| |
|
|
| |
According to a recent survey published by http://linuxdevices.com, Linux is now the primary OS used in embedded designs. Linux is far ahead (40 %), followed by MS-Windows (13 %) and VxWorks, formerly the unrivalled leader. | |
| |
|
|
This evolution is neither random nor due to fashion. Linux and Open Source Software (OSS) strictly comply with the harshest constraints and criteria of the industry :
Reliability, inherited from the Unix world,
Cost control (no recurrent fees),
Performance, openness and portability,
Open Source Software was neglected by the Industry until recent years because of the initial gap between strict industrial constraints and the organic approach taken by free development practices. From a technological point of view, key features such as hard real time capabilities were lacking. They have now been implemented. On the production side, management and support costs were also issues; they have now plummetted, which gives a clear TCO advantage to Linux and OSS. The Open Source movement also had to prove the legality of its GPL licencing model. It took years, but this has been done, which is well known among industrial players.
OS4I (Open source for Industry) was founded in 2001 by a team composed of both Open source experts and executives from industrial major companies, to bridge the gap between Open source and Industry and offer high level professional services for embedded /real time industrial designs.