Big two in push for Embedded Linux

Red Hat and Wind River Systems are to jointly develop Red Hat Embedded Linux for the device software optimisation market.

Red Hat and Wind River Systems are to jointly develop Red Hat Embedded Linux for the device software optimisation market.

Red Hat's Linux will be the foundation of Wind River Linux based Platforms and will be integrated with Wind River's industry-leading development tools, middleware and services.

Red Hat is the leading commercial open source Linux company and supports the largest Linux distribution with Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

Wind River is the market share leader in commercial device software optimisation with its proprietary real-time operating system, VxWorks, and VxWorks based Wind River Platforms.

By building Wind River Platforms based on the Red Hat Enterprise Linux, customers will have access to the most widely deployed Linux technology that is fully embraced by the open source community.

For the first time, developers will be able to standardise device software development across the enterprise with VxWorks, Linux or both.

"Wind River and Red Hat are creating an end-to-end software infrastructure, based on open source and commercial technology for carrier grade network equipment such as high end routers and switches", said Ken Klein, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of Wind River.

"This partnership opens up new markets for Wind River, and by working with Red Hat, we can enable the same kind of standardisation for the device software market that Red Hat has successfully established for enterprise Linux.

It was important for us to enter into a relationship with Red Hat because of their global dominance in the Linux market".

Under the terms of the agreement, the new Linux distribution will be jointly developed by a team of engineers from both companies that will work out of Red Hat's engineering facilities in Westford, Massachusetts.

Wind River will be the premier channel for the Red Hat Embedded Linux that will initially be targeted at the commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) segment of the device software market, for carrier grade network equipment such as high-end routers and switches.

"Red Hat's alliance with Wind River will bring open standards to the embedded device market", said Matthew Szulik, Red Hat President and CEO.

"Red Hat's Open Source Architecture strategy centres on a common Linux code base to enable better application compatibility, security and maintainability from embedded devices to enterprise servers.

The combination of Red Hat and Wind River as leaders in our respective markets will advance the device software marketplace".

"Previous attempts at creating a commercial Linux distribution for device software have resulted in a fragmented marketplace that still lacks a standard set of tools and reliable products", said Bill Claybrook, Vice President of Linux Strategy at Harvard Research Group.

"The Wind River and Red Hat partnership provides the complete package - technology, support and expertise - that will enable Linux to become firmly established as a viable and standardised option for device development".

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