"Linux continues to make highly visible inroads into IT infrastructure, with IDC reporting 14 consecutive quarters of double-digit growth in Linux server shipments through the third quarter of last year. Less visible to both IT professionals and casual observers alike is the equally impressive penetration of Linux in a wide range of client devices, from routers to firewalls, from private branch exchanges to voice-over-IP phones, from printers to imaging devices and from thin clients to smart mobile phones.
"In earlier embedded applications, end users had no reason to care what sort of software came deployed in devices: systems and peripherals either functioned well or did not, and the embedded operating system and applications that powered them remained out of sight and out of mind..."
