Your Electronics Open Source

Today, the boundaries between the general purpose PCs, the servers and the embedded systems are more blurred. These computers are sharing same platfroms, same periperals. For example, an x86/Mac PC can be used as a server, an x86/PowerPC CPU can be used in an embedded system like portable navigation device (PND). On the other way, the popular embedded processor StrongARM was a powerful desktop PC processor for the DEC workstation, and the embedded systems often also act servers, like NAS (Network Attached Storage). As same as the hardware suppliers, the OS suppliers port their products into the desktop PCs, servers and embedded systems.

A survey shows us what's important to those who get a say in the choice of OS. The criteria are:

Real-time performance Processor compatibility Software tools No rayalties Price Memory footprint Simplicity Middelware
Compatibility Services & Features Open-source Familiarity Hardware support Customization Supplier's reputation
Support Popularity Other products

To read more go to our book about Embedded OS.