The world’s largest embedded software company, today launched its first official support for embedded Linux. For its initial foray into the embedded Linux market, Wind
River has decided to target its $4,000 visionProbe
II hardware bring-up tool at embedded Linux system-level software development. Company officials say they plan a step-by-step approach toward embedded Linux, suggesting more Linux-related announcements lie ahead for the embedded software giant.
Wind River Hops on Embedded Linux Bandwagon
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Eugenia Loli
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Interesting that a former BSD Proponent would go Linux…
Were they really a BSD Proponent?
They bought Walnut Creek and that was it.
Or did they do any BSD development?
yes they were, bsd/os and bsd/386 or what the correct acronym for them were.
After 2 years of market erosion and lost opportunities in the telecom industry it should come as no surprise to see windriver turn to Linux to provide a fresh *low-cost* start.
Nah, BSDi was also only aquired by them for a short time.
But what about Windriver contribution directly to BSD?
Okay, so basically it’s probably only a marketing move. They most likely moved to embedded Linux because it is such a buzzword these days.
Yes, they did buy BSDi who had merged with Walnut Creek. Therefore they purchased the source to BSD/OS and hired BSD/OS programmers. Unfortunately, not too long ago they announced that they will no longer be supporting BSD/OS in the near future.
But this still doesn’t make sense. They already have BSD programmers and they already own BSD code. So they basically have experts in BSD software. Also, NetBSD’s clean design and portability would fit perfectly in the embedded market place. They could have their BSD programmers do something with NetBSD and BSD/OS to produce an embedded system. If Juniper can have BSD embedded into their hardware then why can’t Wind River do it?
So this leads to the question, why would they move to Linux? I know this is a blow to the average Linux zealot’s ego, but Linux isn’t necessarily better than BSD. It’s basically the same shit, but different color. Anyway my guess for the switch to Linux is because they’re freaking desperate and need to somehow generate revenue. So what do they do? They jump on the bandwagon and use the marketing buzz associated with Linux.
Other than marketing, I don’t see any benefits in going with Linux especially when they already own BSD code.
I agree with bsd_usr that NetBSD could be a perfect choice for embedded markets like PDAs and smart phones. It just makes a lot of sense for NetBSD to power these future devices because it is a ‘nix and it is so portable. I wonder if anyone is porting NetBSD to these markets currently. Hmmm….
I agree that NetBSD is the way to go for embedded systems. Wasabi Systems (www.wasabisystems.com) specializes in that market. Intel, one of their most important partners realizes the strength of NetBSD (especially in its XScale series) and chose to fund Wasabi Systems because of its future promise.
http://www.embeddedstar.com/press/content/2002/9/embedded5119.html