Wind River, Red Hat team for embedded Linux
Wind River, a major force in software embedded in devices such as cell phones or factory robots, has signed a deal with leading Linux seller Red Hat to jointly develop a version of the open-source software, the companies plan to announce Monday.
Under the deal, both companies' engineers will create Red Hat Embedded Linux, a variant of Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Wind River will be the "premier" sales channel for the software and will support it in its development tools, according to the companies.
Terms such as revenue sharing, product availability, partnership exclusivity or deal duration weren't revealed, but "both parties expect this to be a long a prosperous partnership," Wind River said in a statement.
The move marks a major change for the companies and for the embedded Linux market, which until now hasn't had to reckon much with either company.
Wind River announced in 2003 it would embrace Linux alongside its proprietary VxWorks operating system, but that effort couldn't go far without a version of Linux. And Red Hat largely scrapped an embedded Linux effort begun in 1999 to concentrate instead on server software.
