“The role of open-source software in the embedded systems
industry is a controversial topic for product designers, software
developers, and business management. To shed light on the
issues surrounding the use of open-source code, the eighth annual
Embedded Systems Conference Spring (February 28 – March 2 at
Chicago’s McCormick Place South) will feature a panel of six
industry experts from all sides of the debate.“
“Open-source software is code that is not owned by any
individual person or company, but is commonly available to anyone
who wishes to use it. As developers enhance the code, they
traditionally provide their changes for use by the greater
community.”
“The use of open-source code in the embedded market is growing
rapidly. In the last year, the percentage of embedded application
developers planning to use Linux (the most popular open source
operating system) as their host platform increased from 10 to 26
percent, according to Electronic Market Forecasters, a CMP Media
research group.”