The Diversity of Embedded Linux

Cars, POS systems, device drivers and more.

It's been about a year since we decided an embedded Linux magazine was needed. With each issue we hear about more people picking Linux for their embedded OS.

That doesn't surprise me, but the diversity of the systems does. In this issue alone we find Linux in cars as well as point-of-sale systems. In past issues we have seen Linux in PDAs, sonars, entertainment systems as well as in an observatory. Also, we continue to see more and more platforms being supported.

When I left on vacation in June, I turned ELJ over to LJ Editor in Chief, Richard Vernon. When I got back he told me he had always wanted to edit a car magazine. If the cover isn't enough of a clue, read his interview with Dr. Wieland Holfelder plus Stuart Warren's ``In-Vehicle Data Logging''. Good work, Richard. After all, there are a lot more cars out there than Linux systems--so far.

Looking at other specifics, the Squirrel POS combines an NT-based server and Linux thin clients to build a modern POS system. While the final product is proprietary, open-source software is included in the solution.

If your embedded product needs to include a web browser, Simon Hausmann shows you how KDE's Konqueror has been ported to QT/Embedded without loss of compatibility with modern web sites or the standard version of Konqueror.

Getting even geekier, for those of you who feel like you want to write a device driver for a real-time system, we start a two-part series to help save you from having to re-invent the wheel.

If you grew up with M68000 systems and now want or need to do some embedded work, check out Greg Ungerer's internet appliances article. He shows you how to use Motorola's ColdFire processor to build an embedded system.

In the third and final part of Automating the Physical World, Bryce Nakatani addresses the part of a system we all wish didn't exist--dealing with system failures. If you have found his series useful, fear not. He will continue to write for ELJ.

Finally, with phase one of the NIC contest coming to a close, it is the ideal time for Jay Sissom to explain how to boot a NIC from a network--good information for contest finalists and anyone else who might see the NIC as an embedded platform.