Embedded Linux alive and kicking
Source: ZDNet
The hype that spawned several Linux start-ups has vanished, but a pioneer in operating systems for computing devices other than PCs still has faith that Linux is the foundation for success.
MontaVista Software has raised $28 million from earlier investors and from new partners including IBM Microelectronics and Sony, said Jim Ready, founder and chief executive.
"This carries us to profitability and greater heights," Ready said.
Twenty years ago, Ready created VRTX, the first commercial operating system for "embedded" computing systems, a category that now includes everything from antilock-brake controllers to VCRs to mobile phones to automatic teller machines. VRTX, still sold by Ready's former employer, Mentor Graphics, runs the Hubble Space Telescope.
The privately owned Sunnyvale, Calif., company won't disclose revenue specifics, but Ready said MontaVista has garnered "millions and millions of dollars" and that revenue grew more than 250 percent from fiscal 2000 to 2001. MontaVista cut expenses last year with a 20 percent layoff.
