[maemo-developers] [maemo-developers] ipkg vs dpkg

[From: Russell Nelson]

Zeeshan Ali writes:
 > > Repeat after me: "the 770 is not an embedded system".  It is a small
 > > computer with neither a qwerty keyboard nor a big hard drive, nor a
 > > really fast processor.
 > 
 >    You are kidding, right? Anything is an embedded system if it:
 > 
 > 1. has a small memory and secondary storage
 > 2. has a slow processor

The 486/33 PC on my right is an embedded system?

 > 3. is intended to serve some 'specific' purpose(s).
 > 
 >    How do you define an 'embedded system'?

A device where the manufacturer defines what it does, you don't
particularly care that it has a computer built into it, and you don't
get to turn it into something else.  E.g. a WRT54G is an embedded
system because it really can't do much besides route packets.  My
camera is an embedded system.  Older cellphones were embedded systems,
but now that you can run Java on them, they're computers.

This is not just an academic distinction.  An embedded system might
have upgradable firmware, but they'll be images of the entire
firmware, and you lose everything when you upgrade.  A computer has
upgradable packages.  An embedded system might interface with a
computer, e.g. I might want to connect my camera up to my 770.

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