LynuxWorks Endorses Unified Embedded Platform Initiative by Embedded Linux Consortium

Both BlueCat Linux and LynxOS to comply with ELC platform specification

Embedded Systems Conference, San Francisco, April 9, 2001—LynuxWorks™, Inc., a provider of open source and true real-time embedded solutions for the post-PC era, today announced its endorsement of the Embedded Linux Consortium (ELC) Platform Specification and plans to support the specification on both its open source BlueCat™ Linux and LynxOS® real-time operating system.

"Our experiences in enhancing and integrating open-source as well as commercial software into embedded communications, aerospace and medical applications provides us a unique perspective in this industry," said Dr. Inder Singh, chairman and CEO of LynuxWorks. "This move by the ELC will facilitate the emergence of a strong software industry around this open, multivendor platform, which will help our customers bring their products to market sooner, and preserve the software investment they make in their products."

"It is important that embedded application developers have a stable consistent execution platform across different Linux distributions and CPU architectures," said Mitch Bunnell, LynuxWorks founder and chief technology officer. "The Linux API is full featured with a rich set of APIs, and this is one of the reasons for its popularity in embedded applications. Unfortunately, some of the programming interfaces for Linux may vary on different distributions, and not all of the interfaces may exist on a Linux distribution configured for embedded use. We hope to correct this through the ELC standard."

LynuxWorks believes the ELC initiative marks a historic event in the embedded world because it is the first open standard for an embedded operating system that has a high likelihood of taking hold with multivendor offerings. Although other popular standards exist for embedded operating systems—such as Windows CE, PalmOS, and others—none are based on an open-source model or offer the opportunity for multiple vendors to provide them.

LynuxWorks is a 12-year veteran in the embedded market and a pioneer in the POSIX® standardization effort. The implementation of the ELC specifications in LynxOS will be a particularly important showcase for the ELC platform specification, demonstrating one of the key benefits of open standards to the user community: the opportunity for multiple implementations to the same interfaces optimized to meet different requirements, while maintaining interoperability.

About LynuxWorks

LynuxWorks, Inc. is a provider of open source and true real-time embedded solutions for the post-PC era. LynuxWorks supports industry standards in communications, aerospace and defense, consumer and business electronics, industrial control systems, Internet infrastructures, automotive/transportation, medical devices, and retail industries. LynuxWorks products include the open-source BlueCat Linux, the scalable, Linux-compatible LynxOS real-time operating system; software frameworks for high-availability systems; development tools and technical support worldwide.

LynuxWorks and BlueCat are trademarks and LynxOS is a registered trademark of LynuxWorks, Inc. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. Other brand or product names are registered trademarks or trademarks of the respective holders.

LynuxWorks press contacts

Kirsten Long Director, Marketing Communications LynuxWorks, Inc. USA +1 408-979-4404	Dave Reddy Weber Shandwick USA +1 650-868-4659	Peter van der Sluijs Neesham Public Relations Europe +44 1442-879222
Hamid Mirab Managing Director EMEA LynuxWorks Ltd. United Kingdom +44 208-906-9506	Francisca Llamas Weber Shandwick USA +1 415-685-0608