Press Release

RidgeRun enables broad, commercial embedded Linux usage for developers creating applications for Texas Instruments Digital Signal Processors with shared library support

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, Embedded Systems Conference - March 13, 2002 - Driving open-source prevalence further into the mass commercial market, RidgeRun, Inc., announced today that it has created dynamic shared library support for developers who are creating a broad variety of applications for embedded devices.

With the industry's first shared library support for the ARM7 MMU-less Linux environment, developers can use software licensed under the Library GNU Public License (LGPL). RidgeRun made this dynamic link support available with its newly released Board Support Package (BSP) for Texas Instruments' TMS320VC5471 processor. Without dynamic link support, developers were hesitant to use code licensed under the LGPL if they had a need to keep their application code proprietary for various reasons such as partner licensing agreements or protecting trade secrets.

"Today's announcement once again demonstrates RidgeRun's efforts to strengthen Linux in the embedded marketplace," said Dan George, Vice President of Product Development for RidgeRun. "Manufacturers of embedded products are increasingly moving from home-grown operating systems to Linux-based software such as RidgeRun's DSPLinux. And while many of our customers have code they prefer to keep proprietary for various business reasons, they are still very interested in contributing to and benefiting from open source development. Shared library support makes this possible, and RidgeRun has allowed those using MMU-less systems to take advantage of this benefit for the first time."

Other important benefits of shared library support include reduced memory footprint through shared code, and the ability to upgrade libraries used by multiple programs in the embedded device.

About RidgeRun, Inc.
RidgeRun is exclusively focused on bringing the reliability and flexibility of Linux to embedded Internet appliances based on DSPs (digital signal processors). RidgeRun's DSPLinux ^TM and Escali ^TM leverage the power of Texas Instruments dual-core DSP+ARM architectures to deliver the performance-leading platform for wireless, broadband and multimedia appliances. RidgeRun can be reached at www.ridgerun.com or by e-mail to info@ridgerun.com.