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"NW on Linux" <Linux@bdcimail.com> on 04/20/2000 04:56:38 AM
Please respond to "Linux Help" <NWReplies@bellevue.com>
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cc:  
Subject: Getting embedded with a penguin


NETWORK WORLD FUSION FOCUS: PHIL HOCHMUTH
on LINUX
Today's focus: Getting embedded with a penguin
04/19/00

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Today's focus: Getting embedded with a penguin
---------------------------------------------
By Phil Hochmuth

Linux may be red-hot as a server operating system, but it's also
creating some heat in the embedded operating system market.

Developers have been putting Linux on small devices and cramming the
operating system into a space the size of a SIMM for some time, but
embedded versions of the operating system are on the verge of coming to
mainstream devices, such as slimmed-down Internet clients, handheld
devices and network appliances.

One of the major markets for embedded Linux systems lies in e-business
and enterprise networks. Last fall, Red Hat bought Cygnus Solutions,
which develops embedded Linux tools and embedded operating systems,
creating the biggest open-source company in the world. The merger
brought together the Red Hat development team's expertise in the
operating system (they are the leading Linux distribution company) and
the unique gadget-related technology of Cygnus, such as its embedded
configurable operating system (eCos), embedded Linux tools and
application programming interfaces.

Last month, Red Hat began offering eCos as its own product, coinciding
with the release of Red Hat Linux 6.2. Red Hat is banking on Linux to
emerge as the standard technology in enterprise handheld and server
connectivity. The leaders in server and handheld operating system
development are currently Microsoft and Palm Computing, but Red Hat
proclaims that having the same core operating system running on the
front and back ends of these post-PC, wireless handheld network
environments will lead to better performance and scalability. With
Linux running on the client and the server, business applications will
come to market more quickly as software can be written once for server
applications, then only slightly modified for compatibility for the
wireless handheld client, Red Hat says.

Lineo, of Lindon, Utah, has also made strides in embedded Linux
technology development recently. Lineo currently offers its own
embedded Linux distribution, Embedex, in addition to the Embedex
Browser - an embedded, graphical user interface-based microbrowser
and a software development kit. The Embedex operating system, browser
and development kit are aimed at the handheld and information appliance
markets. Lineo is currently compatible with X86 and PowerPC processors
and runs on less than 4M bytes of RAM and 2M bytes of read-only memory
or flash memory. The company last week announced a new development
partnership with MIPS Technologies, so look for embedded Linux running
on the MIPS architecture in the near future.

Also on the embedded bandwagon is Pennsylvania company Neoware Systems,
which just announced its NeoLinux embedded Linux distribution based on
Red Hat's Linux distribution. The company is offering NeoLinux for
small handheld devices but is focusing more on "information
appliances" - that is, network devices dedicated to a single task such
as firewalls, routers and security devices. To complement its own Linux
distribution, Neoware has also released its own hardware to run
NeoLinux - the Eon Anything Box - which lets users configure the
hardware to act as a variety of network devices.

With all these various flavors of embedded Linux sprouting up, embedded
system and network device companies recently formed an industry board
to help the technology's development. Created in March, the Embedded
Linux Consortium (ELC) - http://www.embedded-linux.org - comprises over
two dozen companies that specialize in embedded system hardware,
software and Linux, including Red Hat, Motorola and IBM. The goal of
the group is to spur "the advancement of Linux-based solutions in
embedded applications," the ELC says.

As information appliances, thin servers and handheld devices become
more prevalent in the enterprise, it appears that Linux will be a big
part of the post-PC networking era. As a result, network managers will
need to become more familiar with what makes these embedded devices
tick and with trends in the embedded Linux industry.

To contact Phil Hochmuth:
-------------------------
Phil Hochmuth is a writer and researcher for Network World, and
a former systems integrator. You can reach him at
mailto:phochmut@nww.com.

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FOR RELATED LINKS -- Click here for Network World's home page:
http://www.nwfusion.com
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Red Hat:
http://www.redhat.com

Lineo:
http://www.lineo.com

Neoware:
http://www.neoware.com

Learn more about embedded Linux in general at the official embedded
Linux portal:
http://www.linuxdevices.com

Read white papers on Red Hat's embedded technology:
http://www.redhat.com/support/wpapers/cygnus_whitepapers.html

Archive of Network World Fusion Focus on Linux newsletters:
http://www.nwfusion.com/newsletters/linux/


Other Linux-related articles from Network World:

Rackspace offers customized Web servers, Network World, 04/17/00
http://www.nwfusion.com/archive/2000/93083_04-17-2000.html


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