Ask Slashdot: Which OS For an Embedded Display Unit? 135
First time accepted submitter spouse writes "We are a small Software Design team of 8 developers, working with home brewed Linux to make our ARM7, ARM9 and Intel based embedded products work. Now we want to develop our first 7 inch touch screen tablet-like device serving as control panel for a set of our 'black box' devices. We see Android as a possible choice due to the tablet like character of our applications. We will need App management and the GUI elements. We do not need all the apps out there in the store, we do not need any telephone/sms/email/webbrowser support. Will we end with modifying Android just as much as our own Linux derivate to make things work? Does it make sense to build the hardware of the touch panel based on google reference design to minimize the effort? Are there any experiences out there? Who has done that before and what are the experiences of that? How hard is it to make a product really work with Android? What is the right choice here? Shall we try?"
But why...? (Score:5, Insightful)
... the hell would you invest engineering resources in building a "tablet like" device that's going to be a proprietary frontend for wherever your real magic is taking place? Android is a great choice, given your requirements list, but for God's sake call one of the 5,000,000 companies in China that make tablets from $50 to $300 and ask them to ship you a crateful. Go to CES next year and walk the small booths - you will not be able to walk under the weight of business cards from companies like this. FCC approvals, full BSPs done for you already, available ex stock FOB Shenzen.
No Market? Go custom. (Score:2, Insightful)
If you have no intention of supporting Market apps then skip Android and go custom or use some other tailored OS. If you already have a customized Linux then leverage your existing knowledge and slap a micro version of X on it with a custom mouse driver for the touch interface.
Consumer-focused, one-size-fits-all operating systems are terrible for control applications (timing problems, bulkware, etc) and don't really give you anything in return. It's a bit like handing your wallet to a hooker and watching them walk away.
Re:Angstrom (Score:2, Insightful)
I think a lot of people here don't do embedded development, but see the linux tag and immediately spout "Android". Look at Angstrom. The learning curve is really steep, but I'm told it pays off. Also look at what people are using on the Beagleboard. Speaking of which, you might want to base your device off of that.
But, it may also be much cheaper to just go with an existing tablet and write a C&C app for those - you only need to write 3 - iPad, Android, and WebOS (if you care) to cover 99% of users. Write it in Qt and you'll be good to go on all three with minimal tweaking!