Linux Robots beat Windows Robots 10 to 0

Posted 17 Feb 2005 at 17:33 UTC by steve

The publishers of the WindowsForDevices and LinuxDevices websites publish an annual comparison of Linux vs Windows in products mentioned on their news sites. While both are still roughly tied, Linux has gained ground in all areas including PDAs and Mobile Phones. Perhaps the gain is due to the discovery of Windows viruses on mobile phones or the recent high profile failure of a Windows-based embedded air traffic control system due to a trivial timer bug? They also note that Linux is the number one choice in Asia now where embedded device manufacturers want to avoid vender lock-in and expensive per-unit Microsoft licenses. But the most interesting part is that, in the robotics category, they show ten Linux-based commercial robots and zero running Windows. So Free Software is apparently beating out closed, proprietary software hands down in this field. For comparison, see also last year's results.

ActivMedia Robots, posted 22 Feb 2005 at 17:35 UTC by reed » (Apprentice)

Well, Pioneer and PeopleBot robots are available with Windows on them, though most have Linux (and this is the suggested choice, I believe); but the new PatrolBot (commercial robot) is Linux-based.