Traditionally, embedded developers have had to put in a lot of duplicate effort to target multiple processor families, since each processor can differ in how it handles memory alignment, atomic operations, byte ordering, and so on. But we've implemented a few simple functions and macros to address these issues, minimizing the need to rewrite and retest code for each CPU. This processor independence enables faster time-to-market, since programmers no longer have to wait for a target processor to be chosen before starting to write and debug their software. In fact, programmers can start much of their development and testing right on their x86-based QNX workstations, even if the target device doesn't eventually use an x86 processor.

Why did QNX decide to go Open Source?

The reason is -- because access to source code makes software developers happier and more productive. With source code, developers can analyze the architecture of the OS to better integrate their own code; adapt OS components to application-specific demands; and save considerable time troubleshooting - not only when problems occur in their own programs, but when a problem involves unexpected results from underlying OS code. In short, developers gain a level of vendor independence and self-sufficiency not possible with the "black box" model of many commercial OSs.

We are also going `open source' (actually, we tend to call it `accessible source' since we use a different source licensing model than the GPL) to help increase the number of available applications and device drivers for the QNX community. Speaking of drivers, we've recently released several new driver development kits (DDKs)--Graphics, Input, Printer, Networking, and USB--that are all available free of charge on the QNX Developer's Network, at qdn.qnx.com/ddks. Each QNX DDK comes complete with sample drivers, libraries, headers, and documentation.

Who was behind this decision?

Making our source available is a decision that we took as a company. Decision makers from all departments--R&D, marketing, sales, customer service, etc -- were involved.

Has the visibility of QNX increased since it went open source?