http://www.osnews.com/story/19005/Contiki_OS_for_Low-Power_Networked_Embedded_Systems Exploring the Future of Computing en-us Copyright 2001-2009, David Adams adam+nospam@osnews.com Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:42:09 GMT http://www.osnews.com/images/osnews.gif http://www.osnews.com http://osnews.com/thread?288743 http://osnews.com/thread?288743 I'm probably never going to use it myself, but it's very interesting after reading more about it.

It's fascinating to see how much usability you can still get out of very old machines (Apple II, Z80, C64,...), if they are only programmed accordingly.

And if you take a look at the power consumption of these TI-microcontrollers, (I think) you could run them literally for years with off-the-shelf batteries, makes up for some interesting applications. Wed, 05 Dec 2007 10:56:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (johkra) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?288765 http://osnews.com/thread?288765 ...SymbOS (http://symbos.de/) A microkernel OS with pre-emptive and priority-based multitasking, seamless memory management of up to 1 MB of RAM and a full Windows9x-style GUI (up to 512x212x16colors) all on a 3.5 MHz Z80... Wed, 05 Dec 2007 13:13:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (madcrow) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?288784 http://osnews.com/thread?288784 Is there any guide how to install it on 286 pc? I have historic one with 1mb RAM. Would be fun to turn it into webserver. Wed, 05 Dec 2007 15:06:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Dr-ROX) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?288789 http://osnews.com/thread?288789 It (SymbOS) may be fairly well done, but offering trailers of "Kink Kong" and erotic pics doesn't do much for promotional value. I can think of ten reasons why this is bad (and it's the third time this week someone has done similar: linking pr0n w/ normal software, ugh). Edited 2007-12-05 15:32 Wed, 05 Dec 2007 15:29:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Rugxulo) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?288805 http://osnews.com/thread?288805 I'm looking for some docs too

never managed to get a procedure install or build it from sources Wed, 05 Dec 2007 18:39:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (milleoiseaux) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?288909 http://osnews.com/thread?288909 I have this running on my Apple //e. The web browser works alright, and I have gotten the web server (!) running as well. Unfortunately, these lack major functionality because an interface has not been written between Contiki and the hardware, so in the case, for example, of the Apple, it only serves a sort of proof of concept "Hey you're viewing a page running on a web server running on an Apple //e" page. There's no interface to Apple I/O to serve up your own pages.

The other clients also have serious deficiencies, though the IRC client does work fairly well (as does the lynx-like web browser). I realize that this was mainly a proof of concept, a geek hack of sorts, so I'm not slagging it in any way.

I can see how Contiki will be useful on low powered devices, especially ones which are fairly static, but a fair amount of glue is left to be written, at least on the old 8 bits.

That this is not a priority of, oh, any developer in the world, is probably understandable

Nevertheless, considering that in theory you can hook an Apple or Commodore 8 bit up to the internet, one can imagine the integration of Contiki into things like car dashboards, alarm clocks, etc. Thu, 06 Dec 2007 04:03:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Quag7) Comments