“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…”