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from the next-up-are-mcot-msofa-and-mrecliner dept.
Reported last week at the BBC, CNet and IEEE Spectrum is the news that ARM is launching a new OS targeting low power, low footprint devices.
The operating system, called mbed OS, is meant to resolve productivity problems that arise from fragmentation—where different devices in the so-called “Internet of things” (IoT) market run on a hodgepodge of different protocols. ARM is looking to consolidate those devices under a single software layer that's simple, secure, and free for all manufacturers to use.
(Although the IEEE article reports that "this is the first operating system ARM has ever developed", that slightly glosses over the history of RiscOS by Acorn, of which ARM was a subsidiary.)
The software comes as a free "mbed OS" and a licensable "Device server". Although parts of the OS will be open source:
ARM says it wants to retain control of other parts to ensure mbed remains unfragmented
More technical details at the mbed developer site. One oddity is the Online Toolchain, which provides the device IDE and version control online.
(Score: 2) by q.kontinuum on Wednesday October 08 2014, @04:28AM
The generalisation was wrong. But this link [lwn.net] shows that the linux kernel has a long history of good code quality compared to most enterprise software.
I agree. For open source software, the scan is free of charge, so any minor project can sign up without any barrier for proficiency. For closed source projects it is an investment, which will only be done by already quality-conscious development teams with willingness to invest not only time but also money in code quality. That creates a bias for enterprise software. Under these circumstances it is even more surprising that open source quality is higher.
A simple form of password protection. (I assume the ports which need to be knocked are configurable, not hardcoded in software.)
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