LinuxDevices.com launches annual Embedded Linux survey -- please vote! -- LinuxDevices.com today launched its fourth annual Embedded Linux Market Survey, and invites all readers to participate. The brief survey -- just 17 questions -- probes developer preferences and industry trends. Over the last four years, this survey has become an important resource for industry analysts and decision makers. Don't miss this important opportunity to help influence the future of embedded Linux!

Linux gets real (-time) -- Bernhard Kuhn of Metrowerks has created a Linux kernel patch that he claims enables hard, real-time performance in the Linux kernel by adding priorities to interrupts and spinlocks. Kuhn believes his approach to be more "natural" and akin to traditional real-time operating systems (RTOSes) than the dual-kernel approach taken by real-time projects such as RTAI and RTLinux, and he is hopeful that his patch might one day win enough interest and support to become part of the official Linux kernel tree.

RTAI erupts with 3.0 release -- The RTAI project has accomplished its third major release, with the 3.0 version of the Real-Time Application Interface (RTAI), codenamed "Kilauea." The release offers significant new features and supports x86, PPC, ARM, MIPS, and CRIS processor architectures.

eCos copyright ownership unified under FSF -- Red Hat has announced that it will assign all of its copyrights in the eCos open source operating system to the Free Software Foundation (FSF). In conjunction with the eCos development community, Red Hat agreed that it would be best to have all eCos copyrights held by a single party. eCos copyrights held by eCosCentric are also being turned over to the FSF.

OSDL creates legal defense fund -- The Open Source Development Labs (OSDL) has created a legal defense fund that will likely be used initially to cover its expenses and those of OSDL Fellow Linus Torvalds in response to the SCO subpoena of November, 2003. The fund could also be used to aid end users in certain kinds of cases, should any arise. Additionally, Novell has followed HP's lead in offering indemnification to their customers against SCO legal challenges.

Other noteworthy news items and announcements from the past week . . .

• Conference looks at business, legal, financial aspects of open source
  
• Classes evangelize embedded Linux
  
• Toshiba adds security-oriented Linux to its firewall/VPN devices
  
• Embedded Linux distro supports TI DSP-based digital media processors
  
• Real-time technology demoed for Consumer Electronics Linux
  
• Linux implementation aims to turn PCs into CE devices
  
• Wind River joins CE Linux Forum
  
• CELF Linux expands to SuperH, supports prototyping board
  
• Embedded Linux switch offers seamless RAN/LAN roaming
  
• World's first MPEG-4 CODEC chip features built-in embedded Linux
  
• Updated commercial SSH daemon supports embedded Linux
  
• Chipset for inexpensive HDTVs, STBs run embedded Linux
  
• Linux-based STB platforms gains DVD burning support
  
• "Enterprise" Zaurus first to run new embedded browser
  
• Small-footprint in-memory database goes royalty-free
  
• eCosCentric supports eCos copyright unification initiative
  
• New Xbox port weds open source, shared source software
  

. . . and that's not all. Click here for the latest breaking news.

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