systems should incorporate deterministic schedulers - there's really no excuse not to. Realtime control is something you're going to be hearing more and more about, and not just for factories. Any video game is basically a realtime application, and if you ever wondered why the control in video games sometimes seems to suck and be flakey, it's often because the control isn't implemented with any real time guarantees.
Another example is the proper, dependable detection of such things as double mouse clicks. If you can't guarantee the latency of when the mouse click is handled, you can't be sure you measured the right interval.
The operation of winmodems, much as they suck, could be improved by gauranteed latency interrupt handling, so you can use a small (low latency) buffer and not get errors from delayed interrupt response.
If you look into all the things your computer is doing, you'll find lots of things that could be improved via realtime control.
Life's a bitch but somebody's gotta do it.
More links to the conference (from Linuxtoday):
realtimelinux.org: Realtime Linux Workshop Day 3 Dec 20th, 1999
realtimelinux.org: Realtime Linux Workshop Day 2 Dec 20th, 1999
realtimelinux.org: Real Time Linux Workshop Day 1, Real people, Real place, Real time Dec 18th, 1999
Life's a bitch but somebody's gotta do it.
realtimelinux.org: Realtime Linux Workshop Day 3 Dec 20th, 1999
realtimelinux.org: Realtime Linux Workshop Day 2 Dec 20th, 1999
realtimelinux.org: Real Time Linux Workshop Day 1, Real people, Real place, Real time Dec 18th, 1999
but I have have few questions about this old news: How come I knew about this more than 24 hours ago and I'm just now seeing it on Slashdot?? Please, the stories are starting to lag way behind the news.
Also, some of us read this site in other time zones when the editorial staff at Slashdot seems to be sleeping: You need more editorial staff in other timezones.
One more thing, some of us don't quit reading Slashdot just because everybody at Andover goes home for the weekend: You need some editorial staff that doesn't quit on the weekend.
Life's a bitch but somebody's gotta do it.
Hilariously enough a large percentage of the machines are running DOS (its small and old and its bugs are well known), but the rest are generally unix.
Don't laugh. I developed a big realtime machine control application last year on Dos. Now the application is being redeveloped for Windows NT - requiring a computer 20 times faster, with 16 times more memory and 10 times bigger harddisk. The NT version doesn't do any more, but it does look prettier and supports more hardware.
I'd very much like to develop this application on Linux, but it isn't going to happen this time round, because the support software we need just isn't available. However, I'm willing to predict that by this time next year we'll be looking into how we can do it on Linux, because NT by that time will be seen to suck very apparently in this application, due to bloat, flakiness, lousy documentation of api's and protocols, and miscellaneous licencing issues, to name a few reasons.
Let's see how it goes - in the meantime, I hope that Slashdotters are aware that this is a very key industry for Microsoft and they're pushing very hard to get a dominant position in it. So far, they're doing pretty well, no matter much their software may suck for realtime control. The PHB's just see the pretty colors and wizbang graphics and they're sold.
Life's a bitch but somebody's gotta do it.
Yes. I'm no expert, but from what I've heard, it does add a bit of overhead.
Well, advanced robotics and manufacturing automation; automotive applications; aviation; control of laboratory appratus; just about anything which interfaces to the real world by means other than by keyboard and CRT and must control something with consitently low response latency.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
This is impressive. It's really nice to see free software "work." That being, the right to fork prevents the need to fork. Everyone had the "right" to develop their own version without anyone else's influence, but they decided to get together and pick an API to make it compatible.
Instead of licensing proprietary OSes, Linux based versions should have the advantage of massive peer review and development. While Linux based OSes will no doubt be licensed, it should be a VERY competitive field.
Within a few years, real-time Linux might dominate the embedded market, driving down costs. With everything using embedded systems, the cost savings of not reinventing the wheel will probably allow that "convergence" being hyped everywhere.
All in all, this is a good thing. "Props" to Cygnus for a good job on pulling off the common API... but then, I expect nothing less from Cygnus, but once again proving that RedHat made a smart investment.
This should give Cygnus's embedded Linux a BIG boost, as they know the API better than anyone else. It looks like Redhat will finally have a REAL licensable product instead of a freely copiable one.
Alex
Beside launching rockets and killing people, what kind of end-user application would benefit from "hard real-time" support in the linux kernel?
Air Traffic control would be one. A delay of even a second or two in updating the information would be bad. Coordinating large scale movements of people, in any sort of organization, could be useful. Whether it is infantry in the field or search parties trying to find a lost hiker, real time computing can be beneficial.