[Embedlets-developer] Re: Embedlet comments

[Ted K. <tk...@ya...>]

James,

> Unfortunately, the chicken and egg scenario is a SERIOUS issue for this
> whole project.
> 
> 'Build it and I am sure they will come'
> 
> But who the hell is going to build the biggest most generic reusable freely
> available embedded resource on the planet!! For nothing!
> 
> That is the real issue here. Without weaving some commercial sense into this
> in some way (ie. without rejecting commercial interests immediately without
> thought) then this challenge just keeps getting bigger.


Together the JAPL specification and the Embedlets specification solve so many
of the embedded space's current problems that, if they succeed at all, I think
they will succeed in a very big way.  Thankfully, we are mostly responsible for
developing the open specifications and providing open source reference
implementations for them.  If these are done 'right' then the embedded space
should just naturally build to these specifications just like the world built
to the HTTP/HTML specifications when they were first released.

HTTP/HTML solved the world's 'Tower of Babel' problem and I think that JAPL and
Embedlets can do the same for the embedded space.


Here is a list of problems that these two specifications solve:

1) Embedlets provide platform-independent embedded logic at the binary level
and  the Embedlet Container provides a virtual embedded system that will allow
embedded applications to be completely shielded from the grueling platform
churn and diversity that the embedded space is susceptible to.

2) They allow the PIC community, along with all other microcontroller
communities, to easily bring their legacy code to the internet and make it
available to back end enterprise systems.  I think that this technology's
ability to bring together the embedded and enterprise communities is extremely
powerful.

3) They provide an excellent platform for building Greg's protocol neutralizers
which are critically needed in a fragmented space that consists of literally
thousands of industrial equipment protocols.

4) All the I/O chip manufactures make similar competing chips that are
incompatible with each other.  For example, there are dozens of UARTS on the
market and they all need unique device drivers.  Even embedded Java systems
like the JStamp and TINI use proprietary classes for accessing things as simple
as an 8 bit I/O port.  JAPL solves this problem for the application developer
by coming up with one generic interface for each chip/peripheral type.  Now,
all client code is compiled against one generic interface for each device type
and then the task of developing a device driver which will allow any specific
chip variant, like an 8250 UART, to realize this interface is significantly
reduced.  This represents the successful JDBC model brought into the embedded
systems world.

5) It allows embedded systems to be graphically wired together by
non-programmer IT personnel.

6) It enables the creation of a large software component market for the
embedded space.

7) Perhaps the most compelling story that these specifications have to offer is
that they represent what I think may be the *first* wide scope, open source
community and technology to be targeted toward the embedded space.  In an
earlier post you were so right when you pointed out that almost all the
endeavors to date in the embedded space have been extremely proprietary.

I have been thinking about that and one of the reason's that I came up with for
this problem is that embedded system software is so enmeshed with the platforms
they run on that open source efforts in this space did not make a lot of sense.

If one looks at the popular open source efforts to date they all seem to thrive
in environments that have common platforms.  For example, Linux provides the
standard platform on top of which a huge amount of open source software is
based and even Linux itself mostly sits on top of standardized 80X86 hardware. 
Of course, the Java platform provides the standardized base for Java's open
source projects and Windows provides another standardized base for open source.

So, if JAPL and the Embedlet Container specification can actually succeed in
providing the first open embedded systems platform and community that the whole
embedded system's space can leverage, then I think it will be extremely
successful.


I think we might be in the excellent position of a person who observes a wildly
successful product take off in Country A and then introduces this product into
Country B.  Most of the tough challenges were overcome in Country A and the
person simply takes all of the techniques that actually worked and uses them in
Country B.

I think the embedded space is ripe for the introduction of open source and I
think we are in a position to significantly help with this.


Ted


__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now.
http://mailplus.yahoo.com