Hi Ratan,
First of all, Linux is not huge. You can make it big if you want to, but stuff like x-window is not needed for most embedded applications. Since Linux is open source, anyone can choose the compiling options and re-compile the code to fit her application, so never say Linux is huge.
I see an "embedded system" as something that does one task cheaply and effectively. TCP/IP is not a must in an embedded system. My cordless phone is an embedded system, but it doesn't need a TCP/IP stack. In fact, it doesn't even have an operating system (most likely).
I see Linux as a threat, because Linux-based appliances are easy to piece together, and most importantly, Internet technologies are changing rapidly. Linux has a huge developers' following, and they constantly upgrade their Linux applications for free. VxWorks has no following like this. Of course Linux is also free and open source, which pleases the more technical and cost conscious solution developers or manufactures. Maybe Java would erase Linux' application advantage, but SUN has not done a good job at promoting Java.
As for the "Embedded Linux Consortium", I find it funny that neither Lynx nor Leneo, two true Linux supporters, in there. Instead, I see WRS and QNX among others. Does WRS really want to promote Linux? I think not. It's just Fidler's way of crashing a party.
Khan |
